Europe’s Cultural Emergence from the

Middle Ages

Renaissance• Name literally means re-birth, or new beginning• The Renaissance was essentially an explosion of

culture in Europe: Art, Painting, Sculpting, Literature, Drama, and sport all come to the forefront of European life

• Why is the time period unique/ significant? Or, why has the time period been given such a name… what were people being re-born from?

• MUST have an understanding of the Middle Ages to be able to understand the significance of the Renaissance

• It was the eagerness to learn and the emphasis placed on culture that defines the time period

Prelude/Origins• The Renaissance was a result of four events in

Europe coinciding with the end of the Middle Ages– Crusades: Warriors, merchants, and traders

brought culture back with them to Italy after being in the Middle East

– Black Plague wipes out 1/3 of Europe’s population leaving the continent ready for a change in all aspects of society

– Hundred Years War between England and France– The Great Schism; Avignon Papacy and actions

by Wycliffe and Huss raise questions about the Church’s role in society

WHY DID RENAISSANCE START IN ITALY?

• CENTRALIZED LOCATION MADE IT A CENTER FOR TRADE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST – AREA OF TREMENDOUS WEALTH.

• SITTING ON TOP OF ROMAN RUINS AND DISCOVERING ANCIENT TEXTS

• ALL CITY STATES PATRONIZED THE ARTS… RESULT IS A FLOWERING IN ARTS NOT SEEN SINCE CLASSICAL PERIOD

Italy in the 14th Century• While most of Europe

was controlled by Empires/Nations; N. Italy was arranged into city-states dominated by wealthy merchants and bankers

• Northern Italy had large urban centers; 3 cities were well over 100,000 people (Genoa, Venice, and Florence)

Florence led the Way in Arts

• In the 1400’s (15th century) Florence came under the political control of the Medici family, powerful merchants and bankers

• Besides his authoritarian control of politics, Cosimo de Medici supported the arts in Florence, spending his personal fortune on civic art

• Question for thought… Why Florence?

Head of Apollo 5th Century BCE

• “Man” steps onto the stage. The Greeks find the ideal form. The western sense of aesthetic is born.

• The Romans would later copy the style of the Greeks in terms of attention paid to the human form

• What does this say about the Romans and Greeks?

Mystical Messages

Illuminated Manuscript13th Century

Byzantine Christ 14th Century

CathedralsNotre Dame, Paris

Notre Dame, Exterior Details

Salisbury Cathedral, England

Culture of the Middle Ages

• What did you see?

• The art of the Middle Ages was often flat and two-dimensional.

• It also reflected the time, so culture in the Middle Ages era centered around Christian values and the importance of the church and the Nobility.

New Beginnings!

Renaissance Ideals• What values shaped the era of the

Renaissance?1.Celebration of the individual2.Love of classical learning3.Enjoyment of worldly pleasures

NOTE: All are descendants of Humanism and Greek/Roman Values

• Why are these significant? B/C none of these values were “celebrated” during the Middle Ages. Remember, during the MA’s only the Nobility and the Catholic Church were celebrated

1. Realism & 1. Realism & ExpressionExpression

Expulsion Expulsion fromfromthe Gardenthe Garden

MasaccioMasaccio

14271427

First nudes First nudes sincesinceclassical classical timestimes..

2. Perspective2. Perspective

Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!

Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!

First use First use of linear of linear

perspective!perspective!

Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!

The The TrinityTrinity

MasaccioMasaccio

14271427

What you What you are, I once are, I once was; what I was; what I am, you will am, you will

become.become.

PerspectivePerspective

3. Classicism3. Classicism

Greco-Roman influence.

Secularism.

Humanism.

Individualism free standing figures.

Symmetry/BalanceThe The “Classical Pose”“Classical Pose”

Medici “Venus” (1c)Medici “Venus” (1c)

4. Emphasis on 4. Emphasis on IndividualismIndividualism Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre:

The Duke & Dutchess of UrbinoThe Duke & Dutchess of Urbino

Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.

Isabella d’Este –Isabella d’Este – da Vinci, da Vinci, 14991499 1474-1539

“First Lady of the Italian Renaissance.”

Great patroness of the arts.

Known during her time as “First Lady of the World!”

5. Geometrical 5. Geometrical Arrangement of Arrangement of

FiguresFigures The Dreyfus The Dreyfus Madonna Madonna with the with the PomegranatPomegranatee

Leonardo da Leonardo da VinciVinci

14691469

The figure as The figure as architecture!architecture!

6. Light & 6. Light & Shadowing/Softening Shadowing/Softening

EdgesEdges

ChiaroscuroChiaroscuro

SfumatoSfumato

7. Artists as 7. Artists as Personalities/CelebritiesPersonalities/Celebrities

Lives of the Lives of the Most Most Excellent Excellent Painters, Painters, Sculptors, andSculptors, andArchitectsArchitects

Giorgio VasariGiorgio Vasari

15501550

Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519

Madonna and Child

The Last Supper (fresco)

Studies of Anatomy

The Show Continues…

Raphael 1483-1520“Portrait of a Woman”

Medici Pope: Leo X

Michelangelo: Sistine Chapel at the Vatican 1508-1512

Expulsion from Eden

The Creation of Adam

God and Adam

David

Northern RenaissanceDurer 1471-1528

Knight, Deathand the Devil

Etching

Pieter Bruegel 1525-1569“Peasant Dance”

Peasant Wedding

Old Peasant Woman

Reflect

• What did we see..?• The art of the Renaissance was very much to

scale (realistic looking) as opposed to that of the Middle Ages. While MA art was flat, Renaissance art was depicted in 3-Dimensions

• What were the themes we saw: Hopefully you noticed that in contrast to MA work, Renaissance art reflected the time’s ideals of the celebration of the individual, enjoyment of worldly pleasures, and the love of classical learning.

Which is renaissance? Which is medieval? How do you know?

Which is renaissance? How do you know? What is similar about the two figures? Different?

A B

Which is northern? Which is southern? Artists?

Final Thoughts

• Why did we just study all of this? What did we study: painting, literature, buildings, and sculptures. – These are a part of society and a part of history as

they reflect civilization.

• Remember: Culture (along with Politics and Economics) ALWAYS… ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS reflects the values/ideologies and capabilities of the society and time period in which it is produced, as well as that of the producer. As values and society change through time, so too does culture.

Politics

• As discussed earlier, at the time of the Renaissance, Italy was divided up into city-states, several numbering 100,000+ in population

• Constant warfare between holy roman emperor and popes + the divisions within the church itself (after the great schism) = city-states having freedom to be able to develop autonomous governments without being taken over.

Italian City States

• 5 big ones: Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence, and the papal states

• Both Venice and Florence republics (at least outwardly) – actually run by merchant oligarchies (group of businessmen) – in the case of Florence the Medici (the mafia)

• Papal states run by the church• Milan and Naples run by despots (a single ruler

– rules through fear and tyranny) • Frenzied, turbulent world for city states • All were fiercely competitive – intrigue, warring,

assassinations for most of 15th century

Times of War• Solution: diplomacy (ambassadors who would be

sent to make peace – or spy on another city-state) – Treaty of Lodi was an attempt to create and alliance and have a balance of power between city-states so that if attacked by foreign enemy, they would have a united front. This ended when Milan invited French to enter Italy to help them fight against Naples.

• Because of wealth, being small city-states, and instability because warring with each other, the new powerful monarchies of France and Spain swooped down on Italy like vultures. (city states could have withstood attacks if they had united, but fiercely loyal to their own city-states)

Times of War• French (Charles viii) made a lightening invasion

through Italy in 1494 with 30,000 troops. Started in Milan and moved down to Naples.

• With the French coming, Florence ousted the Medici from power. A man a named Savonarola took over. As french invade, he calls Florence to repentance and says that the invasion of France is god’s vengeance for being such a wicked city (Florence burns him at the stake in 1498 after 4 years of hell, fire and damnation speeches).

• Julius II (warrior pope) brought papal states to height of economic, military and diplomatic power- so cultural scene moves to Rome because that’s where the $ is) in the early 16th century (Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael).

Times of War

• Italy a pawn and battle ground between Spain and France (the Hapsburgs and the Valois) for next 25 years. Both France and Spain invade numerous times. (during this turbulent time that Machiavelli writes the prince.)

• Not to be outdone by the French, the Spanish counter attack and sack Rome in 1527. Thereafter the Spanish dominated Italy.