Chapter 11.2II. The Italian Renaissance

• New ways of thinking created a rebirth of the arts and learning in Italy.

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A. During the Italian Renaissance, people found new ways to see the world.

• During the Middle Ages, people were concerned with learning only about religion. By the 1300s, scholars began to study subjects such as history, literature, public speaking, and art. These subjects were called the humanities, and they led to the thinking and learning known as humanism.

B. Rediscovering the Past

1. The popularity of the humanities was due to a new interest in ancient history.

2. During the 1300s, when the Turks conquered much of the Byzantine Empire, scholars fled to Europe and took great works of literature with them.

3. Many of the works were thought to be ancient classical writings, works by Greek or Roman thinkers.

4. Italian scholars wanted to revive subjects that the Greeks and Romans had studied.

5. Other sources of inspiration were Roman ruins and fine classical statues.

C. Italian writers contributed great works of literature.

• Writers such as Dante Alighieri and Niccolo Machiavelli contributed greatly to the Renaissance.

D. Dante and Machiavelli

1. Dante’s major work was The Divine Comedy. Dante wrote it in Italian, which was the vernacular, the common language of the people.

– Described an imaginary journey through the afterlife

– Described many of the problems Dante saw in Italian society

2. Machiavelli wrote The Prince. He was also a politician, and his book told leaders how to rule.

– Told politicians to focus on the “here and now,” not on theories

E. Italian art and artists were among the finest in the world.

1. During the Renaissance, Italian artists created some of the most beautiful paintings and sculptures in the world. Artists had the support of very wealthy families.

2. New techniques, like perspective, made their work come alive.

– Perspective is a method of showing a three-dimensional scene on a flat surface so that it looks real.

F. Great Artists

1. Sandro Botticelli was a painter from Florence. He painted everything in fine detail.

2. Titian, the finest artist of Venice, reflected his interest in the past by painting scenes from classical myths.

3. Michelangelo was one of the great Italian artists. He was known as a master. He not only painted portraits but also designed buildings, wrote poetry, and painted murals in the Vatican.

4. Leonardo da Vinci was the true genius of the Renaissance. He was a great painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, and engineer.

G. Science and education made advances during this time.

• Many of the texts rediscovered in the 1300s dealt with science. For the first time in centuries, Europeans could read works by ancient scientists and make their own scientific advances.

H. Science and Education

1. Mathematics was believed to be the key to unlocking the universe.

2. Engineers and architects used math to design new buildings.

3. Astronomy was studied to learn more about the sun and stars.

During the Middle Ages, students had concentrated on religious subjects. During the Renaissance, students learned about the humanities as well.

Petrarch wrote about the importance of knowing history.

I. The Spread of Renaissance Ideas

Education and new ways of spreading information would take the Renaissance far beyond Italy.