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Renaissance
Renaissance
1400-1600
The Renaissance
• The term “Renaissance”
translates to “re-birth”.
• It was a cultural
awakening signaling the
beginning of modern
times.
• The Renaissance began
in the city-states of Italy,
which were important
centers of trade.
Humanism
• The Renaissance gave birth to humanism, the
study of the Greek and Latin classics.
• Humanists sought fulfillment in daily life and
believed individuals had dignity and worth.
• The belief in the ideal person- one who
participates is a variety of activities- was
renewed. The term Renaissance Man
originates from this belief.
Humanism
• Humanists opened
schools to spread the
study of history,
philosophy, Latin, and
Greek- The Humanities.
• Humanist schools would
replace schools operated
by the clergy in many
areas of Italy. Plato – A Greek Philosopher who was
revered by the Humanists
Humanism
Benvenuto Cellini
Noted
Humanists
• Humanists like Lorenzo
Valla pushed the long
accepted traditions,
assumptions and
institutions.
• He would prove the • How would challenges
document that provided to long standing
the legal basis for the traditions affect
pope’s supremacy over European society?
kings was a forgery.
Niccolo
Machiavelli
Pope Leo X
Renaissance
Cities
• Choices:
– Choose an influential personality from the
Renaissance period and write an essay (500
words typed) on how they contributed to the
Renaissance and its values.
Choose a painter from the Renaissance and
duplicate a piece of his artwork on to a ceiling
tile.
– Choose a statue or sculpted art work and
reproduce it in a miniature form.
– Time Frame: Two Weeks from today.
The Building Style of
the Renaissance
• Renaissance sculpture of
nude figures resembled
ancient Greek and Roman
sculptures; they were not
stiff and rigid like medieval
sculptures.
• Some of the best known
sculptors came from
Florence – Donatello,
Michelangelo, and
Ghiberti.