RISE

OF
MODERN WEST
The term Renaissance a period of rebirth and revival of the classical age of Romans and Greeks.

The Cultural Achivements of the classical period and resuring it's art and literature in recreate

new culture free from medieval bondage. The Origins of the term Renaissance' go back to the

writings of Giorgio Vasari (1511 - 1574 CE), an Italian art theorist, who used the term "Rinascita'

to describe the preceding two centuries, and alwent the same time French naturalist. Pierre Belon

(1518-641564 CE) used the term renaissance implying classical antiquity in a new spirit. The

Italians called the movement` Rinascimento'.

The genesis of Renaissance can be traced back to the time of 'Black Death' or even in the earlier

fourteenth century, and its end in the early sixteenth century. The period of nearly two centuries

that witnessed a grave political turmoil, ravages from ceaseless warfare and natural calamities.

Major attempts were made through a series of movements that took place in Between1300 to

1000 CE, Active participation to reshape and recreate social values in many parts of Europe,

mainly in the Italian city-states. Thus, it became a period of intense creativity in the field of

"thought, literature,arts, architecture, politics and practical sciences. This period was also seen as

an unexplained phenomenon that coincided with the restoration of classical literature.

Theodore de Beze described this movement with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 in which

many Greeks fled to Italy, but this view was debunked later. The idea of rebirth and revival

began to gain ground in Italy from the period of Giotto (Italian painter). The achievements of

Renaissance artists or poets were often compared to the ancients before they were prominent.

The writers of the Renaissance portray a strong dislike of the Middle Age culture by describing it

as the Dank Ages" or `Barbaric Darkness'. Thus, Renaissance can be seen as the dividing line

between Modern Europe and Medieval Europe.

Many Italians believed that in the distant past Rome was the center of the civilized world but the

power of the Roman Empire was destroyed by the invasion of Germanic tribes (the Goths and

the Vandals). They considered the Medieval period time as unrelieved darkness, blind faith,

economic Stagnation and constant fighting. For them this period was marked as the death of high

culture of past. But, it was an advent Renaissance that would transform all aspects of life

intellectual, social, cultural and political.

The scholars believed that the medieval period as a period of blind forth and superstition was

brought to an end by the rationalistic faith of Renaissance. Voltaire, a prominent Enlightenment

scholar, stressed the intellural content of Renaissance and believed that it promotes the spirit of

independence, brought almost the promoked rebirth of literature and fine arts.

Karl Marsc and Engels saw the Renaissance as a relation between the arts and economy is

between cultural and material production. They suggested that the economic base shaped the

cultural 'superstructure'. Engels believed that this movement constituted a great turning point in

the history of the west.

Treating the 16th century as a period of diverse events such as the formation of a new culture

new religion economic formation the new world and the new science. Engels agreed that it was

the greatest progressive revolution that mankind so far experienced.

Von Martin called it Renaissance as a 'bourgeois revolution', where the noble and the cleric were

replaced by the rise of capitalists as the leaders of the society. Friedrich Antal argued that

renaissance art mirrored the alterations of the elites and the direct relationship between the artist

and the patron. Bascandall came out with the thesis that painting was an indication of the social

relationship between the patron and the artist in which the former played a determining role.

There are other several writers who present Renaissance in a Socio-economic context.

Thus, the meaning and significance of Renaissance are open to several interpretations. Though,

renaissance is no longer seen as a distinct period of history rather it is seen as a transition in

which elements of both periods were present Renaissance is seen to be a part of continuous

historical development. The socio-economic force of Renaissance caused the break-up of

medieval society and the feudal system along with the concept of Universal Church there was
our revival of Commerce and industries, accompanied by the growth of the town and money

economy the increasing social economic and political changes created conditions in which not

only fresh ideas emerged but also influenced the attitude of the ruling elite.

Renaissance as a movement was the product of urban environment. It grew and prospered in the

regions which had important cities and towns. So, Renaissance was the culture of the product of

an interesting and curios world of Italian city-states, in which revival of the ancient world and its

application to the present society came to reflect the civic need of that time. Renaissance

flourished in Italy, it sprang from the urban environment that existed in the cities of northern and

central Italy. The social structure of these cities was exceptionally dynamic, sophisticated but far

from egalitarian. The principal social groups, particularly in Florence, consisted of three

categories, at the top of social strata were the richest men called by various names like Nobli,

Principali, grandi or 'the first citizen', who monopolized political power and kept all the principal

official posts with themselves. They well-educated, widely travelled and experienced, and lived

in magnificent houses in the heart of the city. Below the Nobli were the category of Mezzani or

Popular, who were moderate men like shopkeepers, bakers, wine sellers, drugists, artists,

lawyers, civil servants, teachers and etc. The lowest strata comprised of poor people (Poveril or

masses; they were mostly domestic servants and manual workers, they were excluded from

political power.

It was the upper section of the society who brought almost the Renaissance and quite often the

wealth was provided by the Second category. The Italian Renaissance was the product of a

century of civic autonomy.

The Peace Treaty of Lodi (1454) created a situation in which no individual ruler could assert

complete political authority over the other city States, this was an important factor in the
development of Renaissance. The presence of many self- governing city-states prompted them to

culturally and politically compete with each other. For Denys Hay it was the polity of the Italian

States that was cuted as a stimulus for cultural changes. It resulted in the remarkable diversity of

cultural and intellectual activities that was not seen in Europe.

Economic growth laid the material basis for the Italian Renaissance. The phenomenal and

commercial and financial development, population growth and an increasing level of production

promoted certain pre-capitalist features in some areas of Italian economy. The Italian merchants,

particularly in Florence, possessed a large reservoir of liquid capital for investment which was

Uhlijed in real estate, trading and in cloth manufacturing, arms and industrial goods, mineral

resources, funding military campaigns or even art projects. The Renaissance in Italy consisted of

two important phenomena: a renewed interest in classical Latin and Greek which came to be

associated with Humanism & and the visual arts that attained the pinnacle of glory in this period.

The Renaissance art was dominated by three great artists -Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and

Raphael.

Da Venci is an highly imagenative person. He was the first to imagine why man can't fly on his

theory Wright brothers worked on. He was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist,

theorist, sculptor, and architect. He has given shape to different subjects like Physics, literature,

chemistry, Aerodynamic, maths, English, Algebra and many other.

Privacy of individual in social & Political life is coming from Leonardo da Vinci. He even

commented on the Bible by saying that Bible don't have scientific imagination. He started

experiment with the origin of universe and studying beyond sun and moon is not permitted in the

church. He found somewhere sun is the centre of the universe. Exploring a new subject which is
know in modern way Astronomy and also separate astronomy with astrology. He also started

study about human body which was sin in Christianity.

Renaissance art come with greater balance & proportion of the image. Da Vinci has developed a

perfect geometrical proportion for canvas. He has developed the the image of monalisa. 1174,

Italy supper Jude( Jude's psychological portrait is coming from Leonado da Vinci).

For the image making do Vinci mostly depends on the Greek morphology ( Saint Basslica

Church, Saint Peters chruch, Saint Columbus chruch and Saint Paul chruch). Da Vinci shaped the

modern chruch. Humanism in Italian context it is emerging with the contribution of Da Vinci.

Humanism is the knowledge produced by the italian Renaissance people including Da Vinci

producing a demon of knowledge that stands independent from state & religion. For state the

legitimacy of its existence was always derived from symbolic aspects of authority like religion,

god and symbols of power.

Another figure of great stature of the High Renaissance (denotes the period of artistic pinnacle of

Renaissance) was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), like Da Vinci, he was also from

Florence. Where da Vinci' was a naturalist, Buonarroti was an idealist Michaelangelo beautifully

expressed the humanist fascination for man's potential, he depiced human figures, particularly

the male as a strong and powerful character. Prince and Popes outbid each other to obtain his

services. The city authorities of Florence honoured the two greatest legends Leonardo and

Michaelangelo, by inviting them to paint a story from the city's history on the walls of the

council chamber of the Town Hall.

Raphael Sanzio (1483-1530) emerged from city of Urbino. He was a pupil of the "Umbrian

School" and had learned his art from a well-known artist of that region Peitro Perugino. In a
short period of time, Raphael created an important place for himself in the world of art. His art

reflects not only the quality of composition but also the beauty of figures, a sincere portrayal of

nature. He is also known for his Tapestry cartoons and Madonna paintings".

Thus, there were concrete achievements by the discovery of scientific perspective, knowledge of

anatomy to create beautiful human forms and frequent use of geometry in antishic creations. One

of the most noticeable features of the Renaissance paintings and sulphur was the creation of nude

human forms because humanists considered man to be the greatest and the most beautiful

creation of God.

The ideas of the Renaissance started to spread from Italy to the rest of Europe with the help of

travelers and artists, like printing, which was a giant step in this spread of ideas. Printings

revolutionized many things, and thousands of people could then read books and share is ideas

about them. Paper making spread from China to the Middle East by the late 700s, coming to

Europe from there. By the 1300s, European factories were making paper, and it soon replaced

the animal skins that people wroke on before since paper was cheaper and easier to prepare.

However, in the mid-1400s, a German man named Johann Gutenberg created a printing press

that used movalite type. Instead of writing, an entire page could be printed at once and then

rearranged to create a new page. In advent 1455, the first printed book was a Bible, printed in

Latin language then it was eventually translated and printed into different languages, even

though many Church leaders fought against it. Due to this Bible was availible for more people,

causing more people to learn how to read, which in turn increased the demand in education.

Then, students from around Europe travelled to Italy to study at Italian universites, this caused

another spread of ideas through Students from northern Europe who studied with these teachers
that took these ideas back to their home countries. Many of the new socholars became teachers in

European universities, new universities opened in France, Germany and the Netherlands. As a

result of these schools being set up by humanist, the Renaissance ideas about value of Europe

were spread throughout the continent. Despite the fact that only men could attend universities,

women did contribute to the spread of ideas, daughters with noble families were educated at

Rome, who encouraged young women to study classical literature, philosophy and the ants,

creating many powerful political figures. Many of these political figures married nobles around

europe and used their husband's lands as an advantage to spread the Renaissance ideas.

Art also helped in spreading Renaissance because as humanism in northern Europe developed its

own characteristics, the artistic developments are article. Italy influenced Italian art but the

peculiarities of different regions also determined the Style and subject of artistic creations.

Therefore, Renaissance Started from Italy and spread across Europe through many ways, major

one of them where education and art.