THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

The Rebirth of Greek and Roman Culture

WHERE ARE WE AT?

Ancient Civilizations

Classical Civilizations

The Middle Ages

The Renaissance

The Enlightenment

RENAISSANCE

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

Growth of Trade

Leads to prosperous cities

(Florence/Venice)

Where are they getting goods?

What goods are they bringing back?

Renewed Interest in Ancient Culture

Greeks and Romans

Renaissance = “Rebirth”

Move from religion to the individual

Focus on art and literature

THE PEOPLE OF THE RENAISSANCE

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael,

and Donatello

Not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Isaac Newton, William

Shakespeare, Niccolò Machiavelli,

and Galileo

Walter Raleigh, Christopher

Columbus, and Hernan Cortes

THE RENAISSANCE MAN

What is a “Renaissance Man”

A person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.

For Instance, Leonardo da Vinci was a…

Painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer

VIDEO – Crash Course

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

The Prince

One of the most influential work

on politics in the world

Morality and Self-Interest

Middle Ages – rulers follow Christian

moral principles

Leaders must do good when

possible, but must be willing to do

evil when necessary

Separation of politics from religion

THE RISE OF FAMILIES

Lack of Monarchy

Strong cities with powerful merchants

A Republic

Citizens vote for leaders

Who is going to dominate?

The de Medici’s

Wealthy merchant family

Behind the scenes ruling

Produced four popes as well…

RENAISSANCE HUMANISM

Humanism

System of thought focusing on the importance of the individual human rather than supernatural or religious forces.

Vernacular Literature

Authors writing in their spoken languages

Downfall of Latin

Liberal Studies

“Liberal Arts”

History, ethics, public speaking, grammar, logic, poetry, mathematics, astronomy, and music

RENAISSANCE ARTISTS

Imitate Nature

Accurately portray humans

Focus on anatomy and proportion

Normal people vs. important people

Perspective

Three dimensions

Use of light and windows in art

If you could think of one word to describe the style of Italian artists of the Renaissance, what would it be?

LEONARDO DA VINCI

VIDEO CLIP – Leonardo Da Vinci

Born in Vinci (near Florence)

Illegitimate child

Father married four times, 11

kids

Apprenticeship

Little schooling, surpasses by

20 years old

Teacher never painted again

LEONARDO THE PERSON

Genius In All Things

Witty, charming and exceedingly handsome

Sang and played music brilliantly

“Renaissance Man”

Procrastinator

Reputation for not completing his works

Promised painting in 7 months, not finished for 25 years

LEONARDO THE WRITER

Kept Notes on Everything

Around 5,000 pages still exist

Mirror Writing

Ensure privacy

Only wrote normally when he

wanted someone to read something

Italian Writing

Often wrote in “short hand” that

he created himself

LEONARDO THE PAINTER

First Oil Painter

Focus on math, proportion, anatomy, etc. when painting

The Last Supper

Deteriorated almost immediately

Threatening monks

Mystery and intrigue

Mona Lisa

Mystery and intrigue

Still exists

Best known Renaissance painting

LEONARDO THE ANATOMIST

Studied Anatomy for Paintings

Wanted realism

Frustrated with other painters

Detailed Sketches of the Body

Often dissected bodies

Sketches so detailed, still used today

Religious Connection

Thought he could master God’s secret by studying the human form

LEONARDO’S HELICOPTER

LEONARDO’S TANK

LEONARDO’S PARACHUTE

LEONARDO AND SCUBA

LEONARDO’S MACHINE GUN

• This machine actually

consisted of three sets of

machine guns, set on a

rotating drum

• When the first set is fired,

the force of the explosion

would pivot the guns down,

bringing the next set of

guns to the top, ready to

be fired.

BE AN INVENTOR LIKE DA VINCI

Working on your own, think about a problem that you deal with often, and come up with an invention that solves your problem.

The invention does need to be based in reality, but doesn’t necessarily have to work if it were built today (many of da Vinci’s inventions do not work when actually built, but still work on paper).

You must sketch and label your invention on one side of the page. All of your LABELS must be done in mirror-writing!

Then on the backside write a one paragraph (5-7 sentences) description of how your invention works.