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ITALY: BIRTHPLACE OF THE RENAISSANCE

SETTING THE STAGE

At the end of the middle ages Europe suffers from war and plague

Survivors want to enjoy life

Start to ? The church

Want social achievements and advancements

Look to past to gain knowledge/ideas

Renaissance means the rebirth of art and learning

ITALY’S ADVANTAGES

Three reasons Italy succeeds in the Renaissance

1. Urban centers

Global trade regained strength due to the Crusades

Large Italian city-states spawned intellectual revolution

Plague killed 60% –survivors could demand higher pay



2. Merchants and the Medici

Each c/s ran its own affairs, army, taxes, etc

Merchants wealthiest and dominate politics

Florence had the Medici’s Powerful family of bankers and merchants



3. Classical Heritage

Renaissance people hated the Middle Ages

Wanted to return to classic art and writings of Greece and Rome Rome is in Italy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tired of death, war, destruction

NEW CLASSIC AND WORLDLY VALUES

Humanism

Focuses on human potential and achievement

Influenced artists and architects to carry on Greek and Roman values


Enjoy the World

You can enjoy fine food, music, life without offending God

Secular-only focusing on the hear and now and global thoughts Don’t let religion and government “restrict”


Patrons of the Arts

One who financially supports artists

Popes and merchants biggest patrons Demonstrated their wealth and importance


Perspective

The 3-D effect of paintings

Vanishing point

The Renaissance Man

When a person strives to master every area of study

“He should paint, dance, sing, play music, write poetry, skilled in riding, wrestling and swordsmanship”

THE NEW ART The “R” sees all types of new art

Medieval art tended to be very flat and nearly always had religious overtones.

THE NEW ART Renaissance artists started exploiting this optical illusion in their art. The

advantage of it is that you created the illusion of a three dimensional image on a flat, two dimensional surface

• Interestingly, perspective can also be used as to create false perspective, such as here.

You also start to see the use of light and shade (chiaroscuro) and blurring outlines so it seems that tones imperceptibly meld in to each other (thereby creating volume: this is sfumato).

Carvaggio’s Crucifixion of St. Peter. An example of Chiaroscuro.

Close-up of Mona Lisa’s face. Notice the sfumato blurring, especially around the eyes, and how it creates a 3D illusion.

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Spiritual

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