Post by sacrilegend on Jan 20, 2007 16:56:23 GMT -5
What are your feelings? We're busy with a huge prject at school, on it, and although I've pitted myself against it ferociously (before) I've fallen in love.
The word Renaissance (French for 'rebirth', or Rinascimento in Italian), was first used to define the historical age in Italy — and in Europe in general - that followed the Middle Ages and preceded the Reformation, spanning roughly the 14th through the 16th century. The principal features were the revival of learning based on classical sources, the rise of courtly and papal patronage, the development of perspective in painting, and the advancements of science. The word Renaissance is now often used to describe other historical and cultural moments (e.g. the Carolingian Renaissance, the Byzantine Renaissances).
The Italian Renaissance has several characteristics: a re-connection with classical antiquity, the rise of Renaissance humanism, the emergence of Italian courtly power, the development of perspective, the radical change in the style and substance of the arts and architecture, and the rise of the power of the papacy, among others. Because of the nature of these changes, the Italian Renaissance has sometimes been seen as the beginning of the Modern Age, and has thus also been sometimes labeled the Early Modern.
The Italian Renaissance has no set starting point or place; the ideas that it came to embody developed over time and in different places. One of the first centers was Florence, but by the middle of the fifteenth century, Rome, Urbino, Milan, and Mantua had also become centers. In literature, Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374) are often considered to be the first writers to embody the humanist spirit of the Renaissance. In architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446) is considered to be the first Renaissance architect, whereas in painting, it is the treatise (1436) by Leon Battista Alberti (1404 –1472) that describes the theory of perspective that is usually given as the mark of the new age. In economic terms, it is the rise of the Medici through the efforts of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360-1429). He made the Medici bank into the leading financial institution of Europe. The fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 was a turning point in warfare as cannon and gunpowder became central. In addition, Byzantine-Greek (i.e. Eastern Roman) scholars fled west to Rome, bringing with them classical Roman and Greek texts as well as their knowledge of the classical civilizations, much of which had been lost in Western Europe for centuries. Notable among them was Manuel Chrysoloras (c. 1355 –1415), who arrived in Italy in 1397 and is often credited with re-introducing Greek literature to Western Europe. Besides spurring this migration, the fall of the last remnants of the Roman Empire represented the end of the old religious order in Europe.
Throughout the 15th century, artists studied the natural world in order to perfect their understanding of such subjects as anatomy and perspective. Among the many great artists of this period were Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca. There was a related advancement of Gothic Art centered in Germany and the Netherlands, known as the Northern Renaissance. The Early Renaissance was succeeded by the mature High Renaissance around the year 1500.
[edit] Critical views
Many historians now view the Italian Renaissance as more of an intellectual and ideological change than a substantive one. Marxist historians, for example, hold the view that the changes in art, literature, and philosophy affected only a tiny minority of the very wealthy and powerful, leaving the lives of the great mass of the European population unchanged.
Many historians now point out that most of the negative social factors popularly associated with the "medieval" period - poverty, ignorance, warfare, religious and political persecution, and so forth - seem to have actually worsened in this era which saw the rise of Machiavelli, the Wars of Religion, the corrupt Borgia Popes, and the intensified witch-hunts of the 16th century. Many people who lived during the Renaissance did not view it as the "golden age" imagined by certain 19th century authors, but were concerned by these social maladies. Significantly, though, the artists, writers, and patrons involved in the cultural movements in question believed they were living in a new era that was a clean break from the Middle Ages.
Johan Huizinga (1872–1945) acknowledged the existence of the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change. In his book The Waning of the Middle Ages, he argued that the Renaissance was a period of decline from the High Middle Ages, destroying much that was important. The Latin language, for instance, had evolved greatly from the classical period and was still a living language used in the church and elsewhere. The Renaissance obsession with classical purity halted its natural evolution and saw Latin revert to its classical form. Robert S. Lopez has contended that it was a period of deep economic recession. Meanwhile George Sarton and Lynn Thorndike have both argued that scientific progress was slowed.
Historians have begun to consider the word Renaissance as unnecessarily loaded, implying an unambiguously positive rebirth from the supposedly more primitive "Dark Ages" (Middle Ages). Many historians now prefer to use the term "Early Modern" for this period, a more neutral term that highlights the period as a transitional one that led to the modern world.
The development of the Italian Renaissance was intertwined with the intellectual movement known as Renaissance humanism and with the history of the fiercely independent and combative urban societies of the city-states of central and northern Italy in the 13th to 16th centuries. Florence, Italy can be considered the birthplace of the Renaissance for several reasons.
The first two or three decades of the 15th century saw the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence, particularly in Florence. This 'Florentine Enlightenment' (Holmes) was a major achievement. It was a classical, classicizing culture which sought to live up to the republican ideals of Athens and Rome. Sculptors used Roman models and classical themes. This society had a new relationship with its classical past — it felt it owned it and revived it. Florentines felt akin to 1st century BC republican Rome. Rucellai wrote that he belonged to a great age; Leonardo Bruni's Panegyric to the City of Florence expresses similar sentiments. There was a genuine appreciation of the plastic arts—pagan idols and statuary—with nudity and expressions of human dignity. Painting took huge leaps forward from the works of Giotto through Fra Angelico, Masaccio, Masolino, Piero della Francesca, and many others.
My favourites:
Giotto di Bondone
Lamentation
Crucifixion
Botticelli
Pallas and The Centaur
The Adoration of The Magii
There are so many I'd like to post, but it'd take forever. your thoughts?
The word Renaissance (French for 'rebirth', or Rinascimento in Italian), was first used to define the historical age in Italy — and in Europe in general - that followed the Middle Ages and preceded the Reformation, spanning roughly the 14th through the 16th century. The principal features were the revival of learning based on classical sources, the rise of courtly and papal patronage, the development of perspective in painting, and the advancements of science. The word Renaissance is now often used to describe other historical and cultural moments (e.g. the Carolingian Renaissance, the Byzantine Renaissances).
The Italian Renaissance has several characteristics: a re-connection with classical antiquity, the rise of Renaissance humanism, the emergence of Italian courtly power, the development of perspective, the radical change in the style and substance of the arts and architecture, and the rise of the power of the papacy, among others. Because of the nature of these changes, the Italian Renaissance has sometimes been seen as the beginning of the Modern Age, and has thus also been sometimes labeled the Early Modern.
The Italian Renaissance has no set starting point or place; the ideas that it came to embody developed over time and in different places. One of the first centers was Florence, but by the middle of the fifteenth century, Rome, Urbino, Milan, and Mantua had also become centers. In literature, Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374) are often considered to be the first writers to embody the humanist spirit of the Renaissance. In architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446) is considered to be the first Renaissance architect, whereas in painting, it is the treatise (1436) by Leon Battista Alberti (1404 –1472) that describes the theory of perspective that is usually given as the mark of the new age. In economic terms, it is the rise of the Medici through the efforts of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360-1429). He made the Medici bank into the leading financial institution of Europe. The fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 was a turning point in warfare as cannon and gunpowder became central. In addition, Byzantine-Greek (i.e. Eastern Roman) scholars fled west to Rome, bringing with them classical Roman and Greek texts as well as their knowledge of the classical civilizations, much of which had been lost in Western Europe for centuries. Notable among them was Manuel Chrysoloras (c. 1355 –1415), who arrived in Italy in 1397 and is often credited with re-introducing Greek literature to Western Europe. Besides spurring this migration, the fall of the last remnants of the Roman Empire represented the end of the old religious order in Europe.
Throughout the 15th century, artists studied the natural world in order to perfect their understanding of such subjects as anatomy and perspective. Among the many great artists of this period were Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca. There was a related advancement of Gothic Art centered in Germany and the Netherlands, known as the Northern Renaissance. The Early Renaissance was succeeded by the mature High Renaissance around the year 1500.
[edit] Critical views
Many historians now view the Italian Renaissance as more of an intellectual and ideological change than a substantive one. Marxist historians, for example, hold the view that the changes in art, literature, and philosophy affected only a tiny minority of the very wealthy and powerful, leaving the lives of the great mass of the European population unchanged.
Many historians now point out that most of the negative social factors popularly associated with the "medieval" period - poverty, ignorance, warfare, religious and political persecution, and so forth - seem to have actually worsened in this era which saw the rise of Machiavelli, the Wars of Religion, the corrupt Borgia Popes, and the intensified witch-hunts of the 16th century. Many people who lived during the Renaissance did not view it as the "golden age" imagined by certain 19th century authors, but were concerned by these social maladies. Significantly, though, the artists, writers, and patrons involved in the cultural movements in question believed they were living in a new era that was a clean break from the Middle Ages.
Johan Huizinga (1872–1945) acknowledged the existence of the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change. In his book The Waning of the Middle Ages, he argued that the Renaissance was a period of decline from the High Middle Ages, destroying much that was important. The Latin language, for instance, had evolved greatly from the classical period and was still a living language used in the church and elsewhere. The Renaissance obsession with classical purity halted its natural evolution and saw Latin revert to its classical form. Robert S. Lopez has contended that it was a period of deep economic recession. Meanwhile George Sarton and Lynn Thorndike have both argued that scientific progress was slowed.
Historians have begun to consider the word Renaissance as unnecessarily loaded, implying an unambiguously positive rebirth from the supposedly more primitive "Dark Ages" (Middle Ages). Many historians now prefer to use the term "Early Modern" for this period, a more neutral term that highlights the period as a transitional one that led to the modern world.
The development of the Italian Renaissance was intertwined with the intellectual movement known as Renaissance humanism and with the history of the fiercely independent and combative urban societies of the city-states of central and northern Italy in the 13th to 16th centuries. Florence, Italy can be considered the birthplace of the Renaissance for several reasons.
The first two or three decades of the 15th century saw the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence, particularly in Florence. This 'Florentine Enlightenment' (Holmes) was a major achievement. It was a classical, classicizing culture which sought to live up to the republican ideals of Athens and Rome. Sculptors used Roman models and classical themes. This society had a new relationship with its classical past — it felt it owned it and revived it. Florentines felt akin to 1st century BC republican Rome. Rucellai wrote that he belonged to a great age; Leonardo Bruni's Panegyric to the City of Florence expresses similar sentiments. There was a genuine appreciation of the plastic arts—pagan idols and statuary—with nudity and expressions of human dignity. Painting took huge leaps forward from the works of Giotto through Fra Angelico, Masaccio, Masolino, Piero della Francesca, and many others.
My favourites:
Giotto di Bondone
Lamentation
Crucifixion
Botticelli
Pallas and The Centaur
The Adoration of The Magii
There are so many I'd like to post, but it'd take forever. your thoughts?
