Baldassare Castiglione
He wrote the famous piece �the courtier� which discussed the
ideal qualities of a Renaissance gentleman. He also was
reared at the Gonzaga court. (1478-1529)
Michelangelo
the capstone of Renaissance art shared Petrarch�s
concern for reform and renewal in Italian society the
statue of David (symbol of youthful Florentine republic struggling
to maintain its freedom) and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were
his two most famous works (1475-1564)
Sistine Chapel
one of Michelangelo�s most famous works spent four
years decorating the ceiling with hundreds of figures, 9 scenes from
the book of Genesis (including the Creation of Adam)�completed the
Last Judgement which covers the wall above the alter
(1503-1513)
Desiderius Erasmus
prince of humanists he believed Christians must be
�fools for Christ� greatest contribution to European
intellectual life were his edition of and commentaries on the New
Testament (critical edition of the Greek text and a Latin
translation independent of the fourth century) his
commentary emphasized the literal and historical recounting of human
experiences/basis of later vernacular and translations of the
scripture during the Reformation he believed humanistic
combination of classical and Christian wisdom would wipe away
violence and ignorance
Thomas More
his most famous work is �Utopia� the description of an ideal
society book one: debate over moral value of public service
in a world dominated by powerful and autocratic monarchs
book two: there is no private property but strict equality of
possessions and as a result; harmony, tolerance and little/no
violence.
Francesco Petrarch
popularized the idea of mixing classical moral and literary
ideas with the concerns of the fourteenth century
criticized the papacy in Avignon
Renaissance
�rebirth� describe the period of intense creativity
and change that began in Italy in the fourteenth century and then
extended to all of Europe
Leonardo da Vinci
he�s famous for his plans, sometimes prophetic, for bridges,
fortresses submarines and airships he developed chiaroscuro
�a technique using light and dark in pictorial representations, and
showed aerial perspective� he painted horizons as muted,
shaded zones rather than with sharp lines analytical
observations that had the greatest influence on his
contemporaries
Giotto de Bondone
an Italian painter and architect from Florence
introduced the technique of drawing accurately from life
his masterwork is the decoration of Scrovegni Chapel in
Padua
humanism
rhetoric and literature-the arts of persuasion poetry,
history, letter writings and oratory, based on standardized forms
and aesthetic values, consciously borrowed from ancient Greece and
Rome were the center of intellectual life (1300-1500)
Johann(es) Gutenberg
developed molds by which single letters or individual words
could be cast in metal invented printing these
could be used to compose many different pages/they were more
durable
Niccol� Machiavelli
he developed a new science of politics �The Prince�
was his most famous work commented on Roman government, the
role of religion, and the nature of political virtue, emphasizing
the sophisticated Roman analysis of political and military
situations individuals are much more likely to respond to
fear and that power rather than morality makes for good
government
Gonzaga court
both public and private finances for the city,
appointments to public offices, and important political decisions
were made by the men who dominated the court women were
expected to be seen and could exert their influence women
were actively involved in creating the ideology of the court
the church was a monument to the Gonzaga court
polyglot Bible
a version of the bible which the text consists of translations
in various languages arranged in parallel columns this
arrangement allows scholars to compare ancient and modern versions
as well as to examine closely the translation from one language to
another.
linear perspective
their sculpture, architecture, and painting began an ongoing
series of experiments with the representation of space through
linear perspective perspective is a system for representing
three dimensional objects on a two dimensional place based
on 2 observations: (1) as parallel lines recede into the distance,
they seem to coverage� (2) a geometric relationship regulates the
relative sizes of objects at various distances from the viewer
civic humanism
Civic humanists wrote letters, orations and histories praising
their city�s classical virtues and history they gave a
practical and public meaning to the Petrarchan program they
argued that there was a moral and ethical value intrinsic to public
life civic humanists desired to create and inspire men of
virtue who could take the lead in government and protect their
follow citizens from lawlessness and tyranny
On the Falsely Believed and Forged Donation of Constantine
By Lorenzo Valla he attacked the legitimacy of the
�Donation of Constantine� because of it�s language and
form, he argued, it could not have been written at the time of
Constantine; Valla was correct; the Donation was an 18th century
forgery