The Renaissance
The time of Rebirth
The Renaissance was a time of developing various cultures, which developed in the later part of the 14th Century in Italy and through the late 16th century. It was the time of new ideas and the creation of new economical and intellectual beliefs. The Renaissance was the period after the Middle Ages and before the Baroque period, where the artists, scientists, and politicians of Rome and Greek were rediscovered and expressed in new ways. (1)
The Ideal Renaissance man
The ideal Renaissance man should be well educated in Greek and Latin. He should be charming, polite, and witty. He should be able to write poetry, dance, sing, and play music, he should also be physically strong, being able to ride horses, wrestle and a good sword fighter.(1)
The Ideal Renaissance woman
The Ideal Renaissance woman should be as educated as the men. she should be able to write well, able to paint, make music, dance and to be charming, but they were not expected to become as famous as any man and they still had less political, economical and social influences in other lives.(1)
Art of the Renaissance
The artists in the middle ages worked for the glory of god, not for their individual fame, while the artists and writers in the renaissance wanted to be remembered as great individuals of their time. They thought that fame was the best reward for superior talent. In the Renaissance time, two new forms of art work grew popular: portrait paintings and autobiography. All the wealthy people wanted to have paintings of themselves so they will be remembered. While the artists use to paint the appearance of a wealthy person, writers use to write autobiographies of the person. These people who wanted self portraits and autobiographies thought that everyone would want to know about them, they wanted to share their lives to the world, so they would be remembered. There were also many famous writers,painters, and sculptors during the Renaissance.(1)
-mona-lisa.jpg)
Art was a major change during the Renaissance. New techniques were created and new artists were discovered. Some of the famous artists of the Renaissance time was: Giotto di Bondone, Ghibeti, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Santi, Michelangelo and Buonarroti. Giotto di Bondone created the style of fresco, which creates the illusion of depth, and mad human figured look real, and life like. Ghibeti and Brunelleschi, both were artists who added onto the Baptistery in Florence, Ghibeti, adding the golden doors, while Brunelleschi, added on the dome. Brunelleschchi also created the technique of perspective, which let the painting have dimension and dept, making some objects look bigger then others. Donatello was a famous sculptor for his sculpture “David” the first European sculpture of a free standing human figure in the nude. Massacio is considered the “father of modern painting” because he used the fresco and perspective in his paintings. Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, architect, inventor, scientist, poet, musician, and teacher, two of his famous paintings are “the last supper” and “Mona Lisa”. Raphael Santi was the man who transformed the library of the kind into “a Renaissance hall of fame”, by painting pictures of all the famous scientists, kings, and philosopher of the renaissance time. The last famous artist of the Renaissance was Michelangelo, who is known for taking 3 years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine chapel and for his statue of “David”. A young man said that “the world has many kings, but only one Michelangelo”. New techniques and artist were discovered during the renaissance time, which helped art advance to what it is today.(1)
Music and Dance in the Renaissance
The Renaissance music is mostly polyphonic,
which means having two different sounds but the sounds would be related and
fit together. The
Renaissance music was known to be the 'golden age' due to the Acapella choral
music. Vocal music became more important during the Renaissance rather than
instrumental music. During the Renaissance many people started to write music
to express their feelings and opinions in a more lively and active way. Composers
during this period wanted to blend their music together rather than being made
up on top of each other. The Renaissance music was expressed
in a natural and moderate way and did not include ultimate rhythms. The melodies
of the Renaissance music were easy to sing. The
sounds were gentler and flowed rather than having a sharp defined
beat. Music became very popular during the Renaissance especially in the churches.
(5) Many people liked to
dance during the Renaissance. Dancing was an expected social skill for the
noble.
There were two types of dances in the Renaissance.
The first type was simple dances. These dances were very simple and everyone
would know how to do them. These dances were usually performed in circles and
lines with unlimited amount of people in each circle or line. The second type
was more complex. This type of dance was note for everyone, only the dancing
masters who practiced a lot were able to do this dance. These complex dances
were usually performed for an audience. The important part of the dance was
the footwork. The bulky clothing of the Renaissance limited the upper body
movement, both in men and women, so the dancers had to impress the audience
by having amazing footwork, since they couldn't’t really move their upper
body. Dancing in the Renaissance also brought about some new instrumental compositions
written primarily for dancing.(2) Iif you want to listen to Renaissance music
go to this site:
Science and Technology of the Renaissance
Science and technology improved during
the Renaissance period. There were many invention and new scientists with
brilliant ideas. The most
important technological invention of the time was the printing press. Johann
Gutenberg began used the printing press to make copies of the Bible in everyday
language. Soon millions of books were made and distributed. The printing press
made it possible for everyone to have the copy of the bible and it led to a
higher literacy rate among people, and helped with the spreading of Renaissance
ideas. Another invention was the compass, which helped sailors and boats find
their way and direction while out on see. It also helped discover new lands.(4)
Some of the Scientists
during the Renaissance period were Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolas Copernicus, Galileo,
Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler. All these men
were interested in astronomy and wanted to elaborate on the ideas of previous
scientists. One of the greatest theories was Copernicus's theory which said
that the all the planets orbited the sun, making the sun the center of the
universe.
Galileo’s invention of the telescope made it possible for people to see
the stars and into space and Kepler was the first astronomer to suggest that
planets
orbit the sun in an elliptical shape not a perfect circle. (3)
Religion and Politics of the Renaissance
The influence of the Catholic Church was declining. The Catholic Church had difficulty adjusting to the demands of a society based on money rather than trust. As towns grew, the priests and monks, who had served as the main religious teachers of the town, found that they knew little about the views of the new Renaissance ways. a famous man named Niccolò Machiavelli had an opinion on how the counry should be governed, and the ways of politics. He focused on how to preserve the state by any effective means. he wrote a famous writning called, "The Prince", which tells how the new political environment had changed popular thinking. He tired to teach the new prince and kings how to govern their country, and say that one can do something wrong if it is better for the country.
Page created by Sunethra Kemparajurs
Work Cited for pictures
The ideal Renaissance man- http://www.suite101.com/files/articles/23000%5C23420/medici1.jpg
The ideal Renaissance woman- http://www.vanderbilt.edu/htdocs/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/s02/image002.jpg
Mona Lisa- http://www.harley.com/art/abstract-art/images/(davinci)-mona-lisa.jpg
David- http://www.uwm.edu/Course/mythology/0100/125.jpg
The Last Supper- http://www.mostmerciful.com/last%20supper-in%20color.jpg
The printing press- http://www.historyguide.org/images/gutenberg.jpg
The Compass- http://www.usm.maine.edu/~maps/columbus/compass.gif
Work Cited for Information
(1) Krieger, Larry , Dr, Edward Reynolds, and Kenneth Neill. World History Perspectives on the Past. 5th ed. Dallas: Heath and Company,
(2) (http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/f98/rendanc.htm)
(3) (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0860689.html)
(4) (http://regentsprep.org/Regents/global/themes/science/ren.cfm)
(5) (http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC041099/renaissance.html)