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Focus Question: What were the origins of the Renaissance and how did the movement evolve?
The Renaissance (French for "rebirth") was much more than simply rediscovering the work of ancient scholars.
It influenced painting, sculpture, architecture, politics, and the way of everyday life.
Certain prominent figures of the Renaissance help to define this period of vast intellectual growth.
Origins of the Renaissance
Click here for a link to a timeline of the Renaissance era.
Around the year 1450 AD, European scholars became more absorbed in the studying of the world around them.
The Renaissance emerged from a period of disease and depression.
The Bubonic plague had caused a massive population loss for Europe and, consequently, a great economic downturn. People were forced to move out of the city and into the country.
Eventually, in Italy, as the disease dissipated, people began moving back into cities.
These cities were semi-autonomous and became wealthier due to their locations, which were near major eastern and western trade routes.
The first ideas of widespread banking began to flourish. These factors led to several wealthy independent cities throughout Italy.
These "new age" cities greatly helped facilitate the activities of the Renaissance .
For example, art began to take on new forms of realism as an emphasis on anatomy sparked by an increasing priority of natural sciences in education and a growing familiarity with a broader spectrum of Classical texts (many reintroduced from the Middle East) swept over the region.
This new age, beginning in Europe, was eventually dubbed “The Renaissance."
John Green’s Crash Course World History “The Renaissance: Was It a Thing?”
This Crash Course World History video provides a good overview of the Renaissance including why and how it happened where it did in Europe. The video includes information on how the Islamic world aided in the Renaissance through the writings the Renaissance writers studied and the dissemination of Greek/ Roman thought through the Muslim world. This video dives into the overlap of Renaissance thought and the scientific revolution, as well as asks the question did it really happen?
Medievalists tend to argue that the Renaissance was not a singular point that revolutionized much of Europe but a natural progression built on the foundations established in the Middle Ages; especially the advances born out of the rise of European Universities and scholasticism of the 11th and 12th centuries.
Early Modernists focus less on the continuation of advancements in the Middle Ages and argue for a dramatic shift that occurred around 1350 that transformed Europe, Early Modern scholars called this the Renaissance and mark it the beginning of modern society.
Modernists argue that the true seeds of modern society developed even later. Some argue the Enlightenment, which Modernists see as a break or shift and less of a continuation of the Renaissance as argued by Early Modernists (with almost no connection to the Middle Ages). Others place the beginning of modern society even later at the birth of nation states.
For Forbidden Friendships, a book that discusses homosexuality in Renaissance Florence in great detail, visit this page.
This article from the Economist discusses the relationships between European artists and Africans, and includes a brief video on the matter.
Become a Spice Trader is an interactive game about trading during the Renaissance era.
Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in 1475 in the village of Caprese, Italy. He was one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance, a period when the arts and sciences flourished.
At age 24, Michelangelo completed his extraordinary “Pieta,” a marble statue that shows the Virgin Mary grieving over dead Jesus. He began work on the enormous figure of "David" in 1501, and by 1504, the sculpture was finished.
Unlike Michelangelo’s predecessors, which depicted David with the head of Goliath under his foot, Michelangelo poses David at the moment he faces the giant, with the deed before him. He believed this was the moment of David's greatest courage.
From 1508 to 1512, Michelangelo worked on his most celebrated project, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Michelangelo later painted "The Last Judgment" on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
Near the end of his life, Michelangelo became more involved in architecture and poetry. In 1546 he was made chief architect of the partly finished St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, where the Pieta is now kept.
Raphael was born Raphaello Sanzio in Urbino in 1483 and he died in 1520.
His first painting lessons came from his father. His early work reflects moods of harmony.
Later, Raphael worked in Tuscany and Umbria, where the work of Leonardo da Vinci influenced his development.
Pope Julius II summoned Raphael to Rome in 1508 where he was employed to complete the fresco decoration of a number of rooms in the Vatican.
The best known of these works is "The School of Athens", a majestic piece which glorifies the philosophers of antiquity such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates.
This piece once again reflects an overall theme of harmony. Raphael helped to influence many of the other Italian artists of his time.
In addition to being a prolific painter, Raphael was an architect. He worked on the new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but much of his additions were destroyed after his death. Raphael worked primarily in Rome, building for prominent Italian citizens, including Pope Clement VII.
Women's Roles and Women Artists in the Renaissance
Significant Women Artists During the Renaissance
Properzia de Rossi:
She was an Italian woman born in 1490 who was a talented sculptor and master of the arts.
She trained with the master engraver Marcantonio Raimondi.
She started her career with carving small peach stones with the likeness of saints for jewelry, but then moved on to more massive materials.
Some of her most famous works are the Grassi Family Coat of Arms and Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife featured on the façade of the Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna.
He accomplishments were particularly extraordinary for the time because women bodies were believed to have been unsuited to the physical demands of chiseling marble at the time.
To read more about Properzia de Rossi and her record in history click here.
Sofonisba Anguissola:
Sofonisba Anguissola was born in 1532 in Cremona, Italy. Her family was part of the Genovese nobility which gave her many resources and opportunities.
She was the first female artist of the Renaissance to reach international fame for her life-like and engaging portraits.
Anguissola never signed or received pay for her portraits because of her noble status. This led to many of her paintings later being re-attributed to male artists, which was common for women in this era.
As a reward for her fame and amazing talents she was invited by the consort queen of Spain, Elisabeth of Valois to be one of her lady-in-waiting. Her painting abilities elevated her from being a minor noblewoman to being a member of an intimate circle of the most powerful rulers in Europe.
Some of her most famous portraits are The Chess Game, Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola, and a portrait of Elisabeth of Valois.
To read more about Sofonisba Anuguissola from SUNY Oneonta click here.
Artemisia Gentileschi Self-Portrait, 1615
Artemisia Gentileschi:
Artemisia is the most celebrated female painter of the 17th century. She worked in Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples and London, for the highest echelons of European society, including the Grand Duke of Tuscany and Philip IV of Spain.
Artemisia was raped by the painter Agostino Tassi, an acquaintance and collaborator of her father’s. An infamous trial, meticulously recorded in documents that survive, ensued in 1612. Tassi was found guilty and banished from Rome, though his punishment was never enforced.
In 1616, she was the first woman to be accepted into the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts.
Her aesthetic was equally bold and strong, eschewing the traditional dominant views of feminine weakness.
Her most famous paintings are Susana and the Elders, Judith Slaying Holofernes, and Cleopatra.
To read a Guardian article about Gentileschi's style of art and the hardships that led to it click here.
To explore more about women's exclusion in Art History and why, watch and discuss the "Why Are There So Few Female Artists in the National Gallery?" video below.
For an overview of other influential women, see Renaissance Women, an online presentation by two junior high school students about Isabella d'Este and Catherine de Medici.
Women in the Renaissance from the Victoria and Albert museum discusses daily lives and roles of women during the Renaissance era.
Women of the Renaissance is an essay about the contributions of upper class women to art and religion.
For more information on women during the Renaissance, check out this video on infamous women, read this essay on the role of women, or read Marget L. King's bookWomen of the Renaissance.
Black African Figures in Renaissance Paintings
“On Being Present: Recovering Blackness in the Uffizi Gallery”
This article and video from the Smithsonian Magazine highlights an initiative by the Uffizi gallery during Black History Month Florence called “On Being Present: Recovering Blackness in the Uffizi Gallery”. The aim was to examine the shortcomings of history and scholarship around black African figures in renaissance painting. It pushed renaissance art scholars to examine the ways non-central, marginal figures play a role in the art. It seeks to look at the racialization and historical presence of black figures in these paintings. One featured conversation surrounded Piero di Cosimo’s Perseus Frees Andromeda and the black musician featured in the painting, which is incredibly rare. It asks questions such as who is not being portrayed as black in these renaissance paintings and what can this tell us? Some analysis focuses on societal structures and hierarchies as an explanation. The Uffizi Gallery contains powerful amounts of renaissance art and scholars and the means to engage in these deep analysis.
Watch the video in the article to hear more about the context and analysis of Piero di Cosimo’s Perseus Frees Andromeda through the lens of “On Being Present”.
Links to the Uffizi's virtual gallery of “On Being Present: Recovering Blackness in the Uffizi Gallery”
Q: Explain the influence of some of the major artists and thinkers of the Renaissance and how their work continues to be relevant in today’s society.
A: Answers could include an explanation of Shakespeare and his writing, Da Vinci and his painting/ science, Gutenberg and the invention of the printing press, Raphael and his artwork, and/or Machiavelli and his political thought. These works all greatly transformed society with technology (press), influential literary themes (star-crossed lovers), and descriptive political practice (force to gain power). Additionally answers could include the reframing of these works to women’s and black history to deepen their meaning and understand the organization of society.
Question submitted by Patience Gubisch (March, 2023)
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