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Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.
The intellectual basis of the Renaissance was its version of humanism, derived from the concept of Roman Humanitas and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras, who said that "Man is the measure of all things."
In stark contrast to the High Middle Ages, when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics, Renaissance scholars were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical texts.
Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, and Rome during the Renaissance Papacy or Belgian cities such as Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Leuven, or Antwerp.
Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in late 13th-century Florence, in particular with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the paintings of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337). Some writers date the Renaissance quite precisely; one proposed starting point is 1401, when the rival geniuses Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi competed for the contract to build the bronze doors for the Baptistery of the Florence Cathedral (Ghiberti then won). Others see more general competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, and why it began when it did. Accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins.
In the second half of the 15th century, the Renaissance spirit spread to Germany and the Low Countries, where the development of the printing press (ca. 1450) and Renaissance artists such as Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) predated the influence from Italy. In the early Protestant areas of the country humanism became closely linked to the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation, and the art and writing of the German Renaissance frequently reflected this dispute. However, the Gothic style and medieval scholastic philosophy remained exclusively until the turn of the 16th century. Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg (ruling 1493–1519) was the first truly Renaissance monarch of the Holy Roman Empire .
In some ways, Renaissance humanism was not a philosophy but a method of learning. In contrast to the medieval scholastic mode, which focused on resolving contradictions between authors, Renaissance humanists would study ancient texts in the original and appraise them through a combination of reasoning and empirical evidence. Humanist education was based on the programme of Studia Humanitatis, the study of five humanities: poetry, grammar, history, moral philosophy, and rhetoric. Although historians have sometimes struggled to define humanism precisely, most have settled on "a middle of the road definition... the movement to recover, interpret, and assimilate the language, literature, learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome". Above all, humanists asserted "the genius of man ... the unique and extraordinary ability of the human mind".
However, the Renaissance had a profound effect on contemporary theology, particularly in the way people perceived the relationship between man and God. Many of the period's foremost theologians were followers of the humanist method, including Erasmus, Zwingli, Thomas More, Martin Luther, and John Calvin .
In stark contrast to the High Middle Ages, when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics, Renaissance scholars were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical texts.
Florence, the birthplace of the European Renaissance. The architectural perspective, and modern systems and fields of banking and accounting were introduced during the Renaissance. The Renaissance ( UK: / rɪˈneɪsəns / rin-AY-sənss, US: / ˈrɛnəsɑːns / ( listen) REN-ə-sahnss) is a term used to describe a period in European history marking ...
During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand. Artists depended entirely on patron s while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia and Europe. Silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money.
The Renaissance is seen as the end of a long period of stagnation. This is largely to do with great changes such as the birth of the printing press and the desire to explore new trade routes.
While Gothic architecture was extremely popular in the Northern European countries, Italy had never entirely forgotten about the smooth lines used in antiquity. Columns, domes and arches were principal features of Renaissance building.
The history of Renaissance medicine focuses on three key figures. These are Vesalius, Pare and Harvey. From Belgium, France and England respectively, these men used the tragedy of their day as opportunity to learn about and advance medical knowledge.
The artists, Giotto, is often feted as the father of Renaissance painting. These flashcards will show you some of his work in context, as well as paintings from Duccio, Ghibeti, Donatello and others.
If you want to take a basic level survey of renaissance painting, sculpture, and architecture, here is where you can start and finish it. Thanks to this course, you can pass any basic level art history class at the college level. If your pursuit is not academic, take it up to understand what you look at when visiting museums and art galleries.
This course sets you on a journey to discover Florence and Milan.
This course will help you pass any basic level art history class at the college level. Or impress your friends and family when you visit a museum or art gallery with your newly acquired Renaissance knowledge! This course covers the major works of painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Renaissance period.
This is the most comprehensive program in Renaissance you will find online. An outstanding feature of this course is a thorough exploration of the leading figures of the Renaissance – Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo, William Shakespeare, Christine de Pizan, and Filippo Brunelleschi.
Discover the art, architecture, and urban form of Rome during Renaissance. Learn about the major players and events that shaped the city’s architecture and the world beyond. Explore how its sacred relics and monuments, theaters, and other buildings reflect a people’s values.
This course is for anyone who wishes to gain a better understanding and appreciation of why the Renaissance is one of the most unique and significant parts of European history.
There is no time limit for completing your course it can be studied in your own time at your own pace.
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Learn how Renaissance architects and city planners—including Donato Bramante, Sebastian Serlio, and Andrea Palladio —imbued sculpture and architecture with tremendous ideological and practical power. Then, discover how Renaissance musicians helped move music out of the religious sphere and into the princely courts.
The two chief examples you'll use to chart the origins of the European Renaissance are the Black Death and the letters of Petrarch. 3 The Medieval Roots of Italian Renaissance. Discover why the Renaissance first bloomed in, of all places, Italy. First, look at the politics and economics of medieval Italian states.
You also learn, of course, about the same milestones in the period. This new course, in addition to being more lavishly illustrated and featuring the most up-to-date research, goes into the daily lives of people throughout Europe’s multiple Renaissances – and there were great differences among the various regions – and how exactly their lives changed. In a sense, this course is your immersive Renaissance experience for those who lived it.
Turn your attention to various calls for a reformation of faith identifiably shaped by the new learning of the Renaissance and the ideas of Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin. Calvin's ideas traveled on to Scotland, where the Reformation, working in tandem with powerful men, toppled a monarch from the throne.
Here, meet three men whose lives and works exemplify different iterations of the Renaissance Man in action: Niccolo Machiavelli, Baldassare Castiglione, and Leon Battista Alberti. 10 Women and the Italian Renaissance Court.
· 3 years ago. Yes, The Great Courses, which has maybe 25% female professors max, is ruled by a female cabal using the Renaissance as its weapon of social and political influence. #makegreatcoursesgreatagain.
Renaissance in Europe: Meaning, Causes and Results of Renaissance. Putting an end to the medieval age, the Renaissance blew the trumpet of modem age. In the fifteenth century A.D. people of Europe developed interest for the literature, art, architecture, painting and culture of Greece and Rome. The beacon light of Renaissance which first appeared ...
The Renaissance literature had its birth in Italy. The first notable creation in this direction was Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’. This book was written in Italian language and it was meant for the common people. In the book he describes about the heaven, hell and the other world.
Infact, the Renaissance had created humanism in man. It increased the desire in men to know more and more. This Renaissance galvanised the development in the field of literature, art and science. It illumined the world with new Knowledge. History, History of Europe, Renaissance, Renaissance in Europe.
The hidden expression in his paintings made them attractive. Leonardo has become immortal for his famous painting of ‘Monalisa’.
The ‘St Peter’s Church of Rome’ the ‘Cathedral of Milan’ and the ‘Palaces of Venice and Florence’ were some of the remarkable specimens of Renaissance architecture. In due course of time, Renaissance architecture spread to France and Spain.
Architecture: The Architecture of Italy was largely influenced by the spirit of Renaissance. The builders of this time constructed many churches, palaces and massive buildings following the style and pattern of ancient Greece and Rome.
There were many causes behind ‘Renaissance’. The fall of Constantinople was its main cause. It was the centre of learning. Although, it was under the clutches of the Christians, many Greek scholars were living there. They became famous by teaching Greek language and literature to the people.
The Renaissance is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas and achievements of classical antiquity. It occurred after the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages and was associated with great social change. In addition to the standard periodization, …
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence was felt in art, architecture, philosophy, literature, music, science, technology, politics, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist …
Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in Florence at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, in particular with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the paintings of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337). Some writers date the Renaissance quite precisely; one proposed starting point is 1401, when the rival geniuses Lo…
In some ways, Renaissance humanism was not a philosophy but a method of learning. In contrast to the medieval scholastic mode, which focused on resolving contradictions between authors, Renaissance humanists would study ancient texts in the original and appraise them through a combination of reasoning and empirical evidence. Humanist education was based on the prog…
In the 15th century, the Renaissance spread rapidly from its birthplace in Florence to the rest of Italy and soon to the rest of Europe. The invention of the printing press by German printer Johannes Gutenberg allowed the rapid transmission of these new ideas. As it spread, its ideas diversified and changed, being adapted to local culture. In the 20th century, scholars began to break th…
The Italian artist and critic Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) first used the term rinascita in his book The Lives of the Artists (published 1550). In the book Vasari attempted to define what he described as a break with the barbarities of Gothic art: the arts (he held) had fallen into decay with the collapse of the Roman Empire and only the Tuscan artists, beginning with Cimabue (1240–1301) and G…
The term Renaissance has also been used to define periods outside of the 15th and 16th centuries. Charles H. Haskins (1870–1937), for example, made a case for a Renaissance of the 12th century. Other historians have argued for a Carolingian Renaissance in the 8th and 9th centuries, Ottonian Renaissance in the 10th century and for the Timurid Renaissance of the 14th century. The Islamic Golden Age has been also sometimes termed with the Islamic Renaissance.
• Index of Renaissance articles
• Outline of the Renaissance
• List of Renaissance figures
• List of Renaissance structures