Humanities Midterm Exam (Ch. 7-8)

Josquin des Prez

"The Prince of Music", unifying the polyphonic Mass around a single musical theme, artistically combined phrasing and music with words being expressed and therefore the first to practice word painting. (Famous piece: Ave Maria)

Ars Nova

"new art" of the 14th century characterized by isorhythm and syncopation (rhythm and aural expression)

Printing Press

1. Accelerating the spread of Protestantism 2. Producing cheaper reading materials 3. Enhancing popular education

Protestant Reformers objected

1. Sale of indulgences 2. Absolute Papal authority 3. Extrvagances of the Church of Rome

The New Realism

A close objective attention to humans and interaction

Gates of Paradise

A set of bronze relief panels for the east doorway of the Florence Baptistry of San Giovanni, made by Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1452. He first won a competition for an initial set he created for the north door of the building in 1402.

Pieta

A subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture

Fresco

A technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid lime plaster. Fresh plater absorbs the pigments; after a number of hours, it dries and reacts with the air to become the medium holding the pigment.

Mona Lisa

Abbreviation for Madonna or Madame. Unusual for the times because of the "life likeness" but also the expert use of the sfumato technique in order to build a piece that was interdependent and multi-interpretative in many of its expressive elements

Geneva, Switzerland

Calvin established his theocratic state

Geoffrey Chaucer

Canterbury Tales

Ficino's Contribution

Classical Humanism; translated the works of Plato, which inspired Renaissance poets and painters with "platonic" (or spiritual) themes that attract the soul to God and attribute love to physical beauty.

Michelangelo

David, ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Dome of Saint Peter's, Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica

Humanism

Distinctly secular, appraising of the individual in the case of the Renaissance and not the Church, inspiring ideas of human potential, and attracting the interest of a broad base of the population and not a mere handful of theologians

Hundred Years War

English claim to continental lands & English claim to the French throne, occasioned by the death of Charles IV (Causes)

End of Hundred Years War

English withdrew after facing a French Army led by Joan of Arc.

Renaissance Art

Figures convincingly human, not individualized to the point of portraiture but neither are they stereotypes; different from middle ages

Petrarch

Florentine poet and scholar, "father of humanism", devoted his life to the recovery, copying, and editing of Latin manuscripts (ancient sources of wisdom, more than 200 volumes)

Widespread Humanism

Holbein's "Ambassadors" and the Ming dynasty's "Elegant Literary Gathering" show it was not confined to the west

The Black Death (effects)

It destroyed half of Europe's population and interrupted long distance trade and cross cultural encounters

Ninety-Five Theses

Luther posted on the door of the Cathedral of Wittenberg

Botticelli

Major works: Birth of Venus

Leonardo

Major works: Mona Lisa, Last Supper, Embryo in the Womb (notes)

Masaccio

Major works: The Tribute Money

Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Northern Renaissance painter notable for his limited interest in religious subject matter and preference for scenes of normal people in ordinary situations

The Black Death

Originated in China, spread by Mongols to East Asia & Middle East, carried by fleas on rats to Europe 1347.

Machiavelli's Ideal Ruler

Powerful and courageous, untrusting, ruthless, fierce but sly, and above all be willing to invoke his will. He wrote it as a lament over the times, to justify the need for a strong state and strong rule The Prince

The Great Schism

Rift between French and Italian factions of the College of Cardinals led to the election of two popes, one who ruled from Avignon, the other from Rome

Renaissance music

Secular, appraising of viruosity, celebratory, polyphonic, conveying meaning via word painting, ultilizing imitation, choral but sometimes having instruments playing voices, sometimes completely instrumental, and for the first time sometimes written for clavichord and harpsichord

High Renaissance

Shifted from Florence (Early Renaissance) to Rome as the popes undertook a campaign to restore that ancient city to its original grandeur as the capital of Christendom. Also took place in Venice.

Japanese and Elizabethan

Similarities: Both addressed an audience whose worldly interests were tied to commercial advantage and urban life; both took place in the pleasure quarters of the city; both were subject to governmental restrictions; both were acted by all-male casts who performed various play types. Differences: Japanese theater remains more formally stylized and does not investigate the psychological development of characters.

Castiglione's views on women

That they ought to be knowledgeable of letters, music, and art, but "in her ways, manners, words, gestures, and bearing, a woman ought to be very unlike a man."

Rapheal

The Alba Madonna, The School of Athens

Christine de Pizan

The Book of the City of Ladies - an attack on male misogyny and a sound defense of the female's right to education

Renaissance's main supporters

The Medici Family in Florence, the papacy in Rome, and Venetians governed by a merchant aristocracy.

Polyphonism

Utilizing multiple voices moving creatively and building texture in music composition

Printing press

affected the Renaissance by spreading books and thus ideas and knowledge, and spread music and instrumental methods

Leonardo da Vinci

an artist, scientist, skilled mathematician, composer and inventor, fulfilling the ideal of the artist as creative genius; considered a Renaissance man

Giotto

artist who was first to be credited with this new realism, innovative about works introduced a natural and lifelike style.

Renaissance

began in Italy because of the surrounding artwork that reminded them of the Roman Empire, wealth gained from trade and commerce, Medici family, and small-city states (competition and urban-life)

Chorale

congregational hymn that is primarily associated with Lutheranism

More's Utopia

cooperation replaced competition and greed; Charitable and humble: Goods and property are shared, war and personal vanities are held in contempt, learning is available to all (except slaves), and freedom of religion is absolute. Work is considered essential to moral and communal well-being and is limited to 6 hours a day

Brunelleschi

defined the laws of perspective as a tool for creating the appearance of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface (linear perspective)

Northern Europe Humanism

different from Italy because it was primarily concerned with the study and translation of early Christian manuscripts than the Italian humanists; more influenced by religion

Pico della Mirandola

emphasized man's moral freedom to fashion one's own nature and thus determine one's destiny

Michel de Montaigne

father of the essay, believed in the paramount importance of cultivating good judgment. The essay is a vehicle for probing or "trying out" ideas an expression of reasoned inquiry into human values addressing a variety of universal subjects

16th century Calvinism

followers believed in predestination, salvation of the elect and the banning of music and dance

Magna Carta

forced King John of England to sign which forbade uncounciled tax levying and gauranteed certain freedoms such as trial by jury. Asserted the primacy of law over the will of the ruler (constitutional monarchy)

Linear Perspective

in a given field, all parallel lines converge at a single vanishing point on the horizon

Faith

key to salvation according to Luther

Albrecht Durer

master printmaker of the 16th century who was among the first to explore the landscape genre, was a master of engraving techniques, and was deeply influenced by Italian Renaissance art

Shakespeare sonnets

modeled after Petrarch

Chiaroscuro

modeling form through gradations of light and shade, giving Giotto's figures a three-dimesional presence

Thomas Weelkes and Thomas Morley

popular Elizabethan composers who made many songs and madrigals that are still enjoyed today

Satire

popular during the 16th century and used by Erasmus, More, and Cervantes; accusing European statecraft and society.

Jan van Eyck

reputed to have perfected oil painting in such works as "Arnolfini Wedding"; mysterious and unconfirmed subjects, and great attention to details by the use of oil painting.

Protestant Reformation

result: German princes were free to choose the religion to be practiced within their own domains, but this resulted in more religious wars within Germany which devastated it's lands for almost a century

Greco-Roman classics

studied by humanists because of a combination of the printing press and the recovery of many Greek and Latin manuscripts, with an explosive "rebirth" effect the widespread ideas had on the greater populace

Luther's Chorales

sung by the entire congregation

Madrigal

the most popular of secular song forms in the court of Elizabeth; lighter in mood and technically simple

Aerial Perspective

the subtle blurring of details and diminution of color intensity in objects perceived at a distance

Albrecht Durer (fame)

unassailed leader in Northern Renaissance printmaking, fine graphic artist, achieved international fame for his woodcuts and metal engravings; made oil painting in the Renaissance fashion with realistic details and psychological depth without Raphael's idealization.

Grunewald's Isenheim Altarpiece

was commissioned for the benefit of palgue victims to provide comfort for the suffering

Sfumato

without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane (Mona Lisa)

Erasmus and More

writings reflect a deep concern with the need for reform, discontentedness with current lack of religious freedom.

Praise of Folly

written by Erasmus and is a landmark example of satire