Renaissance Italy

Florence - Overview

Florence is thought to have been the birthplace of the Renaissance, nicknamed "The cradle of the Renaissance". It was ruled by the powerful Medici family who were patrons of both the arts and Sciences. One of the early architectural achievements - the Dome on the Florence Cathedral - occurred there. Florence was known for its textile production as well as banking prowess.

New Industries in the Renaissance

The expansion of trade in the Renaissance stimulated industry. Previously, wealth had been based upon land value and amount, but now the main sources of economic wealth were banking, trade, craft goods and cloth manufacture.

Why did Venice become so good at trade and what did they trade?

Venice became so good at trade because, as they were a sea nation, they only had large reserves of salt and fish, and they needed to attain other diverse goods for food and building. They imported: Timber, Grain, Salt, Fruit, Wine, Silk, Spices, Drugs and Jewels.

Glass Industry

Venice was also particularly well known for its glass industry, where coloured glasses were blown to make everyday items such as cups and plates, but also decorative pieces. As beauty and art became focused on in the Renaissance, this industry grew in popularity.

How did Ancient Ideas inspire the Renaissance?

- Sculptors of the Renaissance looked at styles from ancient Greece and Rome to base their designs off of. - The discovery of ancient writings caused people to start to want an education, and so scholars would travel to great Islamic libraries to study ancient texts. This inspired people to learn Greek and Latin and there was now an interest in those gods. - Copy the design of the Roman columns - The revisit of scientific knowledge of the Ancient Greeks - that the earth is round, not flat and the concept of atoms. - Philosophy became popular - A new style of Poetry was created as people learnt more about the ancient types.

Galileo Galilei

Born in Pisa in 1564 but moved to Florence in 1574. He created the Hydrostatic balance, thermoscope, improved the telescope by making it 20x stronger. He found sunspots, phases of the moon and Venus, craters on the moon, and Jupiter's moons, and created the Universal Law of Acceleration - all of which disproved the Aristotelian view of society and the church. He confirmed Copernicus' view of a heliocentric universe but was persecuted by the church.

Milan

In the early 1400s, Milan was still a Middle Ages city bent on conquering Florence. However, as the Sforza family took over in 1450, bringing peace to the region, the new ideas of art in the Renaissance finally took hold. Milan was famous for its metalwork - including suits of armour. It was an extensive territory and very wealthy. It was a republic after 1447.

Republic

A form of government in which power is explicitly vested in the people, who exercise their power through elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president.

Renaissance

A period of cultural change that occurred in Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. It has no defined start date. The word is French and means "rebirth".

Machiavelli

An Italian diplomat, politician, historian, humanist and writer during the Renaissance period. Thought of as "The father of Modern political science". He wrote a book, called "The Prince" that outlined his political beliefs & ways of pragmatic governing. He thought that some of the best ways to rule was using force, and fear to manipulate the people.

City State

An urban centre with its own laws and political system.

Changes in architecture

Architects started to focus more on how a building looked, and making it aesthetically pleasing. They travelled to Rome and Greece to find inspiration for their designs and came back with many ideas, like the classical order for columns, pointed arches and flying buttresses. They also found that warping the shapes of the columns makes it look more pleasing to the eye and made it look more perfect than if it were natural.

Loss of Church's power

As humanism gained strength there was less emphasis on God and monotheistic religion in the Renaissance. People studied and learnt about ancient beliefs of pagan religions such as Greek and Roman. The church lost a lot of its power when there were three popes at the same time (1378-1417) as if THE pope was supposed to be the chosen representative of God, then somewhere something had gone wrong, proving the fragility and corrupt nature of the church. Through inventions such as the printing press, the church lost its power to control knowledge, and many conflicting discoveries with proof were published. This cause people to question the correctness of the church.

Banking

Banking was also a prominent industry. Now that trade was hugely important and as people were starting to use money to buy goods, bankers were needed to organise and keep this wealth safe. Moneychangers were also required to exchange the many currencies now being used to trade past Italy.

Classicism

Classicism is a specific genre of philosophy, expressing itself in literature, art and music, which has ancient Greek and Roman sources and an emphasis on society. Many paintings were done in the same style of the ancient Romans and Grecians, and were of Greek myths such as the famous, "Birth of Venus". Statues were also made in the ancient Roman style.

Politics

Due to many city-states being republics (including Florence and Venice) politics was now another industry that flourished. This was because there was an elected council of representatives and a presidential job that could be attained.

Cloth & Silk Industries

Due to the Arno river running through the centre of Florence, the cloth industry boomed as the water was needed for washing and dying wool. Fashions from the Middle ages were plain and mainly monochromatic, but during the Renaissance, bold colours and fabrics were common and in style. Similarly, in Venice, the Silk industry took off due to the trade from the East, and those manufacturing it did not always have pleasant jobs, just like the cloth labourers. Fashions were changing, and people wanted more exotic clothing.

Humanism

Humanism is taking from the ancient world to reform the modern, and giving a worldlier, human outlook which focused on the ability of humans to act and not blindly follow a religious plan. The will of God was perceived to be less important than during the Medieval period, and Humanists believed that God had given humanity options and potential, and that you had to succeed and make the most of this. Humanism permeated aspects of art as well, as paintings weren't just religious but were focused on the beauty and strength of humans.

The Medicis

In Florence, most of the power was held by those from a rich, aristocratic families. The Medicis were the most powerful of these and used their extensive network of power to control Florence, rather than the Pope. They founded the Medici Bank which was the largest and most prestigious bank during the 15th Century (also bankers for the Catholic Church). After this success, they also joined politics, on many occasions, influencing the politics in Florence through bribery and threats. They encouraged free thinking and philosophy, meaning ideas from the Renaissance was able to flourish under their control rather than under a more conservative power (like the Pope or a Duke (duchy)). As their power grew, they also became patrons of the arts and sciences, gaining support in artistic circles. They were so powerful that the gold 'Florin' coin used was renamed the 'Medici Florin', that their family crest was used as a call-to-danger and they were painted in famous religious scenes.

Ship building Industry

In Venice, ship building was a huge industry. They were a strong naval power, and y 1560 there had the largest industrial site. In 1570 they built 100 ships in 2 months. It was of such importance because imports and exports across the sea were central to Venice's economy. It was controlled by the government and workers were given special privileges and rights, but were not allowed to leave the city.

Michaelangelo

Painter, Sculptor, architect, engineer & poet. He dissected human bodies to gain a deeper understanding and that was what helped his depictions of man be so accurate and detailed. Strongly influenced by Classicism. Before him, Medieval art had been very 2D and dull. By reviving Greek and Roman art styles, he encouraged the Humanist movement and inspired other painters to paint non-secular paintings as well. Works: David, Sistine Chapel, Creation of Adam (God's cloak in the shape of a brain, hinting that God is only a figment of the brain).

Changes in Literature

People also became more literate as books were more widely available due to the invention of the printing press. It was now not exclusive to monks, priests and other religious figures. The printing press allowed the spread of ideas that weren't sanctioned by the church, and it was these conflicting beliefs that aided in the loss of power of the church.

Changes in Science

People began to be more curious about the human body and anatomy, and began dissections which led to advancements in art, science and medicine. In 1616 William Harvey proposed blood circulation, and Galileo came up with many theories about gravity, strengthened the belief in heliocentricism and created/improved various inventions we still use today. Science was also now more accurate and required proof.

Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli was one of the major Renaissance artists in Florence (centre for innovative painting in 15th century). He worked in a traditional manner. He painted SPRING, THE BIRTH OF VENUS, frescoes in the Sistine chapel, and works such as PRIMAVERA. The Medicis commissioned a lot of his artworks. The works reflected Humanism, and classicism with its subject matter and the beauty with which he portrayed figures.

Changes in Sculpture

Sculptors, due to Humanism, focused more on projecting the perfect human form, proportionally and physically. Many even studied anatomy and dead bodies. They were influenced by Greek and Roman ideas.

Why did trade flourish during the Renaissance?

Starting in the 11th century, the Crusade strengthened contacts between the European world and the Byzantine and Muslim cultures. Merchants brought goods, ideas and texts from the East that helped to reawaken interest in classical culture. In approximately 1200CE Genghis Khan established the Mongolian empire, making it a peaceful territory that increased communication and trade between the West, Middle East and Asia. Italy's position was perfect for trade as it was in the centre meaning it received trade from Africa, Asia, other parts of Europe and being surrounded by water meant that goods could arrive from other countries by boat. Now that Asia was peaceful, merchants travelling to the East found protection and status, they were no longer attacked for being foreigners or charged heavy taxes for trading. The opening of trade routes like the Silk Road linked Europe to Asia, allowing an exchange of exotic and in-high-demand goods.

FLORENCE

The city of Florence played a leading role in the Renaissance. It was a hub for trade and was considered to be one of the largest cities in the world at the time, with a population of 60,000 in the 15th century. It was the birthplace of new ideas in science, technology, literature and art. many of the greatest minds from the Renaissance had ties to Florence, which was part of the reason for it being such a cultural and beautiful city. E.g. Dome of Florence Cathedral, Galileo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, etc. The river Arno runs through the centre of the city, and because of this the banks were the site of many of the great businesses and banks. It was very important to the booming cloth industry as it provided water for washing and dying wool. Previously, in the Middle ages, wealth was based almost entirely on land ownership, but during the 15th century, these banks and particularly the wool industry (30,000 workers), were great contributors to Florence's economic wealth. Apart from when the Medicis ruled Florence, it was a republic from 1115-1532.

Naples

The city-state of Naples ruled much of Southern Italy during the Renaissance. It was one of the last city-states to embrace the movement. Naples became known for its music and is where the Mandolin was invented.

Impact of Trade on the Renaissance

The city-states were able to make huge profits from importing Asian spices, silks and other products. The number of merchants grew and were able to amass vast amounts of money. They became a powerful new class in society with social and political power, some going on to be rulers or influential patrons that encouraged the ideas of the Renaissance to flourish, and made the cities even more beautiful. The increase in trade also led to a new kind of economy where trade was not just for other goods, but for money, creating an economy now based on wealth. Moneychangers were needed to exchange different currencies and bankers became significantly more important as they were tasked with handling and storing this money. As the city states grew in power, most focused on a specific item to specialise in importing or producing. Along with this came the sharing of ideas and philosophies. They also encountered new languages that were then studied.

Venice - Overview

The island of Venice had become a powerful city-state through trade with the Far-east. It imported products such as spices and silk. Venice controlled the seas around the east coast of Italy and was famous for artistic glassware. They were also incredible ship-builders.

Rome

The pope ruled both the Catholic Church and Rome. Rome became a patron of the Arts and supported the Renaissance through commissions to artists such as Raphael and Michaelangelo.

What was the Renaissance?

The term Renaissance means "rebirth" and it is used to describe the great changes in art, science, and learning that took place during the 15th and 16th centuries. These changes began in Italy and spread to Europe. The study of classical texts, ancient Greek and Roman ideas and artefacts combined with innovation sparked the period of change. It was a period of cultural expression and renewed intellectual curiosity that challenged some existing values, particularly in religion and politics.

Changes in Art

Two characteristics defined the changes in art: A revival of classical forms developed by ancient Greeks and Romans, and an intensified concern with secular life - interest in humans and the importance of individuals. Linear perspective developed (all objects in a painting are painted proportional to each other). Paintings focused on landscape, and became more lifelike as art became a way of imitating life. They studied the effects of light and developed aerial perspective (objects further away are less colourful and less clear).

VENICE

Venice was a wealthy city-state built on marshlands on the Adriatic sea. It is a myriad of canals and rivers. Venice is in a good position geographically as it controlled the Silk Road to Sicily and is surrounded by sea. This meant as trade flourished, their network became one of the most extensive in Europe. Due to being a set of islands, they were exceptional at building boats and were a strong naval force, but kept all of this a secret. They were a republic ruled by wealthy merchants, which meant that they were open to other non-secular ideas. The head of Venice was called the Doge and was placed under such tight supervision (not able to have visitors alone or open own mail) so that he did not become too powerful, and for protection. Due to Venice's economic prowess, people came from all over the world to live or trade with Venice, introducing new ideas to the Venetians (more diverse city-state). Due to the Venetian government's wealth, they were able to invite some of Europe's greatest artists and thinkers.

Leonardo Da Vinci

(1452-1519). He was a painter, architect, inventor and student of all things scientific - he was an expert in so many areas he coined the term "renaissance man". He created the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, came up with the Golden Ratio for measuring beauty, made designs for a helicopter, bicycle and aeroplane. He did bodily dissections which brought a deeper understanding. He advocated the Humanist view.

Humanism - definition

The belief in the potential of people to create and innovate.