SPOTLIGHT
The Birth of Venus,
by Sandro Botticelli (1486).
(Image via Wikimedia Commons)
Renaissance
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SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
The Renaissance was an explosion of ideas,
education, and literacy. It produced some of the
greatest artwork and artists in history. The leaders of
the Renaissance were born in Italy’s independent
city-states and drew inspiration from Ancient Greek
and Roman civilizations. Even today, the buildings
and streets of Rome, Florence, and many other Italian
cities are filled with stunning Renaissance art and
architecture. Famous Renaissance paintings hang in
museums all over the world. The word “renaissance”
literally means “rebirth.” In truth, the Renaissance
gave birth to the modern world.
The Italian Renaissance was a reaction to life during
the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, very few people
knew how to read. Books were rare—and most were written in Latin, which was not a
language spoken by everyday people.
The Renaissance got its start when a group of writers and scholars in Italy began to seek
out the knowledge of classical Rome and Greece. These Italians looked back on Ancient
Greece and Rome (the period from about 400 BC to AD 476) as a time when literature,
philosophy, art and architecture all flourished. Starting in the 1300s, this new group of
writers and scholars began calling themselves “humanists” and they referred to the
Middle Ages—the time in which they were living—as the “Dark Ages.” They thought
knowledge, education, culture, and innovation were not thriving in their own times. To
bring back the “light,” they sought out, re-discovered, and studied books written in
Ancient Rome and Greece. They wanted to relight the fire of intellectual and civic life
that they believed had been snuffed out since the fall of the Roman Empire.
Although the authors of most of these ancient Greek and Roman books had been dead
for over 1,000 years, their writing survived in the libraries of Europe’s monasteries. For
TOP: The School of
Athens painted by
Raphael in about 1509
typifies what the
Renaissance was all
about. The humanists
looked back on ancient
Greece and Rome as a
time of cultural
advancement and
achievement.
With the ancient Greek
philosophers Plato and
Aristotle at the center of
the action, the School of
Athens pictures
numerous philosophers
reading, writing,
listening, discussing and
pursuing knowledge.
(Image via Wikipedia)
BOTTOM:
Michelangelo’s The
Creation of Adam on
the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel in Rome is one
of the most famous
artworks of the
Renaissance. (Image
via Wikipedia)
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SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
centuries, monks had been making copies, writing out every word of the ancient texts
by hand. Not too many people had read these books during the Middle Ages, but they
were there when the humanists went looking for them. Inspired by the ideas, stories,
and beautiful poetry of the ancient Greek and Roman writers, humanists began writing
new works of literature in Latin (which they studied) and the “vernacular,” the language
that people spoke every day.
One of the early humanists was Giovanni Boccaccio. In 1348, a gruesome disease called
the bubonic plague struck Boccaccio’s hometown of Florence, Italy. The “Black Death”
swept through Florence and on through Europe, killing tens of millions of people.
Boccaccio survived, and the real-life plague became the background for his most famous
book, The Decameron. In it, Boccaccio writes a realistic account of the plague and then a
fictional story about seven women and three men who flee the city and spend two weeks
passing the time telling stories. The 100 stories that the characters tell became wildly
popular. One reason for their popularity was that they were written in Italian, not Latin, so
more people could read them. Even so, new books still had to be produced by hand, with
scribes writing out every line. That strongly limited the number of books that could be
produced. But as the Renaissance progressed, all that was about to change.
In about 1450, a man named Johannes Gutenberg who worked as a goldsmith in
Germany combined some existing inventions into a brand-new one that would change
the course of history. Using his knowledge of metals, Gutenberg
perfected “movable type” (something that had already been
invented in China). Movable type are little molds of letters and
punctuation. They can be arranged in any combination on a
rack and then inked for printing. In about 1450, Gutenberg
combined movable type with a simple mechanical press—the
same kind that was used to squeeze oil out of olives or juice out
of grapes—to make a mechanical printing press. Working
together, two or three printers could produce over 3,600 pages
a day—a lot more than the few pages that a scribe could make
copying by hand.
The first book produced with the new printing press was the
Gutenberg Bible—and it was a sensation. People all over
wanted copies. Within a few years, there were hundreds of print
shops around Europe—and Italy was the printing capital of the
world. Suddenly a book like The Decameron was available in
thousands of copies. With the explosion of books came an
explosion in literacy and education. More and more people
were learning how to read, and more books were being written.
The “light” that the early humanists dreamed of was glowing
brighter and brighter.
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A handwritten copy of
The Physics by Aristotle
was preserved and
probably re-copied in
the Middle Ages. The
main text is written in a
Latin translation, but a
second scribe wrote out
the original Greek in
the margin. (Image via
Wikimedia Commons)
SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
In addition to rediscovering and studying the
writings of ancient Greeks and Romans, the
humanists dug up archaeological sites to find
artworks and learn about ancient Roman
architecture. (This was surprisingly easy because they
were living in the very cities that had once been the
heart of the Roman Empire.) Soon painters and
architects were reviving “classical” styles. Popular
features of ancient Roman architecture, such as
columns with capitals, rounded arches with a
keystone on top, and large domes, were used in new
buildings. Unlike the helter skelter cityscapes of the
medieval period, Renaissance buildings were
constructed symmetrically, with one side looking the
same as the other.
In Florence, the Renaissance architect Filippo
Brunelleschi was hired in 1418 to build a gigantic dome on top of the city’s cathedral. No
one had built a dome that big since Ancient Rome, but Brunelleschi had studied how the
dome of the ancient Roman Pantheon had been constructed—plus he had some new
ideas of his own. One of Brunelleschi’s key inventions was building a supporting structure
of circular rings and vertical ribs made out of stone, wood, and iron. Then, when masons
began laying bricks to form the walls of the dome, Brunelleschi had them lay the bricks in
a herringbone pattern. Using that pattern shifted the weight of the bricks toward the
wooden supports. During the construction of Il Duomo, many residents of Florence
feared the dome would collapse. But it didn’t—and to this day, Brunelleschi’s dome
remains the largest masonry dome in the world.
Florence was the cradle of the Renaissance—and in the 1400s, it was the perfect place
for new ideas to shine. Instead
of being ruled by a king or a
duchess, it was an independent
city-state, ruled by members of
the city’s trade guilds. There
were guilds for lawyers,
carpenters, bakers, doctors,
leather workers, bankers, cloth
makers, and more. Although
leaders of the city were voted
into office by the guilds, one
family came to dominate the
political scene: the Medicis. The
Medici family had made their
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TOP One of the largest
churches in the world,
St. Peter’s Basilica in
Rome took over 100
years to build. The
interior—with its
columns, rounded
arches and profound
symmetry—shows the
influence of Roman
architecture on
Renaissance design.
(WDG Photo/
Shutterstock)
BOTTOM: Built in AD
126 (and still standing),
the Pantheon in Rome
was a temple to all of
Rome’s gods. It is
topped by an
enormous concrete
dome and was an
inspiration to
Renaissance architects.
(Goran Bogicevic/
Shutterstock)
SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
money in banking. Throughout the
1400s and part of the 1500s, they led
the city of Florence and threw their
financial support behind humanist art
and architecture projects.
Humanist artwork is one of the most
enduring features of the Renaissance.
During medieval times, artwork had
almost always been religious. And there
was still a lot of religious artwork made
for churches and chapels during the Renaissance. However, Renaissance artists also
began painting and sculpting subjects inspired by Greek and Roman mythology, as well
as portraits of real people.
Just as humanist writers wanted to use the language spoken by regular people, Renaissance
artists wanted to show the world and its people as they really were. In older medieval
European paintings—many of which were Christian-themed—subjects and figures are
stylized and often stiff. Renaissance artists took pride in the realism of their work.
Here is one type of painting in which you can clearly see the change in styles: During
both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a common subject of religious paintings
was Mary and the baby Jesus. In medieval paintings, Mary, Jesus, and various saints
were often painted with gold halos, indicating that they were divine. During the
Renaissance, the same religious subjects were painted to emphasize their human-ness.
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TOP: With its bell tower
on one end and dome
on the other, the
cathedral of Florence,
or Il Duomo di Firenze
in Italian, is a mixture of
medieval and
Renaissance
architecture. The dome,
designed by the
Renaissance architect
Filippo Brunelleschi, is
nearly 150 feet in
diameter and weighs
over 7 million pounds.
It is considered a
masterwork of
architecture and
engineering. (Baloncici/
Shutterstock
BOTTOM: Inside the
dome of the cathedral
of Florence, the
Renaissance artists
Giorgio Vasari, Federico
Zuccari, and a team of
assistants created this
massive fresco of The
Last Judgment. The
final judgment was a
common theme for
artists decorating
Renaissance churches.
The artwork shows
angels separating the
good from the wicked.
It is not considered one
of the best artworks of
the Renaissance, but it
is definitely one of the
biggest, about the size
of eight football fields.
(Samot/ Shutterstock)
SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
LEFT: This early medieval painting of Jesus and the abbot of a monastery dates from the 6th
or 7th century. The artist of this beautiful piece is unknown. Note how the figures of Jesus
and the abbot are stylized, almost like drawings from a cartoon strip. (Image via Wikipedia)
RIGHT: In this late medieval painting from 1308 in the Cathedral of Siena in Italy, the artist
(Duccio di Buoninsegna) depicts Mary and the baby Jesus sitting on a throne surrounded by
saints, angels, and apostles. Although it is still in the medieval style, it is moving toward a
more realistic depiction of its subjects. (Image via Wikipedia)
How else did Renaissance artists make their work look more realistic? One
huge development was the use of linear perspective. With linear perspective,
painters could create a sense of depth and distance. Instead of looking flat,
their paintings looked like they were in 3-D. Some artists got so good at it that
they could use perspective to create optical illusions that fooled people into
thinking that what they were seeing was real.
To understand linear perspective, imagine you’re standing on a railroad line,
looking down the tracks into the distance. The farther away the tracks are, the narrower
and smaller they look. Finally, you can’t see anymore and the tracks vanish into the
horizon, where the land meets the sky. To make the tracks look real in a picture, you
would need to create a horizon line, a vanishing point, and visual rays (called
orthogonal lines) that converge on the vanishing point (just like the lines of the railroad
track). To complete the sense of perspective, artists also used a technique called
“foreshortening,” in which objects that are supposed to be in the distance are drawn
smaller and smaller the farther away they are supposed to be.
To depict the human form realistically was one of the goals of Renaissance artists. At
the same time, Renaissance scientists wanted to learn more about human anatomy. This
shared interest led to important collaborations between artists and physicians. In fact,
two of the most famous artists of the Renaissance—Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo—teamed up with physicians to perform autopsies on dead bodies, so they
could learn how muscles and body systems functioned and what lay beneath the human
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Mary and the baby Jesus
are depicted in this
Renaissance masterpiece,
the Sistine Madonna
painted by Raphael in
1512. The work was
commissioned by Pope
Julius II for the monastery
of San Sisto in Piancenza,
Italy. Though they appear
in the clouds among
otherworldly seraphs
(peeking out of the mist),
Raphael’s Mary and Jesus
look far more lifelike than
in medieval depictions.
(Image via Wikipedia)
SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
skin. In exchange, the artists demonstrated how to create accurate anatomical drawings
so that what was learned from autopsies could be preserved, published, and shared.
Michelangelo, like most Renaissance artists, was fascinated by the human form. One of
his most famous works is David. A 17-foot-high statue of the young shepherd who
slayed the giant in the Bible story “David and Goliath,” David is sculpted in his birthday
suit out of a massive block of white marble. The oversized form of David is both realistic
and detailed, down to the bulging veins in the sculpture’s right hand and the
tension in the right leg muscles, as if David is in motion and preparing to hurl a
stone at an unseen giant. Commissioned by the leaders of Florence and
completed in 1504, the statue of David the giant-killer became a symbol of the
city’s independence and the liberty of its citizens.
One of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, Michelangelo was constantly in
demand—and paid handsomely. But the work he did wasn’t just creative. It was
backbreaking. When the pope asked him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel in Rome, Michelangelo spent four years standing all day on a scaffold
with his neck craned back, while plaster plopped down on his face. The result is
RIGHT:One of the most important scientific books of the Renaissance was On the Fabric of Human
Anatomy. Published in 1543, it was a seven-volume work by the physician Andreas Visalius and
illustrated by one of the students of the great Renaissance painter Titian. Although the primary
purpose of On the Fabric of Human Anatomy was to provide an accurate picture of human bones,
muscles, and organs, it is filled with anatomical drawings set in odd places. This skeleton appears
to be going on a hike in the Alps. (Image via Wikipedia)
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LEFT: Pietro Perugino
painted this fresco in
the Sistine Chapel in
Rome in about 1481.
Called The Delivery of
the Keys, it shows Christ
giving St. Peter the keys
to heaven. It is a
powerful example of
linear perspective, with
the edges of the paving
stones on the plaza
serving as orthogonal
lines and narrowing to
the vanishing point
near the doorway of
the temple. Note the
foreshortening of the
human figures at
different points in the
background. (Image via
Wikipedia)
SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
ABOVE LEFT: Michelangelo chose to depict David in the moment before he slayed the giant.
Meant to show that David was determined, courageous, and a bit fearful (as David would not
know at this point if he would successfully defeat the giant), the marble forehead is tight with
worry and concentration. (Image via Wikipedia)
ABOVE RIGHT:The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was completed by Michelangelo in 1512. At a time
before there were movies or even photographs, seeing these multidimensional scenes high
above must have been overwhelming and even otherworldly. The far wall shows Michelangelo’s
The Last Judgment, completed many years later in 1541. Frescoes along the other walls are by
various Renaissance artists. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
one of the most spectacular artworks of the Renaissance. Paintings of scenes
from the Bible are framed in paintings of architectural features that look almost
real. Angels are painted as if hanging from the rafters—and the whole ceiling
appears multidimensional.
One of Michelangelo’s fellow artists, Giorgio Vasari, wrote that after you had seen
Michelangelo’s David, you never needed to look at any other sculpture. Vasari was
equally thrilled by another Renaissance artwork from around 1506 that, to this
day, is one of the most famous paintings in the world: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Vasari wrote that the Mona Lisa was so lifelike that if you gazed at the painting long
enough, you could see “the beating of the pulse.” Why was the Mona Lisa such a
sensation? Why did Vasari say that it caused other painters to “tremble”? In a time
before photography, computers, or copiers, Leonardo perfected techniques that
inspired other painters for hundreds of years to come. For example, instead of a distinct
outline, everything in the painting is slightly “smoky” in an attempt to mimic natural
light—something Leonardo had learned about in his scientific studies. The face of the
Mona Lisa seems to naturally glow due to his microscopic layering of transparent
paints. Instead of just foreshortening objects in the distance, Leonardo makes them
blurrier as objects get farther away—just as they appear in real life.
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Want to know a
Renaissance secret?
Leonardo worked on
the Mona Lisa for years,
but he never quite
finished it to his own
satisfaction. (Just don’t
tell the 7 million visitors
who go see the Mona
Lisa in the Louvre
Museum in Paris every
year.) (Image via
Wikipedia)
SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
Take 5 Quiz: Renaissance
1.What time in history most inspired Renaissance thinkers and artists?
a.The Middle Ages
b. Ancient Greece and Rome
c. Ancient Egypt
d.
The Byzantine Empire
2.When the Renaissance began, florence, Italy was
a.ruled by the Vatican in Rome
b. an independent city-state
c. a small kingdom
d.
part of the Roman Empire
3.What Renaissance invention was like the internet in that it helped spread
ideas and information?
a.sailing ship
b. abacus
c.compass
d.mechanical printing press
4.Renaissance artists used several techniques, styles and ideas that were
new at the time, which of these is not a technique, style or idea used by
Renaissance artists?
a.linear perspective
b. portraying people more realistically
c. painting halos around holy figures
d.emphasizing human anatomy
5.Besides being two of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, what is
something Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci had in common?
a.They dissected corpses to learn more about the human body.
b. They helped design the dome for the Cathedral of Florence.
c. They drew illustrations of plague victims for a special edition of
The Decameron.
d.They predicted in their diaries that in the future they would both be reborn
as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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SPOTLIGHT: RENAISSANCE
Take 5 Quiz: Renaissance
1.What time in history most inspired Renaissance thinkers and artists?
a.The Middle Ages
b. Ancient Greece and Rome
c. Ancient Egypt
d.
The Byzantine Empire
2.When the Renaissance began, florence, Italy was
a.ruled by the Vatican in Rome
b. an independent city-state
c. a small kingdom
d.
part of the Roman Empire
3.What Renaissance invention was like the internet in that it helped spread
ideas and information?
a.sailing ship
b. abacus
c.compass
d.mechanical printing press
4.Renaissance artists used several techniques, styles and ideas that were
new at the time, which of these is not a technique, style or idea used by
Renaissance artists?
a.linear perspective
b. portraying people more realistically
c. painting halos around holy figures
d.emphasizing human anatomy
5.Besides being two of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, what is
something Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci had in common?
a.They dissected corpses to learn more about the human body.
b. They helped design the dome for the Cathedral of Florence.
c. They drew illustrations of plague victims for a special edition of
The Decameron.
d.They predicted in their diaries that in the future they would both be reborn
as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
10 • www.kidsdiscover.com