The Renaissance How did it begin?

The Renaissance is generally considered to have started in Florence, Italy around the years 1350 to
1400. The start of the Renaissance also was the end of the Middle Ages.
Humanism
One of the big changes in the Renaissance was in the basic way people thought about things. In the
Middle Ages people thought that life was supposed to be hard. They grew up thinking that life was
nothing but hard work and war.
However, around the 1300s, the people in Florence, Italy began to think differently about life. They
studied the writings and works of the Greeks and the Romans and realized that earlier civilizations had
lived differently.
This new way of thinking was called Humanism. Now people thought that life could be enjoyable and
they could have comforts. They started to think that people should be educated and that things like art,
music, and science could make life better for everyone. This was a real change in the way people
thought.
Florence, Italy
At the start of the Renaissance, Italy was divided up into a number of powerful city-states. These were
areas of land that were ruled by a large city. Each city-state had its own government. One of the major
city-states was Florence. The government that ran Florence was a republic, like ancient Rome. This
meant that the citizens elected their own leaders.
In the late 1300s, Florence had become a rich city. Wealthy merchants and businessmen had the
money to hire artisans and craftspeople. This inspired competitions among artists and thinkers. Art
began to flourish and new thoughts began to emerge.

The Medici Family was powerful in Florence

In the 1400's the Medici family came into power in Florence. They were wealthy bankers and helped
the arts along by sponsoring many artists and using their personal funds to further the humanist
movement.
Petrarch and Humanism
Francesco Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism". He was a scholar and a poet who lived

in Florence in the 1300s. He studied poets and philosophers from Ancient Rome such as Cicero and
Virgil. His ideas and poetry became an inspiration to many writers and poets throughout all of Europe
as the Renaissance spread.
Giotto di Bondone - First Renaissance Painter
Giotto was a painter in Florence, Italy. He was the first painter to break away from the standard
Byzantine style painting of the Middle Ages and try something new. He painted objects and people as
they actually looked in nature. Previously, artists had all painted more abstract paintings that didn't look
real at all. Giotto is said to have started the Renaissance in art with his new style of realistic painting.

Picture of Dante painted by Giotto

Dante
Another major contributor to the start of the Renaissance was Dante Alighieri. He lived in Florence and
wrote the Devine Comedy in the early 1300s. This book is considered to be the greatest literary work
ever written in the Italian language.
New Ideas Spread
This new way of thinking and style of art quickly spread to other wealthy Italian city-states such as
Rome, Venice, and Milan. This early part of the Renaissance is often called the Italian Renaissance.
Italy would become wealthy through trade and their new ideas soon spread throughout all of Europe.

Renaissance Timeline

1300 - 1400 Proto-Renaissance

1305 - Giotto completes his work on the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.
1308 - Dante writes his epic poem the Divine Comedy.
1341 - The first great humanist, Petrarch, is named the poet laureate of Rome.
1400 - 1500 Early Renaissance
1419 - Architect Brunelleschi designs the dome for the Florence Cathedral.
1434 - The Medici family becomes the head of the city-state of Florence.
1450 - Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press.
1453 - The Ottoman Empire captures the city of Constantinople, signaling an end to the Byzantine
Empire.
1469 - Lorenzo de Medici becomes head of the city-state of Florence. He is one of the great patrons of
the arts.
1485 - Henry VII becomes king of England beginning the reign of the House of Tudor.
1486 - Boticelli completes the painting The Birth of Venus.
1492 - Explorer Christopher Columbus discovers the Americas.
1495 - 1527 High Renaissance
1495 - Leonardo da Vinci paints the Last Supper.
1498 - Vasco da Gama arrives in India after sailing around the southern tip of Africa from Portugal.
1501 - Michelangelo begins his work on the sculpture David.
1503 - Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa.
1508 - Michelangelo begins his painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
1509 - Henry VIII becomes king of England.
1509 - Humanist author Erasmus writes Praise of Folly.
1511- Raphael paints his masterpiece The School of Athens.
1516 - Sir Thomas More publishes his work Utopia on political philosophy.
1517 - Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Church of Wittenberg. This signals the start
of theReformation.

1519 - Ferdinand Magellan begins his voyage around the world.

1527-1600 Mannerism
1527 - Rome is sacked by the troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
1534 - Henry VIII separates the Church of England from the Catholic Church of Rome so that he can
divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.
1558 - Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England.
1588 - The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English navy.
1599 - William Shakespeare builds the Globe theatre. He will write many of his great plays over the
next few years including Hamlet and Macbeth.
1610 - Galileo discovers the moons of Jupiter.
1618 - The Thirty Years War begins.
Interesting Facts about the Medici Family

Although the names were later changed, Galileo initially named four of the moons of Jupiter he
discovered after children of the Medici family.

The Medici Family produced four popes in total including Pope Leo X, Pope Clement VII, Pope
Pius IV, and Pope Leo XI.

The Medici Family is sometimes called the Godfathers of the Renaissance.

In 1478 Giuliano Medici was assassinated by the Pazzi family in front of 10,000 people at the
Easter church service.

Ferdinando de Medici was a patron of music. He helped to fund the invention of the piano.

Renaissance Art
Many of the new ideas and attitudes that marked the Renaissance times were portrayed in art. A
new idea called humanism put a focus on human interests, needs, and abilities. This new idea
changed how artists painted their subjects as well as the choice of subjects they painted.

Renaissance art is often divided up into two periods:

Early Renaissance (1400-1479) - Artists learned by trying to emulate classical artists focusing on
symmetry and creating the perfect form. This era featured such artists as Giotto, Masaccio, and
Donatello.
High Renaissance (1475-1525) - A rising interest in perspective and space gave the art even more
realism. Great artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Rafael flourished during this
period.

Change of Subjects
In the Middle Ages the subject of almost all European art was religion, specifically Christianity and
the Catholic Church. Although Renaissance artists continued to paint religious paintings, they also
branched out to other subjects including Greek and Roman mythology, historical subjects, and
portraits of individuals. They also focused on the details of everyday life.

School of Athens by Raphael featured philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates

Realism
One of the big changes in art was to paint and sculpt subjects realistically. This is called realism
and involves a number of techniques that make the subjects and background look like they would
in real life. This also meant giving the subjects more emotional qualities.

New Techniques and Styles

Many new techniques were introduced during the Renaissance. These techniques helped to
enhance the quality and realism of the art.

Perspective - perspective is drawing or painting a picture such that it looks like there are three
dimensions. It gives the illusion that some objects in the painting are further away than others.
Balance and Proportion - Drawing subjects such that they are the correct size when compared to
each other.
Use of Light and Dark - Many artists starting using light and shadows in their works to add drama,
perspective, and timing to their art.

Caravaggio used light and shadow to create drama

Sfumato - This was a technique used by Leonardo da Vinci to add additional perspective and
dimension to paintings. It was a way of blurring the lines between subjects. This technique was
used in Leonardo's Mona Lisa.

The Mona Lisa used the sfumato technique

Foreshortening - Another technique that added perspective and depth to paintings, foreshortening
is a way of shortening lines to give the illusion of depth.

Renaissance Famous People

There were many people who had influence and became famous during the Renaissance times. Here
are some of the most famous:
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) - Leonardo is generally considered the perfect example of the
Renaissance Man. He was an expert at many different things including painting, sculpture, science,
architecture, and anatomy. He not only was one of the most celebrated artists of all time with paintings
such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, but was also one of the most prolific inventors in history.
King Henry VIII (1491-1547) - King Henry the VIII could have been considered the prototypical
"Renaissance Man" at his prime. He was tall, good looking, and confident. He was educated and
intelligent and could speak four languages. He was also athletic, a good horseman, a musician,
composer, and a strong fighter. Henry the VIII is also known for having six different wives and for
separating the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church.
Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) - Luther was a German theologian and priest. He objected to many of the
practices of the Catholic Church such as paying to get into heaven and the authority of the Pope. He
thought the Bible should be the final authority and that it should be available to everyone. Luther's
ideas caused the Reformation and a new type of Christianity called Protestantism.

Martin Luther
Catherine de Medici (1519 - 1589) - Catherine was a member of the famed Medici family of Florence.
As an 11 year old girl she was taken captive and held to try and stop her family from attacking. She
convinced her captors that she wanted to become a nun and, as result, they didn't hurt her. A few
years later she married the son of the King of France, Henry. Henry became king of France and
Catherine a powerful queen. After Henry's death, her sons became kings of France and Poland and
her daughter queen of Navarre.
Erasmus (1466 - 1536) - Erasmus was a Dutch priest and scholar. He was considered the greatest
humanist of the north and helped to spread humanism and the Renaissance movement to northern
Europe. He is also famous for his book Praise of Folly.

Erasmus
Paracelsus (1493 - 1541) - Paracelsus was a Swiss scientist and botanist who helped to make many
advances in medicine. He studied current practices in medicine and found that most doctors actually
made patient's conditions worse rather than healing them. His studies showed that certain chemicals
and drugs could help patients to heal and get better. He also found that the environment and diet of
person contributed to their health.
Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) - Columbus was a Spanish explorer who went to the Americas
when trying to find the East Indies or Asia. His discovery began an era of exploration and expansion of
European powers throughout the Americas and the world.
Other famous people from the Renaissance include:

Michelangelo - Artist, architect, and sculptor famous for his paintings in the Sistine Chapel.

Johannes Gutenberg - Inventor of the printing press.

Joan of Arc - A peasant girl who became a military leader in France. She was burned at the
stake for being a heretic at the age of 19.

Mehmed II - Leader of the Ottoman Empire. He conquered Constantinople putting an end to the
Byzantine Empire.

Vasco da Gama - Explorer who discovered a sea route from Europe to India by going around
Africa.

Dante Alighieri - Writer of the Divine Comedy, an important work in world literature.

William Shakespeare - Playwright considered the greatest writer in the English language.

Elizabeth I of England - Considered by many to be the greatest monarch in the history of

England.

Galileo - Astronomer who made many discoveries about the planets and stars.

Renaissance Artists
There were many great artists during the Renaissance. Perhaps the most famous are Leonardo da
Vinci and Michelangelo. Other artists, however, had great influence both during Renaissance times
and later, even influencing modern day artists.
Here is a list of some of the most famous Renaissance artists:
Donatello (1386 - 1466)
Donatello was a sculptor and one of the pioneers in Renaissance art. He lived in Florence, Italy at the
start of the Renaissance. He was a humanist and interested in Greek and Roman sculpture. He
introduced new ways of creating depth and perspective in art. Some of Donatello's most famous
sculptures include David, St. Mark, the Gattamelata, and the Magdalene Penitent.
Jan van Eyck (1395 - 1441)
Jan van Eyck was a Flemish painter. He is often known as the "father of oil painting" because of all the
new techniques and advances he made in oil painting. Van Eyck was known for extraordinary detail in
his paintings. His works include the Arnolfini Portrait, Annunciation, Lucca Madonna, and the Ghent
Altarpiece.

The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck

Masaccio (1401 - 1428)
Masaccio is often called the "father of Renaissance painting". He introduced the painting of lifelike
figures and realism to his subjects that had not been done previously in the Middle Ages. He also used
perspective and light and shadow in his paintings. Many painters in Florence studied his frescos in
order to learn how to paint. His works include Tribute Money, Holy Trinity, and Madonna and Child.

The Tribute Money by Masaccio

Botticelli (1445 - 1510)
Botticelli was a ward of the Medici family of Florence during the growth of the Italian Renaissance. He
painted a number of portraits for the Medici family as well as many religious paintings. He is probably
most famous for his paintings on the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in Rome. His works include The
Birth of Venus, Adoration of the Magi, and The Temptation of Christ.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)
Often called the true "Renaissance Man", Leonardo was an artist, scientist, sculptor, and architect. As
an artist, his paintings are some of the most known paintings in the world including the Mona Lisa and
The Last Supper. Click here to read more about Leonardo da Vinci.
Michelangelo (1475 - 1564)
Michelangelo was a sculptor, artist, and architect. He was considered to be the greatest artist during
his time. He is famous for both his sculptures and his paintings. His two most famous sculptures are
the Piet and David. His most known paintings are frescos on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

David by Michelangelo
Raphael (1483 - 1520)
Raphael was a painter during the High Renaissance. His paintings were known for their perfection. He
painted many portraits as well as hundreds of paintings of angels and the Madonna. His works include
the The School of Athens, Portrait of Pope Julius II, and the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament.
Caravaggio (1571 - 1610)
Caravaggio was one of the last great Renaissance artists. He was known for his realistic physical and
emotional paintings. He also made use of light in his painting for added drama. His art influenced the
next era of painting called the Baroque style of painting.

The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio