Renaissance

The Start of the Renaissance

Jan 1, 1300

The renaissance is the rebirth of music, art, and literature. During this time more and more people gained an interest education. Part of the reason that people wanted to be educated and rich is because the church had become corrupt and there where new found luxuries, like silk and spices. The love for art and music as always lead to literature. To the left is an early Renaissance work called "Ghiberti’s Baptistry doors" in Florence, Italy.

Giovanni Boccaccio

Jan 1, 1313

Giovanni Boccaccio is most famous for a frame story called the Decameron. A frame story is a story that contains one or more stories, creating a "story within a story." The Decameron is a collection of realistic stories told by young people in a rural area. By presenting his characters reallistically, Boccaccio gives both comical and tragic views of life. He uses humor to illustrate the human condition.

The Black Plague Arrives in Europe

Oct 1, 1347

The black plague was a disease that came from rats and insects. It was introduced to Europe in 1347 on trading ships from Asia. The symptoms of the disease include dark swellings, fever, nausea, pain, and finally, death. Many people fled and did all that they could to escape the disease. Some even abandoned dying loved ones. For the five years that followed, the disease killed almost a third of all Europeans.

Donatello

Jan 1, 1386

During his early life Donatello studied with Fillipo Brunelleschi and made a living working in goldsmiths shops. In approximately 1420 he created a sculpture called "St George." This was different from other sculptures at the time because it showed realistic emotion. In the 1440s he created a sculpture known as "David." This was the first nude, male sculpture since classical times.

Cosimo de Medici

Period: Jan 1, 1389 to Jan 1, 1464

Cosimo was born in Florence in 1389. He was the first of their "political" line of rule. He was what we would call "The Godfather" of Italy. He lived for about 75 years and inherited his wealth from his father. He was the banker to stay in good graces with; he even had power over the pope.

Johann Gutenberg

Period: Jan 1, 1398 to Jan 1, 1468

Johann was born in 1398 in Germany. He was a blacksmith/goldsmith. He is credited with creating the mobile printing press. This was a key development in history because it increased the rate that books were made. The printing press was used to copy the most common book known, the bible.

Leonardo da Vinci

Period: Jan 1, 1452 to Jan 1, 1519

Leonardo da Vinci was born in the city of Vinci near Florence. Most famous for painting the “Mona Lisa”, this is funny because it is such a small painting. He is also known for “The Last supper” that is thought of as a “Christian Renaissance” work. One interesting fact about is that he was paranoid so he wrote backwards. The thing most people don’t know about him is that he was also an inventor.

Niccolò Machiavelli

May 3, 1469

Niccolò Machiavelli was a political philosopher. He wrote a politcal guidebook called The Prince in 1513. In The Prince, Machiavelli explains that most people are selfish. To succeed in a world where most people are so selfish, Machiavelli says that a leader must be conerned more with what is politically effective than with what is morally right. He claims that it is much better for a leader to be feared than loved by his people.

Desiderius Erasmus

Oct 27, 1469

Erasmus is typically referred to as the greatest of the Christian humanists. He was the illegitimate son of a minister and was sent to a monastery at a young age. He was often struggling between his religious education and his classical studies. After he "escaped" the monastery, he used what he learned from both to write and publish several works about Christianity and how he thought it should be. He often criticized the Church, and the Church strongly opposed his views.

Albrecht Durer

May 21, 1471

Albrecht Durer is often called the greatest Northern Renaissance artist there was as well as a true "renaissance man" – a very well-rounded man. He traveled western Germany studying from several different masters. He then traveled to Italy and created watercolor sketches of landscapes he saw, such as the alpine landscape to the left. After returning to Germany and opening his own workshop, he went on to create several other different kinds of art, such as engravings, woodcuts, and oil panels.

The Northern Renassiance Begins

Jan 1, 1475

The Nothern Renaissance is the renaissance of northern Europe. It began around 1475 in Italy. The majority of the art known from the renaissance was created in this area and time period. The three most famous artist found in the Northern Renaissance were Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, and Raphael. The biggest invention of the Northern Renaissance is the printing press. with interchangeable letters.

Thomas More

Period: Feb 7, 1478 to Jul 6, 1535

Thomas More was a Christian humanist from England who was killed after he refused to accept King Henry VIII as head of the church instead of the pope. Thomas More wrote the book Utopia in 1516. Though in Greek, "utopia" means "no place," it has come to mean a perfect or ideal place in the English language. More wrote about a place without greed, corruption, money, or war. His book was originally written in Latin, but it became so popular that it had to be translated into several languages.

Baldassare Castiglione

Dec 6, 1478

Baldassare Castiglione was an Italian Renaissance writer who wrote about "the Reanaissance man." A renaissance man must master every area of study and excell in all fields. He must be a skilled wrestler and swordsman as well as a skilled artist and musician. He should be witty, charming, and educated. In his book, The Courtier, Castiglione explains how to be such a man.

Raphael

Period: Jan 1, 1483 to Apr 6, 1520

When he was young, Raphael trained in the workshop of Pietro Perugino, and by the time he was 17 years old, he was proving to be one of the most promising of the workshop's younger painters. Later, he set to out to study the work of Michelangelo and da Vinci in Florence. Soon, these became his rivals. Raphael painted several paintings for the library of Pope Julius II. He eventually did some work as an architect before he died at the age of 37.

William Shakespeare

Period: Jan 1, 1564 to Jan 1, 1616

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. By 1592 he had started his theatrical work in London. He is credited with 38 plays, and is known for his accuracy. His most famous plays include “Macbeth”, and “Romeo and Juliet." He based a lot of his works on the Greco-Roman Era.

The End of the Renaissance

Jan 1, 1600

The renaissance did not truly end; it just evolved into the modern era. Those of the time continued to appreciate the arts while others decided to go out and explore. All of the art created from that point forward however did change along with music styles. To conclude the renaissance did end, but not in the term of ending more commonly thought of. To the left is "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci.