The Renaissance period (1400 to 1700) covered art, literature, philosophy and government. Renaissance culture spread outwards from Florence, to other Italian cities and then, over the following centuries, to the rest of Europe. It is widely understood that it was a unique combination of several different influences that led to the Renaissance, with the social and political conditions of the era, combined with great wealth and the large number of talented artists and artisans in Florence; influencing cultural development on an exceptional scale. Europe in the 15th Century depended on Italy for much of its commerce. Italy itself was made up of city-states in which power was shared by leading families. By 1400 its leading city-state, Florence, had established stable self-government and great wealth through textile trading and banking, leading to a shared feeling of optimism and power. Responsible for the wealth of Florence, the ruling class of merchants, manufacturers and bankers were proud, competitive, academically curious and culturally astute. This wealth made patronage of the arts and the growth of Renaissance culture possible. In turn patronage was a way of demonstrating one’s wealth and power. Wealthy families constantly tried to outdo each other with the extravagance of their commissions, with self-advertisement a key feature of Renaissance patronage. This is epitomised by Masaccio (1401-1428), in ‘The Holy Trinity’ fresco (1425) in the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence. In it, the patrons, Lorenzo Lenzi and his wife, kneel in front of St John the Baptist, Mary, Christ and God. Rivalry pushed patrons and artisans to outclass each other, with revolutionary achievements such as the Santa Maria del Fiore in... ... middle of paper ... ...n times. The ability to document individual achievement and the development of printing from the 1460s helped this – and also helped the Renaissance to spread outside Italy and throughout Europe from the late 15th Century onwards. As the 15th Century drew to a close, the political and trading map of Europe was changing. In 1453 Constantinople, the seat of the Christian Byzantine Empire, was conquered by the Islamic Ottoman Empire, which threatened the Italian states to the east and enforced increasing commercial taxes against its merchants, France also laid claim to the region, initiating an invasion in 1494 that effectively destroyed Italy's commercial and artistic authority. Gradually, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Michelangelo fled to larger imperial courts, with Leonardo spending his last years working for the French king Francis I.
Were the Medicis the great heroes of the Renaissance or the great villains? The Medici’s were a prominent family in the Renaissance, who ruled Florence from 1434 to 1737. They are regarded as being one of the most powerful and richest families in the whole of Europe. The Medics used this great status and wealth to develop an improved Florence, one that was significantly influenced by the Renaissance.
In early 15th century Western Europe was just starting to recover from epidemics, famine, and feuds that lasted centuries. The city-states of Italy were beginning to look back to the classic Greek and Roman civilizations to re-study old scrolls and
By the late 14th century, the Italian city-states had amassed a large treasury from taxes and tariffs. People began to swarm to the cities to work as laborers and artisans, creating urban societies. The merchants of t...
Known as the Renaissance, the period immediately following the Middle Ages in Europe saw a great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. Against a backdrop of political stability and growing prosperity, the development of new technologies including the printing press, a new system of astronomy and the discovery and exploration of new continents was accompanied by a flowering of philosophy, literature and especially art. The style of painting, sculpture and decorative arts identified with the Renaissance emerged in Italy in the late 14th century; it reached its zenith in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, in the work of Italian masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. In addition
Italian city-states were where the Renaissance began. The main 3 city-states were Milan, Venice and Florence. Milan was the center of the main trade route ruled by the Visconti family. It had a centralized state with an efficient tax system that gave money to the government. Venice was a link between Asia and Western Europe, run by an elected leader called a Doge. Merchants ran the city for a profit. Their international power was the black slave trade. Like Venice, Florence was run by merchants, but in 1434 the Medici family overthrew them. Venice then became the cultural center of the Renaissance.
The Medici’s were from Florence, Italy and controlled florence through much of the Renaissance period. They were very important patrons to the arts and the political development of the city. The Medicis were second in power during the Renaissance only to the papacy. The Medici family was part of the new merchant class of patrons. This merchant class was a new class of wealthy families, usually in the banking sector, that invested their money into the arts. Instead of governments being the top power and the wealthy class these private families began to take the power and wealth away from upper class land owners. The merchant class gave birth to a whole new type of patronage. Now art could be privatized and commissioned by families or one person instead of the church or government. This m...
Artists in the Renaissance aided the continuation of Renaissance ideals. Renaissance art, including paintings, sculptures, and architecture,...
Partridge, Loren. The Art of Renaissance Rome 1400-1600. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996.
These are the things that lead up to the Renaissance, It was a beautiful time of beauty and art. Lots of artist at this time came out and discovered many different techniques for sculpting or painting. At this time many artist became very well known and famous for their time. They will away’s mean much in the art world, and they will away’s be remembered for the beauty they made. So their art spreads all over the world, to be discovered and recognized by other artist.
Italian Renaissance is looked back today as one of the most important periods that has occurred in this world. It was the earliest manifestation of the Renaissance, as well it was the era of massive cultural change and achievement that started in the 14th century and terminated during the end of the 16th century. Many views of the Italian culture and society remained mostly medieval and the Renaissance didn’t fully develop until the end of the century. As the Renaissance started to develop it began in Central Italy and poured into the cities of Florence and Siena. As time surpassed it spread to Venice where the remains of Greek culture were gathered together, giving humanist scholar’s new texts. Social structure was a key part in the Renaissance
John Warrack, author of 6 Great Composers, stated, “Any study of a composer, however brief, must have as its only purpose encouragement of the reader to greater enjoyment of the music” (Warrack, p.2). The composers and musicians of the Renaissance period need to be discussed and studied so that listeners, performers, and readers can appreciate and understand the beginnings of music theory and form. The reader can also understand the driving force of the composer, whether sacred or secular, popularity or religious growth. To begin understanding music composition one must begin at the birth, or rebirth of music and the composers who created the great change.
The Renaissance was the rebirth of Europe and it all started in the city of Florence. Florence and everything that made a standard Renaissance city: painters, sculptors, writers, architects, and a vivid culture. Soon all of Europe would follow in Florence’s footsteps and “the setting is so rich, varied, rambunctious, and inventive as Italy in the Renaissance” (Cohen 1). The painters and sculptors defined Renaissance culture and could actually make a living because they were being sponsored.
This helped the trade become more accessible and easier to distribute from cities to cities. This is what helped spike its political and economic changes in the society during the Renaissance. The trade was brining is so much wealth for the merchants that the cities began to grew, and then they began to start taxing the people which brought it more wealth. It is also been said that Italy was divided into smaller cities at that time then eventually spread to the other cities when they became wealthy and began to gain more
The Renaissance was a time when people began to think and see things differently. It was a time for new innovations. People wanted to study the past and learn more about culture. People began to see important in human emotion, and they began to see that there was much more rather than just religion. Europe was facing many problems like the Black Death. But the problems caused a shift in the world view of people in 14th century Italy. During the early 1400’s, Europe witnessed a major rebirth of fine art painting, sculpture, drawing and architecture. Early Renaissance art had its birth of creativity and development in Florence, Italy, which eventually spread to Western Europe. Italy contained the status of being the richest trading nation with both Europe and the Orient, Italy was fortunate to be left with a huge repository of classical ruins and artifacts. In almost every town and city, examples of Roman architecture and sculpture, including copies of sculptures from Ancient Greece, had been familiar for centuries. The decline of Constantinople and the capital of the Byzantine Empire caused many Greek scholars to go to Italy, bringing knowl...
The Renaissance was a time of creativity and change in Europe. It produced many achievements in art, literature, and science, but most importantly it produced a new concept of how people thought of themselves, each other, and the world around them.