Renaissance

1. Renaissance Closer look at philosophy and art

2. Renaissance=rebirth • Renaissance came to mean a new consciousness of modernity and individuality. • Convinced they lived in a new age. Reveled in human potential and individuality.

3. Humanism • Literary and linguistic movement. They wrote poetry, history, moral philosophy, grammar books, etc. • First humanist: Petrarch • On the Solitary Life, he claimed that the solittude needed for reading the classics was akin to the solitude practiced by those who dvoted themselves to God.

4. Quirini • Represented the ordinary humanistin his ‘typical’ letters and essays on the topics of nature of the state, character of true nobility, and viewed Turks as barbarians.

5. Giovanni Pico dellaMirandola • If Quirini was ‘typical,’ Mirandola was the most flamboyant. • Pico’s Oration on the Dignity of Man summed up his humanist view: the creative individual, armed only with his desires and judgment, could choose to become a boor or an angel. Humanity’s potential is thus unlimited.

6. The Arts • The lure of the classical past was used and combined with the present to express patriotism, religious piety, and prestige for their benefactors • An example for a subject popular among artists of this time period was Venus: the Roman goddess of love and beauty who, upon investigation, had numerous stories attached to her name

7. Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus • Looks like a simple illustration of the tale of Venus’s rise from the sea

8. Closer look shows Botticelli’s work to be complicated: drawing on the idea from humanist philosopher MarsilioFicino and poetry of Angelo Poliziano: Venus was humanitas-the essence of the humanities. • Birth of Venus shows some of the ways in which Renaissance art used ancient models.

9. Christian Humanism • While the humanism we just studied originated in Italy among highly educated individuals attached to their personal household of prominent leaders, North of the Alps humanists focused more on religious revival and the inculcation of Christian piety. The Brethren preached religious self-discipline: with the most influential pupil being Dutch Christian humanist Desiderius Erasmus.

10. Erasmus • Erasmus believed that it was only through education could people reform themselves and society. Who strove for a world where charity and good works—not empty religious ceremonies—would mark true religion. • Modesty, humility, and poverty represented the true Christian virtues in a world that worshipped pomposity, power and wealth • Eventually, Erasmus chose Christian unity in order to avoid war, as angry, younger men with radical ideas led to a schism within the Catholic church. • Erasmus ended isolated in Freiburg and Basel, condemned by many in the Catholic Church…but once the Protestant Reformation was secured many people look back and see Erasmus as starting the ball rolling for Luther.