Mrs. Oz's APAH - Early Italian Renaissance

  TEST SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, 2/19. It will cover Content Area 3 (Gothic & Early Italian Renaissance, PLUS previously studied art works)

- Remember, all image sets, handouts, lecture PowerPoints and assignments are available in Google Drive.

  Early Europe & Colonial Americas - Khan Academy

What is the Renaissance?
* Renaissance, literally “rebirth,” the period in European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages (14th-17th centuries) and conventionally held to have been characterized by a surge of interest in Classical scholarship and values.
* The Renaissance also witnessed the discovery and exploration of new continents, the substitution of the Copernican for the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, the decline of the feudal system and the growth of commerce, and the invention or application of such potentially powerful innovations as paper, printing, the mariner’s compass, and gunpowder.
* To the scholars and thinkers of the day, however, it was primarily a time of the revival of Classical learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural decline and stagnation.

  Key Ideas
  * This time period is in between Medieval and High Renaissance.
* Artists receive more recognition and become important historical figures and names are recorded. (Vasari)
* Impact of Black Death & 100 Years War on emergence of the Renaissance
* Focused on 3 ideals: humanism, secularism, and individualism
* Greater focus on the natural world rather than the hereafter - Giotto launched the Italian Renaissance by painting people who appeared 3 dimensional rather than flat
* New intellectual ideals gained focus, especially human experience, manners, and politics (known as the "humane letters" = humanism)
* Humanism (starts as a literary movement in that writers concerned themselves with secular issues). In Northern Europe, "pagan" Humanism is rejected in favor of a blend of religion and classical literature.
* Petrarch: Considered the first "modern" writer, he wrote sonnets in Italian, other works in Latin.
* Patronage: commissions by churches, guilds, individuals.

  Characteristics of Florentine Painting
  * Large scale panels that stand on their own (freeing from the wall)
* Usually fresco or the use of tempera
* Cimabue (artist) is influenced by the Byzantine works referred to as maniera greca.
* Giotto (artist) moved away from tradition and towards reality that anchored figures to ground lines.

Characteristics of Sienese Painting
* More decorative style and more reminiscent of N. European art.
* Figures are thinner, elegant, and courtly. 
* Drapery is less defined, and is more flowing like ripples.
* Imitates marble patterning on thrones or pavements
* Figures are more in proportion to each other vs. Hierarchal ordering.
* Italian altarpieces reflect Gothic Cathedrals.

  Student Resources
PowerPoint - Key Ideas - Artworks List - Vocabulary - Q card Images - Video Links in PowerPoint lecture
  * YouTube video: Early Renaissance
* YouTube video: Gold-Ground Painting & Tempera Paint
  * YoutTube video: Cimbue's Madonna Enthroned
  PRACTICE QUIZZES: 14th Century Italy (Proto-Renaissance)

Artwork List
Pisano, Pisa Baptistry Pulpit  
Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets
Giotto, Madonna Enthroned
Giotto, Lamentation (Arena [Scrovegni] Chapel)
Lorenzetti, Peaceful City 

  Vocabulary 
campanile     Lamentation     Maniera greca     tempera     trecento
ALSO: Vocabulary listed in PowerPoint lecture

The Medici Family 
* Watch a very informative documentary all about the Medicis here!
* The most powerful and famous dynasty of bankers who used their incredible wealth to both govern city-states and be patrons of the arts.
* Founded in Florence. Wealth first started by Giovanni de'Medici.
* Extra information on just how powerful the Medici Family really is! 

Characteristics of Architecture
* Renaissance architecture depends on order, clarity, and light.
* Wide window spaces, limited stained glass, vivid wall paintings in most cases.
* Stressed mathematical perfection and geometric designs
* Ideal proportions = humanistic ideals = spatial harmony

  Characteristics of Painting & Sculpture
* Painting: The use of linear perspective is most important (attributed to Brunelleschi)
* Painting: The use of linear perspective to intentionally fool the eye = tromp l'oeil
* Sculpture: Relief carvings, with their flat planes, were deeply incised to crete a sense of depth.
* Early 15th c. religious images still dominated but by the end of the 15th c. mythological subjects and portraiture proliferated
* Interest in humanism and the rebirth of Greco-Roman classics also spurred an interest in authentic Greek and Roman sculptures.
* Greater willingness to paint and sculpt the nude, particularly the male nude. 
* Usually shows the intense physical interaction of form

  Key Ideas
  * Revitalization of classical ideals in literature, history, and philosophy.
* Renaissance courts influenced by humanism (Secular over the religious)
* Humanism is hugely popular and more and more people are attracted to the ideals. It fostered the belief in individual potential
* Rise in realistic, 3D paintings
* Human antatomy: increase in nude sculptures
* Architecture emphasizes light spaces that are balanced and symmetrical.
* Political and economic changes that contributed to the rise of a new class of wealthy patrons (Medici Family) who fostered art and learning on a lavish scale.

  Student Resources
PowerPoint - Key Ideas - Artworks List - Vocabulary - Q card Images - Video Links in PowerPoint lecture
  * YouTube video: Brunelleschi's Dome
  * YouTube video: Masaccio's Holy Trinity by SmartHistory
* YouTube video: Donatello's David by SmartHistory
* Watch Malcolm Gladwell's TED Talk about the historical and scientific explanations of the biblical story of David and Goliath.
* YouTube video: Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise by Professor Mencher at Ohlone College
* Gates of Paradise by Smithsonian Magazine
* YouTube video: Linear Perspective by Brunelleschi
* WAY SUPER COOL website, seriously, on the Holy Trinity by Masaccio 
PRACTICE QUIZZES: 15th Century Italy 

  Artwork List
Masaccio, Tribute Money & Holy Trinity
Brunellschi, Florence Cathedral Dome
Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise
Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel
Donatello, David
Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai
Lippi, Madonna & Child with 2 Angels
Botticelli, Birth of Venus

  Vocabulary 
bottega     chapter house     orthagonal     pilaster     Quattrocento     trompe l'oeil
ALSO: Vocabulary listed in PowerPoint lecture

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Thank you so much to Lynn Wilkinson, Mary McConnell, Valerie Park and Martha Kunz for all their quidance and resources.

NEXT UP - NORTHERN RENAISSANCE.

BACK TO CONTENT AREA 3 - EARLY EUROPE & COLONIAL AMERICAS.