The Italian Renaissance

1300s – 1500s

“Renaissance” = REBIRTH

Rebirth of . . . .

•An interest in and knowledge of Classical Culture

•Creativity in art and literature

•A general interest in increased knowledge of the world

Origins of the Renaissance

• Rediscovery of Greek and Roman ideas– Through Crusades, trade, fall of Constantinople

• Urban centers of Italy– Centers for the exchange on new ideas

– Effected economically and socially by the plague of the 1300s

• Merchants (the new rich of Europe)– Enhanced political power through patronage of the arts

1300s – the beginnings of the Renaissance

1. Giotto di Bondone

•Painted figures that looked lifelike and real

•Sought to create an illusion of depth

2. Dante Alighieri

Wrote the Divine Comedy

- written in the vernacular

- included real people in the story

- full of political comments

3. Francesco Petrarch

-Wrote sonnets in Italian

-wrote letters to influential people in classical latin

-strove for the simplicity of classical poetry

New Values of the Renaissance

1. Love of Classical (Greek and Roman) learning (humanism)

2. Celebration of the individual

3. Enjoyment of worldly pleasures (secularism)