Renaissance

The Renaissance (from French "Renaissance", meaning "rebirth"; Italian: "Rinascimento", from "re-" "again" and "nascere" "be born") [ [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=renaissance&searchmode=none Renaissance, Online Etymology Dictionary] ] was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historic era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform, this is a very general use of the term.

As a cultural movement, it encompassed a revival of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Traditionally, this intellectual transformation has resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term "Renaissance men". [BBC Science & Nature, " [http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo/ Leonardo da Vinci] " (Retrieved on May 12, 2007)] [BBC History, " [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/michelangelo.shtml Michelangelo] " (Retrieved on May 12, 2007)]

There is a general, but not unchallenged, consensus that the Renaissance began in Tuscany in the 14th century. [Burke, P. Burke, "The European Renaissance: Centre and Peripheries" (Blackwell, Oxford 1998)] Various theories have been proposed to account for its origins and characteristics, focusing on a variety of factors including the social and civic peculiarities of Florence at the time; its political structure; the patronage of its dominant family, the Medici;Strathern, Paul "The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance" (2003)] and the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy following the Fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.Encyclopedia Britannica, "Renaissance", 2008, O.Ed.] Harris, Michael H. "History of Libraries in the Western World", Scarecrow Press Incorporate, 1999, ISBN0810837242] Norwich, John Julius Norwich. "A Short History of Byzantium", 1997, Knopf, ISBN0679450882]

The Renaissance has a long and complex historiography, and there has been much debate among historians as to the usefulness of "Renaissance" as a term and as a historical age. Some have called into question whether the Renaissance was a cultural "advance" from the Middle Ages, instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and nostalgia for the classical age,Huizanga, Johan. "The Waning of the Middle Ages" (1919, trans. 1924)] while others have instead focused on the continuity between the two eras. Indeed, some have called for an end to the use of the term, which they see as a product of presentism – the use of history to validate and glorify modern ideals. [" [http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/REN/IDEA.HTM The Idea of the Renaissance] ", Richard Hooker, Washington State University Website (Retrieved on May 2, 2007)] The word "Renaissance" has also been used to describe other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century.

Overview

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence affected literature, philosophy, art, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual enquiry. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art.Perry, M. [http://college.hmco.com/humanities/perry/humanities/1e/students/summaries/ch13.html Humanities in the Western Tradition] , Ch. 13]

Renaissance thinkers sought out learning from ancient texts, typically written in Latin or ancient Greek. Scholars scoured Europe's monastic libraries, searching for works of classical antiquity which had fallen into obscurity. In such texts they found a desire to improve and perfect their worldly knowledge; an entirely different sentiment to the transcendental spirituality stressed by medieval Christianity.They did not reject Christianity; quite the contrary, many of the Renaissance's greatest works were devoted to it, and the Church patronized many works of Renaissance art. However, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life.Open University, " [http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/renaissance2/religion.htm Looking at the Renaissance: Religious Context in the Renaissance] " (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)]

Artists such as Masaccio strove to portray the human form realistically, developing techniques to render perspective and light more naturally. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe political life as it really was, and to improve government on the basis of reason. In addition to studying classical Latin and Greek, authors also began increasingly to use vernacular languages; combined with the invention of printing, this would allow many more people access to books, especially the Bible. [Open University, [http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/renaissance2/economic.htm#urban Looking at the Renaissance: Urban economy and government] (Retrieved May 15, 2007)]

In all, the Renaissance could be viewed as an attempt by intellectuals to study and improve the secular and worldly, both through the revival of ideas from antiquity, and through novel approaches to thought.

Origins

Most historians agree that the ideas that characterized the Renaissance had their origin in late 13th century Florence, in particular with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the painting of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337). [See below, under "Sources".] Yet it remains unsure why the Renaissance began in Italy, and why it began when it did. Accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins.

Assimilation of Greek and Arabic knowledge

The Renaissance was so called because it was a "rebirth" of certain classical ideas that had long been lost to Western Europe. It has been argued that the fuel for this rebirth was the rediscovery of ancient texts that had been forgotten by Western civilization, but were preserved in the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic world, and some monastic libraries; and the translations of Greek and Arabic texts into Latin. [Bibbs, Hugh. " [http://www.medievalhistory.net/islamica.htm The Islamic Foundation of the Renaissance] ", (Northwest and Pacific, 1999) (Retrieved on 10-05-2007)]

Renaissance scholars such as Niccolò de' Niccoli and Poggio Bracciolini scoured the libraries of Europe in search of works by such classical authors as Plato, Cicero, Pliny the Elder and Vitruvius.Strathern, Paul "The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance" (2003) p81–90, p172–197] Additionally, as the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from Islamic Moors progressed, numerous Greek and Arabic works were captured from educational institutions such as the library at Córdoba, which claimed to have 400,000 books." [http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/learning/islamknow.html The Islamic World to 1600] ", University of Calgary Website (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] The works of ancient Greek and Hellenistic writers (such as Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy, and Plotinus) and Muslim scientists and philosophers (such as Geber, Abulcasis, Alhacen, Avicenna, Avempace, and Averroes), were reintroduced into the Western world, providing new intellectual material for European scholars. Particularly in the case of mathematical knowledge, most of the work of Muslim mathematicians assimilated into the world and can be attributed to many different fields. Indian mathmaticians had also had had an impact.

Greek and Arabic knowledge was not only assimilated from Spain, but also directly from the Greek and Arabic speaking world. The study of mathematics was flourishing in the Middle East, and mathematical knowledge was brought back by crusaders in the 13th century. [" [http://www.roma.unisa.edu.au/07305/medmm.htm History of Medieval Mathematics] " University of South Australia Website (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] The decline of the Byzantine Empire after 1204 – and its eventual fall in 1453 accompanied by the closure of its universities by the Ottoman Turks – led to a sharp increase in the exodus of Greek scholars to Italy and beyond. These scholars brought with them texts and knowledge of the classical Greek civilization which had been lost for centuries in the West" [http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=3093&HistoryID=ac88 History of the Renaissance] ", HistoryWorld (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] and they transmitted the art of exegesis. The majority of the works of Greek Classical literature and Roman Law that survive to this day did so through Byzantium.

ocial and political structures in Italy

The unique political structures of late Middle Ages Italy have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy did not exist as a political entity in the early modern period. Instead, it was divided into smaller city states and territories: the kingdom of Naples controlled the south, the Republic of Florence and the Papal States the center, the Genoese and the Milanese the north and west, and the Venetians the east. Fifteenth-century Italy was one of the most urbanised areas in Europe. [Kirshner, Julius. "Family and Marriage: A socio-legal perspective" " [http://books.google.com/books?id=x9grA0fWpDMC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=italy+urban+population+15th+century&sig=7QjemnDKllytG-1qNFygZFmlUD0 Italy in the Age of the Renaissance: 1300–1550] ", ed. John M. Najemy (Oxford University Press, 2004) p.89 (Retrieved on 10-05-2007)] Many of its cities stood among the ruins of ancient Roman buildings; it seems likely that the classical nature of the Renaissance was linked to its origin in the Roman Empire's heartlands. [Burckhardt, Jacob. "The Revivial of Antiquity," " [http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/docs/burckhardt/3-2.html The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy] " (trans. by S.G.C. Middlemore, 1878)]

Italy at this time was notable for its merchant Republics, including the Republic of Florence and the Republic of Venice. Although in practice these were oligarchical, and bore little resemblance to a modern democracy, the relative political freedom they afforded was conducive to academic and artistic advancement.Burckhardt, Jacob. "The Republics: Venice and Florence," " [http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/docs/burckhardt/1-7.html The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy] " (trans. by S.G.C. Middlemore, 1878)] Likewise, the position of Italian cities such as Venice as great trading centres made them intellectual crossroads. Merchants brought with them ideas from far corners of the globe, particularly the Levant. Venice was Europe's gateway to trade with the East, and a producer of fine glass, while Florence was a capital of silk and welry] . The wealth such business brought to Italy meant that large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned and individuals had more leisure time for study.

Black Death

One theory that has been advanced is that the devastation caused by the Black Death in Florence (and elsewhere in Europe) resulted in a shift in the world view of people in 14th-century Italy. Italy was particularly badly hit by the plague, and it has been speculated that the familiarity with death that this brought thinkers to dwell more on their lives on Earth, rather than on spirituality and the afterlife. [For more, see Barbara Tuchman's book, "A Distant Mirror"] It has also been argued that the Black Death prompted a new wave of piety, manifested in the sponsorship of religious works of art. [ [http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/endmiddle/bluedot/blackdeath.html The End of Europe's Middle Ages: The Black Death] University of Calgary website. (Retrieved on April 5, 2007)] However, this does not fully explain why the Renaissance occurred specifically in Italy in the 14th century. The Black Death was a pandemic that affected all of Europe in the ways described, not only Italy. The Renaissance's emergence in Italy was most likely the result of the complex interaction of the above factors.Brotton, J. "The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction" (OUP, 2006)]

Cultural conditions in Florence

It has long been a matter of debate why the Renaissance began in Florence, and not elsewhere in Italy. Scholars have noted several features unique to Florentine cultural life which may have caused such a cultural movement. Many have emphasized the role played by the Medici family in patronizing and stimulating the arts. Lorenzo de' Medici devoted huge sums to commissioning works from Florence's leading artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti.

The Renaissance was certainly already underway before Lorenzo came to power; indeed, before the Medici family itself achieved hegemony in Florentine society. Some historians have postulated that Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance as a result of luck, i.e. because "Great Men" were born there by chance.Burckhardt, Jacob. "The Development of the Individual," " [http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/docs/burckhardt/2-1.html The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy] " (trans. by S.G.C. Middlemore, 1878)] Da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo were all born in Tuscany. Arguing that such chance seems improbable, other historians have contended that these "Great Men" were only able to rise to prominence because of the prevailing cultural conditions at the time. [Stephens, J. "Individualism and the cult of creative personality", "The Italian Renaissance" (New York, 1990) pp. 121]

Characteristics

Humanism

Humanism was not a philosophy per se, but rather a method of learning. In contrast to the medieval scholastic mode, which focused on resolving contradictions between authors, humanists would study ancient texts in the original, and appraise them through a combination of reasoning and empirical evidence. Humanist education was based on the study of poetry, grammar, ethics and rhetoric. Above all, humanists asserted "the genius of man ... the unique and extraordinary ability of the human mind." [As asserted by Gianozzo Manetti in "On the Dignity and Excellence of Man". Cited in Clare, J, "Italian Renaissance".]

Humanist scholars shaped the intellectual landscape throughout the early modern period. Political philosophers such as Niccolò Machiavelli and Thomas More revived the ideas of Greek and Roman thinkers, and applied them in critiques of contemporary government. Theologians, notably Erasmus and Martin Luther, challenged the Aristotelian status quo, introducing radical new ideas of justification and faith ("for more, see Religion below").

Art

One of the distinguishing features of Renaissance art was its development of highly realistic linear perspective. Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337) is credited with first treating a painting as a window into space, but it was not until the writings of architects Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) and Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) that perspective was formalized as an artistic technique. [Clare, John D. & Millen, Alan. "Italian Renaissance" (London, 1994) p14] The development of perspective was part of a wider trend towards realism in the arts. [Stork, David G. " [http://sirl.stanford.edu/~bob/teaching/pdf/arth202/Stork_SciAm04.pdf Optics and Realism in Renaissance Art] " (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] To that end, painters also developed other techniques, studying light, shadow, and, famously in the case of Leonardo da Vinci, human anatomy. Underlying these changes in artistic method was a renewed desire to depict the beauty of nature, and to unravel the axioms of aesthetics, with the works of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael representing artistic pinnacles that were to be much imitated by other artists. [Vasari, Giorgio. "Lives of the Artists", trans. George Bull, Penguin Classics, (1965), ISBN 0-14-044-164-6] Other notable artists include Sandro Botticelli, working for the Medici in Florence, Donatello another Florentine and Titian in Venice, among others.

Concurrently, in the Netherlands, a particularly vibrant artistic culture developed, the work of Hugo van der Goes and Jan van Eyck having particular influence on the development of painting in Italy, both technically with the introduction of oil paint and canvas, and stylistically in terms of naturalism in representation. ("for more, see Renaissance in the Netherlands"). Later, the work of Pieter Brueghel the Elder would inspire artists to depict themes of everyday life. [" [http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/b/bruegel/pieter_e/biograph.html Peter Brueghel Biography] ", Web Gallery of Art (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)]

In architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi was foremost in studying the remains of ancient Classical buildings, and with rediscovered knowledge from the 1st-century writer Vitruvius and the flourishing discipline of mathematics, formulated the Renaissance style which emulated and improved on classical forms. Brunelleschi's major feat of engineering was the building of the dome of Florence Cathedral. [Hooker, Richard. " [http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/arts/Architec/RenaissanceArchitecture/ArchitectureandPublicSpace/ArchitectureandPublicSpace.htm Architecture and Public Space] " (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] The first building to demonstrate this is claimed to be the church of St. Andrew built by Alberti in Mantua. The outstanding architectural work of the High Renaissance was the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, combining the skills of Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Sangallo and Maderno.

The Roman orders types of columns are used: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. These can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or purely decorative, set against a wall in the form of pilasters. During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, pilasters, and entablatures as an integrated system. One of the first buildings to use pilasters as an integrated system was in the Old Sacristy (1421–1440) by Filippo Brunelleschi. [cite book|title=Filippo Brunelleschi: The Buildings|last=Saalman|first=Howard|publisher=Zwemmer|year=1993]

Arches, semi-circular or (in the Mannerist style) segmental, are often used in arcades, supported on piers or columns with capitals. There may be a section of entablature between the capital and the springing of the arch. Alberti was one of the first to use the arch on a monumental. Renaissance vaults do not have ribs. They are semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan, unlike the Gothic vault which is frequently rectangular.

cience

The upheavals occurring in the arts and humanities were mirrored by a dynamic period of change in the sciences. Some have seen this flurry of activity as a "scientific revolution," heralding the beginning of the modern age. [Butterfield, Herbert. "The Origins of Modern Science, 1300–1800", p. viii] Others have seen it merely as an acceleration of a continuous process stretching from the ancient world to the present day. [Shapin, Steven. "The Scientific Revolution", (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1996), p. 1.] Regardless, there is general agreement that the Renaissance saw significant changes in the way the universe was viewed and the methods with which philosophers sought to explain natural phenomena.Brotton, J. "Science and Philosophy", "The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction" (OUP 2006)]

Science and art were very much intermingled in the early Renaissance, with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci making observational drawings of anatomy and nature. Yet the most significant development of the era was not a specific discovery, but rather a "process" for discovery, the scientific method. This revolutionary new way of learning about the world focused on empirical evidence, the importance of mathematics, and discarding the Aristotelian "final cause" in favor of a mechanical philosophy. Early and influential proponents of these ideas included Copernicus and Galileo.

The new scientific method led to great contributions in the fields of astronomy, physics, biology, and anatomy. With the publication of Vesalius's "De humani corporis fabrica", a new confidence was placed in the role of dissection, observation, and a mechanistic view of anatomy.

Religion

It should be emphasized that the new ideals of humanism, although more secular in some aspects, developed against an unquestioned Christian backdrop, especially in the Northern Renaissance. Indeed, much (if not most) of the new art was commissioned by or in dedication to the Church.Open University article on " [http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/renaissance2/religion.htm Religious Context in the Renaissance] " (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] However, the Renaissance had a profound effect on contemporary theology, particularly in the way people perceived the relationship between man and God. Many of the period's foremost theologians were followers of the humanist method, including Erasmus, Zwingli, Thomas More, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.

The Renaissance began in times of religious turmoil. The late Middle Ages saw a period of political intrigue surrounding the Papacy, culminating in the Western Schism, in which three men simultaneously claimed to be true Bishop of Rome. [Catholic Encyclopedia, " [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13539a.htm Western Schism] " (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] While the schism was resolved by the Council of Constance (1414), the 15th century saw a resulting reform movement know as Conciliarism, which sought to limit the pope's power. Although the papacy eventually emerged supreme in ecclesiastical matters by the Fifth Council of the Lateran (1511), it was dogged by continued accusations of corruption, most famously in the person of Pope Alexander VI, who was accused variously of simony, nepotism and fathering four illegitimate children whilst Pope, whom he married off to gain more power. [Catholic Encyclopedia, " [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01289a.htm Alexander VI] " (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)]

Churchmen such as Erasmus and Luther proposed reform to the Church, often based on humanist textual criticism of the New Testament. Indeed, it was Luther who in October 1517 published the 95 Theses, challenging papal authority and criticizing its perceived corruption, particularly with regard to its sale of indulgences. The 95 Theses led to the Reformation, a break with the Roman Catholic Church that previously claimed hegemony in Western Europe. Humanism and the Renaissance therefore played a direct role in sparking the Reformation, as well as in many other contemporaneous religious debates and conflicts.

Renaissance self-awareness

By the 15th century, writers, artists and architects in Italy were well aware of the transformations that were taking place and were using phrases like "modi antichi" (in the antique manner) or "alle romana et alla antica" (in the manner of the Romans and the ancients) to describe their work. The term "la rinascita" first appeared, however, in its broad sense in Giorgio Vasari's "Vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori Italiani" (The Lives of the Artists, 1550, revised 1568).Panofsky, Erwin. "Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art", (New York: Harper and Row, 1960)] [The Open University Guide to the Renaissance, " [http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/renaissance/defining.htm Defining the Renaissance] " (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] Vasari divides the age into three phases: the first phase contains Cimabue, Giotto, and Arnolfo di Cambio; the second phase contains Masaccio, Brunelleschi, and Donatello; the third centers on Leonardo da Vinci and culminates with Michelangelo. It was not just the growing awareness of classical antiquity that drove this development, according to Vasari, but also the growing desire to study and imitate nature. [Sohm, Philip. "Style in the Art Theory of Early Modern Italy" (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001)]

pread

In the 15th century the Renaissance spread with great speed from its birthplace in Florence, first to the rest of Italy, and soon to the rest of Europe. The invention of the printing press allowed the rapid transmission of these new ideas. As it spread, its ideas diversified and changed, being adapted to local culture. In the 20th century, scholars began to break the Renaissance into regional and national movements, including:
*The Italian Renaissance
*The English Renaissance
*The German Renaissance
*The Northern Renaissance
*The French Renaissance
*The Renaissance in the Netherlands
*The Polish Renaissance
*The Spanish Renaissance

Northern Renaissance

also borrowed from the spirit of the Italian Renaissance.

In the second half of the 15th century, Italians brought the new style to Poland and Hungary. After the marriage in 1476 of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, to Beatrix of Naples, Buda became the one of the most important artistic centres of the Renaissance north of the Alps.Czigány, Lóránt. "A History of Hungarian Literature", " [http://mek.oszk.hu/02000/02042/html/5.html The Renaissance in Hungary] " (Retrieved on May 10, 2007)] The most important humanists living in Matthias' court were Antonio Bonfini and Janus Pannonius. In 1526 the Ottoman conquest of Hungary put an abrupt end to the short-lived Hungarian Renaissance.

An early Italian humanist who came to Poland in the mid-15th century was Filip Callimachus. Many Italian artists came to Poland with Bona Sforza of Milano, when she married King Zygmunt I of Poland in 1518. [ [http://www.poland.gov.pl/Bona,Sforza, (1494,%E2%80%93,1557),1958.html History of Poland] on Polish Government's website (Retrieved on April 4–2007)] This was supported by temporarily strengthened monarchies in both areas, as well as by newly-established universities. [For example, the [http://www.uj.edu.pl/dispatch.jsp?item=uniwersytet/historia/historiatxt.jsp&lang=en#narodziny re-establishment] of Jagiellonian University in 1400.]

The spirit of the age spread from France to the Low Countries and Germany, and finally by the late 16th century to England, Scandinavia, and remaining parts of Central Europe. In these areas humanism became closely linked to the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation, and the art and writing of the German Renaissance frequently reflected this dispute. [Review of Lewis Spitz, "The Religious Renaissance of the German Humanists". Review by Gerald Strauss, "English Historical Review", Vol. 80, No. 314, p.156. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28196501%2980%3A314%3C156%3ATRROTG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J Available on JSTOR] (subscription required).]

In England, the Elizabethan era marked the beginning of the English Renaissance with the work of writers William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, John Milton, and Edmund Spenser, as well as great artists, architects (such as Inigo Jones), and composers such as Thomas Tallis, John Taverner, and William Byrd.

The Renaissance arrived in the Iberian peninsula through the Mediterranean possessions of the Aragonese Crown and the city of Valencia. Early Iberian Renaissance writers include Ausiàs March, Joanot Martorell, Fernando de Rojas, Juan del Encina, Garcilaso de la Vega, Gil Vicente and Bernardim Ribeiro. The late Renaissance in Spain saw writers such as Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora and Tirso de Molina, artists such as El Greco and composers such as Tomás Luis de Victoria. In Portugal writers such as Sá de Miranda and Luís de Camões and artists such as Nuno Gonçalves appeared.

While Renaissance ideas were moving north from Italy, there was a simultaneous southward spread of innovation, particularly in music.Láng, Paul Henry. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4631%28193901%2925%3A1%3C48%3ATSNS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S The So Called Netherlands Schools] ," "The Musical Quarterly", Vol. 25, No. 1. (Jan., 1939), pp. 48–59. (Subscription required for JSTOR link.)] The music of the 15th century Burgundian School defined the beginning of the Renaissance in that art and the polyphony of the Netherlanders, as it moved with the musicians themselves into Italy, formed the core of what was the first true international style in music since the standardization of Gregorian Chant in the 9th century. The culmination of the Netherlandish school was in the music of the Italian composer, Palestrina. At the end of the 16th century Italy again became a center of musical innovation, with the development of the polychoral style of the Venetian School, which spread northward into Germany around 1600.

The paintings of the Italian Renaissance differed from those of the Northern Renaissance. Italian Renaissance artists were among the first to paint secular scenes, breaking away from the purely religious art of medieval painters. At first, Northern Renaissance artists remained focused on religious subjects, such as the contemporary religious upheaval portrayed by Albrecht Dürer. Later on, the works of Pieter Bruegel influenced artists to paint scenes of daily life rather than religious or classical themes. It was also during the northern Renaissance that Flemish brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck perfected the oil painting technique, which enabled artists to produce strong colors on a hard surface that could survive for centuries. [" [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/optg/hd_optg.htm Painting in Oil in the Low Countries and Its Spread to Southern Europe] ", Metropolitan Museum of Art website. (Retrieved April 5–2007)] A distinctive feature of the Northern Renaissance was its use of the vernacular in place of Latin or Greek, which allowed greater freedom of expression. The spread of the technology of the printing press, also invented in the North, gave a major boost to the Renaissance, first in Northern Europe and then elsewhere.

Historiography

Conception

The term was first used retrospectively by the Italian artist and critic Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) in his book "The Lives of the Artists" (published 1550). In the book Vasari was attempting to define what he described as a break with the barbarities of gothic art: the arts had fallen into decay with the collapse of the Roman Empire and only the Tuscan artists, beginning with Cimabue (1240–1301) and Giotto (1267–1337) began to reverse this decline in the arts. According to Vasari, antique art was central to the rebirth of Italian art. [ [http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/renaissance2/defining.htm Defining the Renaissance, Open University] ]

However, it was not until the nineteenth century that the French word "Renaissance" achieved popularity in describing the cultural movement that began in the late-13th century. The Renaissance was first defined by French historian Jules Michelet (1798–1874), in his 1855 work, "Histoire de France". For Michelet, the Renaissance was more a development in science than in art and culture. He asserted that it spanned the period from Columbus to Copernicus to Galileo; that is, from the end of the 15th century to the middle of the seventeenth century. [Michelet, Jules. "History of France", trans. G. H. Smith (New York: D. Appleton, 1847)] Moreover, Michelet distinguished between what he called, "the bizarre and monstrous" quality of the Middle Ages and the democratic values that he, as a vocal Republican, chose to see in its character. A French nationalist, Michelet also sought to claim the Renaissance as a French movement.

The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) in his "Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien", by contrast, defined the Renaissance as the period between Giotto and Michelangelo in Italy, that is, the 14th to mid-16th centuries. He saw in the Renaissance the emergence of the modern spirit of individuality, which had been stifled in the Middle Ages. [Burckhardt, Jacob. " [http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/docs/burckhardt/burckhardt.html The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy] " (trans. S.G.C Middlemore, London, 1878)] His book was widely read and was influential in the development of the modern interpretation of the Italian Renaissance. [Gay, Peter. "Style in History". (New York: Basic Books 1974).] However, Buckhardt has been accused of setting forth a linear Whiggish view of history in seeing the Renaissance as the origin of the modern world.Starn, Randolph. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8762%28199802%29103%3A1%3C122%3ARR%3E2.0.CO%3B2–2 Renaissance Redux] " "The American Historical Review" Vol.103 No.1 p.124 (Subscription required for JSTOR link)]

More recently, historians have been much less keen to define the Renaissance as a historical age, or even a coherent cultural movement. As Randolph Starn has put it,

For better or for worse?

Much of the debate around the Renaissance has centered around whether the Renaissance truly was an "improvement" on the culture of the Middle Ages. Both Michelet and Burckhardt were keen to describe the progress made in the Renaissance towards the "modern age". Burckhardt likened the change to a veil being removed from man's eyes, allowing him to see clearly.

quote
In the Middle Ages both sides of human consciousness – that which was turned within as that which was turned without – lay dreaming or half awake beneath a common veil. The veil was woven of faith, illusion, and childish prepossession, through which the world and history were seen clad in strange hues. [citation |last=Burckhardt |first=Jacob |authorlink=Jacob Burckhardt |url=http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/docs/burckhardt/2-1.html |title=The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy|accessdate=August 31, 2008] |Jacob Burckhardt|"The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy

On the other hand, many historians now point out that most of the negative social factors popularly associated with the "medieval" period – poverty, warfare, religious and political persecution, for example – seem to have worsened in this era which saw the rise of Machiavelli, the Wars of Religion, the corrupt Borgia Popes, and the intensified witch-hunts of the 16th century. Many people who lived during the Renaissance did not view it as the "golden age" imagined by certain 19th-century authors, but were concerned by these social maladies. [Savonarola's popularity is a prime example of the manifestation of such concerns. Other examples include Phillip II of Spain's censorship of Florentine paintings, noted by Edward L. Goldberg, "Spanish Values and Tuscan Painting", "Renaissance Quarterly" (1998) p.914] Significantly, though, the artists, writers, and patrons involved in the cultural movements in question believed they were living in a new era that was a clean break from the Middle Ages. Some Marxist historians prefer to describe the Renaissance in material terms, holding the view that the changes in art, literature, and philosophy were part of a general economic trend away from feudalism towards capitalism, resulting in a bourgeois class with leisure time to devote to the arts. [ [http://www.hull.ac.uk/renforum/v2no2/siar.htm Renaissance Forum] at Hull University, Autumn 1997 (Retrieved on 10-05-2007)]

Johan Huizinga (1872–1945) acknowledged the existence of the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change. In his book "The Waning of the Middle Ages", he argued that the Renaissance was a period of decline from the High Middle Ages, destroying much that was important. The Latin language, for instance, had evolved greatly from the classical period and was still a living language used in the church and elsewhere. The Renaissance obsession with classical purity halted its further evolution and saw Latin revert to its classical form. Robert S. Lopez has contended that it was a period of deep economic recession. [Lopez, Robert S., and Miskimin, Harry A., 'The Economic Depression of the Renaissance', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 14 (1962), pp.408-26. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0117%281962%292%3A14%3A3%3C408%3ATEDOTR%3E2.0.CO%3B2–8 Available on JSTOR] (subscription required)] Meanwhile George Sarton and Lynn Thorndike have both argued that scientific progress was perhaps less original than has traditionally been supposed. [Thorndike, Lynn (1943) 'Renaissance or Prenaissance?' in "Some Remarks on the Question of the Originality of the Renaissance", "Journal of the History of Ideas" Vol. 4, No. 1, Jan. 1943. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-5037%28194301%294%3A1%3C%3E1.0.CO%3B2-Z Available on JSTOR] (subscription required)]

Historians have begun to consider the word "Renaissance" to be unnecessarily loaded, implying an unambiguously positive rebirth from the supposedly more primitive "Dark Ages" (Middle Ages). Many historians now prefer to use the term "Early Modern" for this period, a more neutral designation that highlights the period as a transitional one between the Middle Ages and the modern era. [Greenblatt, S. "Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare" (University of Chicago Press, 1980)]

Other Renaissances

The term "Renaissance" has also been used to define time periods outside of the 15th and 16th centuries. Charles H. Haskins (1870–1937), for example, made a convincing case for a Renaissance of the 12th century. [Haskins, Charles Homer. "The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century". (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1927).] Other historians have argued for a Carolingian Renaissance in the 8th and 9th centuries, and still later for an Ottonian Renaissance in the 10th century. [Hubert, Jean. "L’Empire Carolingien" (English: The Carolingian Renaissance, Translated by James Emmons (New York: G. Braziller, 1970).] Other periods of cultural rebirth have also been termed "renaissances", such as the Bengal Renaissance or the Harlem Renaissance.

ee also

* Topic outline of the Renaissance
* List of Renaissance figures
* Renaissance man
* Byzantine scholars in the Renaissance
* Early modern Europe
* High Renaissance
* Renaissance Italy

* Renaissance literature
* Allegory in Renaissance literature
* Renaissance Latin
* Renaissance music
* Renaissance architecture
* List of Renaissance structures
* Gilded woodcarving
* Renaissance painting

* History of science in the Renaissance
* Renaissance technology
* Renaissance philosophy
* Protestant Reformation
* Scientific Revolution
* Continuity thesis

* Renaissance fair
* Renaissance magic

Notes

References

*Brotton, Jerry, "The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction" ISBN 0-19-280163-5
*Burckhardt, Jacob (1878), [http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/docs/burckhardt/burckhardt.html "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy"] , trans S.G.C Middlemore, republished in 1990 ISBN 0-14-044534-X
*Burke, P, "The European Renaissance: Centre and Peripheries" ISBN 0-631-19845-8
* [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh.html "The Cambridge Modern History. Vol 1: The Renaissance (1902)]
*Cronin, Vincent (1967), "The Florentine Renaissance", ISBN 0-00-211262-0; (1969), "The Flowering of the Renaissance", ISBN 0-7126-9884-1; (1992), "The Renaissance", ISBN 0-00-215411-0
*Ergang, Robert (1967), "The Renaissance", ISBN 0-442-02319-7
*Ferguson, Wallace K. (1962), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=11874730 "Europe in Transition, 1300–1500"] , ISBN 0-04-940008-8
*Haskins, Charles Homer (1927), "The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century", ISBN 0-674-76075-1
*Huizinga, Johan (1924), "The Waning of the Middle Ages", republished in 1990 ISBN 0-14-013702-5
*Jensen, De Lamar (1992), "Renaissance Europe", ISBN 0-395-88947-2
*Lopez, Robert S. (1952), "Hard Times and Investment in Culture"
*Strathern, Paul (2003), "The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance", ISBN 1-844-13098-3
*Stephens, John, "The Italian Renaissance: The Origins of Intellectual and Artistic Change before the Renaissance" ISBN 0-582-49337-4
*Thorndike, Lynn (1943) 'Renaissance or Prenaissance?' in "Some Remarks on the Question of the Originality of the Renaissance", " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-5037%28194301%294%3A1%3C%3E1.0.CO%3B2-Z Journal of the History of Ideas Vol. 4, No. 1, Jan. 1943] " (Subscription required for JSTOR link.)
*Weiss, Roberto (1969) "The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity", ISBN 1-597-40150-1
*cite book|last=Werkmeister|first=William H. [editor] |title=Facets of the Renaissance|location=Los Angeles|publisher=University of Southern California Press|year=1959

External links

* [http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_list_medieval.htm Notable Medeival and Renaissance Women]
* [http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/women/renwom.html Ancient and Renaissance women] by Dr. Deborah Vess
* cite web |publisher= Victoria and Albert Museum
url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/british_galleries/bg_styles/Style01a/index.html
title= Renaissance Style Guide
work=British Galleries
accessdate= 2007-07-16

*Interactive Resources
** [http://renaissancethorne.wetpaint.com/ Interactive Glossary of Terms Relating to the Renaissance]
** [http://www.compart-multimedia.com/virtuale/us/florence/florence.htm Florence: 3D Panoramas of Florentine Renaissance Sites(English/Italian)]
** [http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/main.cfm Multimedia Exploration of the Renaissance]
** [http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/free_stuff/renaissance/frameset.htm Virtual Journey to Renaissance Florence]
** [http://interconnected.org/home/more/davinci/ RSS News Feed: Get an entry from Leonardo's Journal delivered each day]

*Lectures and Galleries
** [http://www.museobagattivalsecchi.org The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum]
** [http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/REN/IDEA.HTM The Idea of the Renaissance]
** [http://www.medievalhistory.net/islamica.htm The Islamic Foundation of the Renaissance]
** [http://www.elrelojdesol.com/leonardo-da-vinci/gallery-english/index.htm Leonardo da Vinci, Gallery of Paintings and Drawings]
** [http://www.all-art.org/history214_contents_Renaissance.html Renaissance in the "History of Art"]
** [http://www.rensoc.org.uk/ The Society for Renaissance Studies]