Introduction


Leonardo Da Vinci

Raphael
Late fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Europe saw a flowering of culture as the art, literature, and philosophy of the Greco-Roman world were rediscovered. The people of the time felt that they were witnessing a rebirth of antiquity that characterized a new age. Thus the period became known as the Renaissance, which is French for “rebirth.” Artists, scholars, philosophers, and theologians studied ancient texts, finding within them a philosophical outlook that emphasized human reason and the evidence of the senses in the search for truth. Artists strove for perspective and realism in their paintings, while theologians and politicians such as Erasmus, Thomas More, and Machiavelli sought to improve the human condition. Their efforts marked the beginning of the modern age.

Essential Facts

  1. Michelangelo’s famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel took four years to complete and consists of over 300 figures. Contrary to popular belief, Michelangelo completed most of the painting in a standing position painfully looking up at the ceiling, not lying down on a scaffold.
  2. Considered the quintessential “Renaissance Man,” Leonardo Da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, mathematician, engineer, and anatomist.
  3. One of the foremost families of the Renaissance, the Medicis produced three popes and several rulers of Florence. The family was also a strong patron of the arts and sciences: Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Galileo all benefited from Medici patronage.
  4. During the Renaissance, Italy consisted of 250 separate states, most of which were ruled by a city. The smallest of these city-states had a population of less than 5,000 people; the largest, such as Venice and Milan, had 100,000 people. Italy did not become a unified nation until the nineteenth century.
  5. In many ways, the innovations of the Renaissance were Europeans’ way of recovering from the calamities of the fourteenth century, which included famines, The Hundred Years War, and the Black Plague. Historians estimate that one-third to two-thirds of Europe’s population died during this period.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. Renaissance and Reformation Almanac
  2. Salem on Literature: The Renaissance

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. A Divided Italy: Home of the Renaissance
  2. Ben Jonson Biography
  3. Botticelli Leads the Renaissance Revival of Classical Themes in Painting
  4. Christopher Marlowe Biography
  5. Desiderius Erasmus Biography
  6. Donatello Biography
  7. El Greco Biography
  8. Florentine School of Art Emerges: Salem on History
  9. Hungarian Renaissance
  10. Italian Renaissance Culture
  11. John Webster's Depiction of Court Life in Renaissance Italy
  12. Leonardo Da Vinci Biography
  13. Leonardo da Vinci Biography
  14. Leonardo da Vinci: Excerpts from Notebooks (c.1490–1515)
  15. Lorenzo de' Medici Biography
  16. Lorenzo de’ Medici Biography
  17. Michelangelo Biography
  18. Miguel de Cervantes Biography
  19. Miguel de Cervantes: Excerpts from Don Quixote (1605)
  20. Nicolaus Copernicus Biography
  21. Northern Renaissance Culture
  22. Oxford Art Encyclopedia: Renaissance
  23. Oxford Encyclopedia of English Literature: Renaissance
  24. Pastoral Literature of the English Renaissance
  25. Raphael Biography
  26. Renaissance and Reformation Almanac
  27. Renaissance and Reformation Biographies
  28. Renaissance and Reformation Glossary
  29. Renaissance and Reformation Primary Sources
  30. Renaissance and Reformation Timeline
  31. Renaissance and Reformation: Research and Activity Ideas
  32. Renaissance and Reformation: Where to Learn More
  33. Renaissance Arts and Science
  34. Renaissance Banquets
  35. Renaissance Humanism and Heroic Nature
  36. Renaissance Music
  37. Renaissance Natural Philosophy
  38. Renaissance Scientific Movement
  39. Salem on History: Renaissance
  40. Salem on Literature: Renaissance Drama
  41. Salem on Literature: Renaissance Lives
  42. Salem on Literature: The Renaissance
  43. Salem on Literature: The Renaissance Novelle
  44. Sandro Botticelli Biography
  45. The Italian Renaissance
  46. The New World in Renaissance Literature
  47. Utopian Literature of the Renaissance
  48. William Shakespeare Biography
  49. William Shakespeare Biography
  50. Women in the Renaissance and Reformation