The Italian renaissance is best known for the cultural achievements in it's time span. Mentioning of the Renaissance literature usually begins with the Petrarch, which is best known for the elegant vernacular sonnet sequence of the Canzoniere and for the wildly popular book collecting that he initiated. Also, his friend, Boccaccio, Author of Decameron.
Toward the end of the 14th century AD, many of Italian thinkers declared that they were living in a new age. The barbarous, unenlightened 'Middle Ages' were over, they said; the new age would be a “rinascità” (“rebirth”) of learning and literature, art and culture. This was the birth of the period currently known as the Renaissance. For centuries, scholars have agreed that the Italian Renaissance (another word for “rebirth”) happened just that way: that between the 14th century and the 17th century, a new, modern way of thinking about the world and man’s place in it replaced an old, backward one. In fact, the Renaissance was considerably more complicated than that: For one thing, in many ways the period we call the Renaissance was not so different from the era that preceded it. However, many of the scientific, artistic and cultural achievements of the so-called Renaissance do share common themes–most notably the humanistic belief that man was the center of his own universe.
Galileo Galilei investigated many natural laws, again and again. in one experiment, he dropped different sized cannonballs from the top of a building and proved that all objects fall at the same speed eventually He built a telescope that proved that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun, not them around the Earth. But one of the most important discoveries in this time period was the mechanical movement printing press, which did not happen in Italy, but Germany, in the same time period. This was discovered by Johannes Gutenberg in the middle of the 15th century. This was important because this made books, and knowledge, widely available.
in the Italian renaissance, Art was everywhere. Florence's Medici was a patron who's family sponsored many projects of all kinds and successful artists of all kinds became celebrities. When Edmund Blackadder memorably lamented, ‘Baldrick, to you the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people’, it was probably the citizens of Florence to whom he was referring. For nowhere else were the ingredients that enabled the Renaissance to flourish – a politically-active citizenry, a vigorous humanist movement and abundant wealth – better blended. It is these ingredients, in Italy in general and in Florence in particular, that are the subject of this essay.
Fifteenth-century Italy was unlike any other place in Europe. It was divided into independent city-states, each with a different form of government. Florence, where the Italian Renaissance began, was an independent republic. It was also a banking and commercial capital and, after London and Constantinople, the third-largest city in Europe. Wealthy Florentines flaunted their money and power by becoming patrons, or supporters, of artists and intellectuals. In this way, the city became the cultural center of Europe, and of the Renaissance.
Did you know?
When Galileo died in 1642, he was still under house arrest. The Catholic church did not pardon him until 1992.
Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy. Born to a family of moderate means in the banking business, Michelangelo became an apprentice to a painter before studying in the sculpture gardens of the powerful Medici family. What followed was a remarkable career as an artist in the Italian Renaissance, recognized in his own time for his artistic virtuosity. His works include the "David" and "Pieta" statues and the ceiling paintings of Rome's Sistine Chapel, including the "Last Judgment." Although he always considered himself a Florentine, Michelangelo lived most of his life in Rome, where he died in 1564, at age 88.
The Pietà (1498–1499) is a world-famous work of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. It is the first of a number of works of the same theme by the artist. The statue was commissioned for the French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères, who was a representative in Rome. The sculpture, in Carrara marble, was made for the cardinal's funeral monument, but was moved to its current location, the first chapel on the right as one enters the basilica, in the 18th century. It is the only piece Michelangelo ever signed. I like this work because of the detail, from Mary's expression to the ripple in the cloth.
Sources-
History.com
Google images
biography.com
sparknotes.com
smarthistory.org
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