Renaissance Philosophy and Arts

(pgs.378-385, bbr.381, ills.383-385)

 

·                     Humanism: intellectual movement based on the study of classic Greek and Roman literary works

               

                1.humanist: those who study liberal arts based on ancient Greek and Roman authors such as rhetoric, poetry, grammar, ethics, and history

                       

                        A.humanities: the subjects studied by humanists

           

            2.Petrarch: often referred to as the father of Italian Renaissance humanism. Promoted Middle Ages as ignorant of classical works. Put humanist emphasis on pure classical Latin; as a result, he ransacked monastic libraries in Europe while in search of Latin texts. Popularized Cicero as humanist model for writing prose and Virgil as a model for poetry.

           

            3.Leonardo Bruni: humanist, Florentine partriot, wrote a biogarphy of Cicero

 

·                     Neoplatoism: the combination of Platoism and Christianity to form a single system. Based on two main ideas,a theory of spiritual love and Neoplatonic heiarchy of substances. The theory of spiritual love was that all humans were bound together by sympathetic love. The heirarchy of substances covered the lowest form of matter to the highest form of spirit, humans sat in the middle and connected the physical and spiritual.

           

            1.Marsilio Ficino: created Neoplatoism, dedicated life life to translating Plato

 

·                     Hermeticism: the study of theological and philosophical beliefs and occult sciences such as astrology, alchemy, and magic. The belief that humans were created divine, but chose to enter the material world. Humans could regain their divinity by purifing their soul, then they would become sages or magi.

 

            1.Renaissance Magi: believed humans could control nature by practicing magic

 

                        A.Giovanni Pico della Mirandola: pupil of Ficino, prominent magi, wrote the Oration on the Dignity of Man

 

·                    Dante: Italian vernacular writer, wrote The Divine Comedy which describes the soul's journey to heaven. The Divine Comedy is divided into three parts: "Inferno", "Purgatory", and "Paradise".

 

·                    Christine de Pizan: French vernacular writer, wrote The Book of the City of Ladies in which she denounces antifeminists and encourages women to stand up to men

 

·                    Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz: Gutenberg's Bible first real book to be produced from a movable type printng press

 

·                    Masaccio: created frescoes in Brancacci Chapel

 

·                    Leonardo da Vinci: artist, created Last Supper, attempted to display three-dimensional figures in a two-dimensional medium

 

·                    Raphael: painter, painted many Madonnas, created frescoe in Vatican Palace and School of Athems

 

·                    Michelangelo: painter, scultptor, architect; influenced by Neoplatoism; noted works found in Sistine Chapel

 

Samantha Stych

World Civ. 2H, Period 3

December 31, 2004