Western studies 10

Continuity and Change

Middle Ages to Renaissance

Lesson 7 Renaissance values

Humanism
Individualism
Skepticism
Well-Roundedness
Secularism
Classicism
Early Middle Ages.
Society
- Hierarchy
- Decentralized
- Church Lords’ Power
- Land based Wealth
- Self-Sufficient
- Farming, Little Trade
- Rural
- No Social Mobility
Thought
- Focus on afterlife
- Obedience, Duties
- External Control
- Knowing One’s Place
- Self-Denial
- Conformities
- Faith instead of reason and logic
Art
- Stylized, Stiff, Rigid
- Expressionless, 2-D FLAT
- No Perspective
- Art as teaching tool
- Bright colors
- Important People are bigger or higher than others
All
- Duty, Obedience, and Faith
Late/Higher Middle Ages
Society
- Hierarchy
- More social Mobility
- More Centralized (Church Power went down, Lords went down, Kings
and Monarch went up)
- Trade Revived, URBAN BASED
- Coinage powerless Barter
- Middle Classes went up
Thought
- Believed in Afterlife
- A little more optimism (after the crusades)
- Duty, Obedience
- Faith
- Thomas Aquinas-(Church Scholar, priest)used faith AND REASON.
- Universities
- Scholars were mostly churchmen
- Peter Abelard
Art
- Romanesque and Gothic
- Less Rigid, Stylized, Stiff
- More Movement
- Some attempt at depth, perspective
- Art as teaching tool
- Bright colors
- Gothic- High, Light, Windows Ornate (Decorative statues, stained
glass)
- Romanesque Due-Low, Bulky Simple ART

1. Renaissance Florence – continuity and change

Political

Social

Economic

Church
2. Renaissance Essay and Oral

My artist is Fra Angelico. The painting is St Nicholas of Bari

Show students Online Groves Dictionary of Art, Encyclopedia Britannica

3. Renaissance Values “A Shift in Perspective”

So what exactly was the Renaissance?

– The Renaissance refers to a period of time roughly between 1450 and 1600
– The Renaissance refers to a new set of ideas; a renewed confidence in what
human beings could achieve by their own efforts inspired by classical ideas.

Humanism, a Renaissance value, is the belief that "the human being is the measure of all
things," that people and their activities are important and interesting. People who are not
humanistic see the human being as insignificant. They place more value on God (or the gods)
or on science or nature or whatever.

Renaissance people were also individualistic. They thought it right to be themselves, think
for themselves. They were, of course, members of groups-the Church, families, and so on.
Nevertheless, their own ideas and activities gave them their sense of who they really were.

Skepticism, or having a questioning attitude was another Renaissance value. It was seen as
a good thing to experiment, try new things, and shake up the system. In the Middle Ages
exactly the opposite had been considered right-accept, do not question, have faith.

Renaissance people valued well-roundedness. They thought the ideal person was one who
was interested in many things, active in many fields.

Secularism means worldliness or a belief in the importance of this life on earth. Making
money, traveling, and making your house comfortable are secular activities. Praying is not.
The spirit of the Renaissance was more secular than religious.

Finally, Renaissance people valued classicism. They were interested in the classical age, the
time of the Greeks and Romans. And the classical age was a time when people were also
secular, individualistic, humanistic, and questioning. So, Renaissance people looked back to
find their roots. We, too, can learn something about ourselves and what we consider
important by looking back-to the Renaissance.
Activities for Understanding Renaissance Values
Medieval Values Renaissance Values

acceptance of authority
Humanism Man is most important on
earth

sense of duty toward superiors

Individualism, Humanism
Internal Control

knowing one's place

Skepticism, meritocracy
Questions and doubts

self-denial
Well-Roundedness,
Secularism and
Sophisticated
interested/knowledgeable in many things

getting to heaven Secularism

importance of tradition
Classicism
Put a check next to each medieval or Renaissance value above that is also one of your own
values. Write a generalization (a commentary sentence) indicating whether your own values
are more like those of the Middle Ages or of the Renaissance, or a mixture.

My values are more like…part of the Renaissance because it shows only one’s necessities in
life instead of mutual things.

 Read the two short biographical sketches that follow:

1. Lorenzo was the most notable member of his famous family. Far from contenting
himself with politics alone, he was a great sportsman, personally looked after his many
farm properties, studied philosophy, patronized (supported) the arts, and wrote
outstanding poetry. It was not unusual for him, in the course of a single morning, to
write or dictate a dozen letters, to draw up instructions for an ambassador departing
on an important mission, to join a discussion among experts in Greek philosophy, to
examine a medal or cameo with a view to adding it to his collection, and to make the
arrangements for a hunting expedition with a group of friends.
 2. Louis carried over his own high standards into his role as king. He wore simple clothes,
gave alms to beggars, washed the feet of lepers, built hospitals, and erected the Holy
Chapel in Paris to hold Christ's crown of thorns. He was a dutiful husband. He came to
power in France as Louis IX, but he is remembered as Saint Louis, for he was canonized
(sainted) less than thirty years after his death.

 Is #1 an ideal man of the Renaissance or of the Middle Ages? Explain your answer?
He is a man of the Renaissance where life is lived to the fullest and people care about jobs,
money, duties in life. Also new habits begin to form just like in the paragraph like writing
poetry and studying.

 Is #2 an ideal man of the Renaissance or of the Middle Ages? Explain your answer?
He is an ideal man of the Middle Ages because he represents a king, someone who had
complete control over the city and made everyone do his biddings. Duties as a God is just as
important as being a King.

Homework:

1. Find your artists biography online or in a book and save it into your notebook.

2. Read the documents attached below and highlight words & phrases that
demonstrate the new values of the Renaissance.

The New Interest in Ancient Greece and Rome

The Medici, their friends and many other Florentines believed that they were living at
the dawn of a new age. They were doing better, they thought, than earlier generations
and much better than other parts of Europe.

The key to their success, they were sure, was their knowledge of the 'classical age' of
ancient Greece and Rome. The Florentines studied classical languages and history very
keenly and thought that they understood ancient Greece and Rome better than anyone
else. They believed that they were able to learn lessons from that classical past which
would improve their own lives.
When the Roman Empire collapsed between AD450 and 550, almost the only places
where books survived were monasteries. So, one Florentine Renaissance hobby was
hunting for ' classical ' books in Latin and Greek in monasteries all over Europe. One
particularly keen book-hunter was Poggio Bracciolini who, while working for the Pope,
hunted through England and Switzerland as well as Italy in search of neglected classical
books. He wrote in great excitement to a friend in 1417 when he found a book by the
Latin author Quintilian in the Swiss monastery of St Gall:

We found it safe and sound, though filthy with mould and dust ...
in a sort of foul and gloomy dungeon at the bottom of one of the
towers.
Poggio Bracciolini, letter to Guarino Guarini, 1417

The best-educated Florentines became as keen on Greek as

on Latin. Chrysolaras, a teacher from Constantinople, gave
Greek classes in Florence from 1397 to 1400. He brought with
him many books which previously had not been well-known in
Italy. The ideas of the great classical Greek philosopher Plato
(428-348 Be) became fashionable.

Humanism: What is it? Highlight the new values that represent

this
This is a drawing by Florence's best painter, Leonardo da Vinci. It illustrates the idea
of the Greek philosopher Protagoras that 'man is the measure of all things' ; that is,
human beings are the centre of the world; through the human mind comes the
understanding of our world; and through the proportions of the human body we gain
our sense of beauty and good design.

Humans could enjoy life without God

What the Florentines liked about the classical way of thinking was its confidence in
human being s. If people had the skill and the personality, the people of ancient
Greece and Rome believed, they could do great things. Following the teachings of
their church leaders, Europeans of the Middle Ages had thought differently. They
believed that men and women were sinful beings who could achieve nothing
worthwhile without the help of God.

The name ' humanism' is given to the new interest in the world of Greece and Rome,
and to the renewed confidence in what human beings could achieve by their own
efforts. 'Humanists' were those who shared these ideas. They thought they were
bringing to life again all that was best about the classical world and, in that sense,
they were helping in a rebirth or renaissance .

In the Middle Ages some people had demonstrated their piety by living simple and
austere lives. In the Renaissance most of society was still very religious and people
were no less concerned about attaining eternal life in heaven. However, humanists
suggested that a person might enjoy life without offending God. These secular values,
the concern with life here and now led people to seek and enjoy material luxuries,
good music, fine food. Even church leaders embraced the secular humanist spirit. They
spent huge amounts of the church’s money on beautifying churches with art. Some
even lived in beautiful mansions, threw lavish banquets and wore expensive clothes.