INTRO:

The Renaissance was a time of rebirth and expansion for religious interpretation, scientific
discovery, exploration of new lands, and the flourishing of the arts.Period between 14 th and 16th
centuries that devalued the medieval era before it favor a new and brighter era that would draw
inspiration from the Greek and Roman Traditions of antiquity. Renaissance Artworks are known for its
realistic scenery, linear perspective, and its innovative light and dark shadowing known as Chiaroscuro.

WHAT TRIGGERED RENAISSANCE?

1. Began with literary movement- with the texts of antiquity being rediscovered but it was quickly
picked up by the visual arts and sciences.
2. Intermingling between Math, Science, and Arts led to the discovery of perspective in the arts.
Such that Perspective was an achievement that allowed new space to be configured in the
paintings, flattened stack space was replaced with mathematically accurate images with
dimension and depth.
3. Italian Economic Growth- as northern Italy was very wealthy because it served as a trading hub
between the silk and spice producing East and the consuming West of England, France, and
Germany. Additionally, Italian merchants had built great wealth in the cloth industry and
developed international banks, such wealth gave the upper class leisure to produce new ideas
and the money to support the artists and scholars who produce new works.
4. Politics- where it struggles between the papacy, the Holy Roman Empire, and merchants during
the Middle Ages had resulted in the independence of many small city-states in Northern Italy
wherein its government often controlled by one man competed for prestige by supporting
artists and scholars.
5. Arrival in Italy of people who fled from the fall of Byzantine Empire- such people brought with
them new ideas including the Study of Greek, Knowledge of which had been forgotten outside
of Greece, therefore no Ancient Greeks could be understood which led for the Humanists to be
inspired and imitated the works of classical past of Ancient Greeks and Rome.
6. Church as the most powerful and wealthy institution was able to commission artists to create
sculptures and architecture that adorned and served church iconography and function. Wherein
Christian saints were painted and sculpted to replace Byzantine Mosaics and murals with Greek
mythological imagery. But direct influence from antiquity on form and technique was seen
visibly.
7. The rise of powerful Medici Family- the owner of Europe’s largest bank became the most
powerful dynasty in the region gaining power through banking as they were able to commission
hundreds of works of art and have powerful influence within the church. It sponsored
prominent artists and thinkers such as
a. Masaccio “popularized One-Point Linear Perspective)
b. Fra. Angelico Donatello-
c. Galileo
d. Leonardo da Vinci- known as Quintessential Renaissance Man which was skilled as an
artist, scientist, , and architect
e. Michelangelo-