who was given the title 'the Renaissance' and why?

Question

Q#1= who was given the title 'the Renaissance' and why?
Q#2= Definition of Renaissance?
Q#3= Name all "Master" of the Renaissance?
Q#4= Name atleast ten famous Paintings which were painted during the Renaissance and disscuss why they are still so famous today?
Q#5= What role have the Renaissance artists that you have mentioned, played in the invention/ discoveries made in the 20th century?
Q#6= who was given the title 'the Renaissance' and why?

Answer 1

I think you mean what was given the title of Renaissance and why. Renaissance simply menas rebirth and is attributed to the period of rebirth of classical values, art and architecture etc after the 'Dark Ages' or Medieval period.


Here's some information on the Renaissance and what happed during this period.

term used to describe the development of Western civilization that marked the transition from medieval to modern times. This article is concerned mainly with general developments and their impact in the fields of science, rhetoric, literature, and music. For a discussion of developments in the arts see Renaissance art and architecture.

Historical Background

In the 12th cent. a rediscovery of Greek and Roman literature occurred across Europe that eventually led to the development of the humanist movement in the 14th cent. In addition to emphasizing Greek and Latin scholarship, humanists believed that each individual had significance within society. The growth of an interest in humanism led to the changes in the arts and sciences that form common conceptions of the Renaissance.

The 14th cent. through the 16th cent. was a period of economic flux in Europe; the most extensive changes took place in Italy. After the death of Frederick II in 1250, emperors lost power in Italy and throughout Europe; none of Frederick's successors equaled him. Power fell instead into the hands of various popes; after the Great Schism (1378—1415; see Schism, Great), when three popes held power simultaneously, control returned to secular rulers.

During the Renaissance small Italian republics developed into despotisms as the centers of power moved from the landed estates to the cities. Europe itself slowly developed into groups of self-sufficient compartments. At the height of the Renaissance there were five major city-states in Italy: the combined state of Naples and Sicily, the Papal State, Florence, Milan, and Venice. Italy's economic growth is best exemplified in the development of strong banks, most notably the Medici bank of Florence. England, France, and Spain also began to develop economically based class systems.

Science

Beginning in the latter half of the 15th cent., a humanist faith in classical scholarship led to the search for ancient texts that would increase current scientific knowledge. Among the works rediscovered were Galen's physiological and anatomical studies and Ptolemy's Geography. Botany, zoology, magic, alchemy, and astrology were developed during the Renaissance as a result of the study of ancient texts. Scientific thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler attempted to refine earlier thought on astronomy. Among Leonardo's discoveries were the revelation that thrown or shot projectiles move in one curved trajectory rather than two; metallurgical techniques that allowed him to make great sculptures; and anatomical observations that increased the accuracy of his drawings.

In 1543 Copernicus wrote De revolutionibus, a work that placed the sun at the center of the universe and the planets in semicorrect orbital order around it; his work was an attempt to revise the earlier writings of Ptolemy. Galileo's most famous invention was an accurate telescope through which he observed the heavens; he recorded his findings in Siderius nuncius [starry messenger] (1610). Galileo's Dialogo … sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo [dialogue concerning the two chief world systems] (1632), for which he was denounced by the current pope (because of Galileo's approval of Copernicus), resulted in his living under house arrest for the rest of his life. Tycho Brahe gave an accurate estimate of planetary positions and refuted the Aristotelian theory that placed the planets within crystal spheres. Kepler was the first astronomer to suggest that planetary orbits were elliptical.

Rhetoric and Literature

Humanism in Renaissance rhetoric was a reaction to Aristotelian scholasticism, as espoused by Francis Bacon, Averroës, and Albertus Magnus, among others. While the scholastics claimed a logical connection between word and thought, the humanists differentiated between physical utterance and intangible meditation; they gave common usage priority over sets of logical rules.

The humanists also sought to emulate classical values. Joseph Webbe wrote textbooks that taught Latin through reconstruction of the sentences of classical authors from individual phrases and clauses. Roger Ascham taught that one could learn to speak effectively by studying the speeches of ancient orators. Thomas Elyot wrote The Book Named the Governor, which suggested rules for effective statesmanship. Thomas More's most significant contribution to humanism was Utopia, a design for an ideal society based primarily on works by classical authors.

The effect of humanism on English literature was wide and far-reaching. It is evidenced, for example, in the works of Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. The poems and plays of Jonson often center on the difference between virtue and vice; Jonson considers sincerity, honesty, self-discipline, and concern to be chief virtues, while dissimulation, lying, or masking of identity is vicious behavior. His Volpone and The Alchemist exemplify humanist values. In a play such as Shakespeare's Tempest, a main character (Prospero) embodies a full range of human abilities: father, creator, ruler, magician, master, and scholar. In addition, Shakespeare took subject matter for many plays from classical sources (e.g., Coriolanus, Troilus and Cressida, and Julius Caesar).

In France Michel de Montaigne and François Rabelais were the most important proponents of humanist thought. Montaigne's essays are memorable for their clear statement of an individual's beliefs and their careful examination of society. In "On the Education of Children," he suggests a remaking of secondary education according to classical models; in "On Cannibals," he writes that cannibals are more civilized than others because they are removed from the dissimulation and vice of human society. Rabelais was the author of Gargantua and Pantagruel, the satirical biographies of two giants; the characters may be said to represent the humanist belief in the immensity of human capability. Guillaume Budé, Pierre de Ronsard, Guillaume Du Bartas, Joachim Du Bellay, and Jean Bodin are other major French humanist figures.

In Italy Petrarch is considered a founder of the humanist movement. His De viris illustribus, a set of heroes' lives, included both ancient heroes and such men as Adam; he also wrote a series of letters to classical figures (e.g., Cicero and Ovid). Giovanni Boccaccio, a follower of Petrarch, wrote works that include De genealogia deorum gentilium [on the genealogy of the gods of the gentiles], a collection of classical myths, and the Decameron, a book of 100 stories told by Italian courtesans taking refuge from the Black Plague. Coluccio Salutati (1331—1406) was a Florentine political administrator who wrote treatises on humanism, taught thinkers Poggio and Bruni, and accumulated a large library of ancient Greek and Roman texts.

The Renaissance Italian Leone Battista Alberti is famed for a series of dialogues in which he teaches classical virtues in a vernacular tongue. Niccolò Machiavelli wrote Il Principe [the prince], in which he memorably described the various shapes a ruler must assume in order to become an effective leader, and Discorsi [the discourses], in which he studies Livy in a search for classical values. The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione is essentially about Castiglione himself; in it the author delineates the characteristics of a perfect gentleman.

Music

Renaissance music took great liberties with musical form. In 1300 the most popular music was French and secular. Although secular music gradually spread all over Europe, it flowered in Italy. In fact, in about 1330 an Italian school of musical composition developed in Padua, Verona, Bologna, Florence, and Milan. Often this music was written in the vernacular; its primary composers, thinkers such as Leonardo Giustiniani (1398—1446) and Marsilio Ficino, would often improvise words to the accompaniment of a lute-viola. This experimentation led to the development of contrapuntal music, or music that hinged on the pleasing interplay of two melodic lines.

Josquin Desprez composed masses, chansons, and motets, of which his Hercules Dux Ferriare mass and Misere motet are lasting examples; he was one of the first composers to use imitation, or repetition of melodies, successfully within a composition. Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina also composed mainly religious music. He distinguished himself with his motets and masses, namely Veni creator spiritus, Missa brevis, and Accepit Jesus calicem; he also made full use of the cantus firmus, or pre-existing melody around which other melodies are intertwined, in his compositions. Orlando di Lasso was also a noted composer whose work included motets, chansons, and madrigals.

Madrigals were popular throughout Europe; the best known, The White and Gentle Swan, was by the Flemish composer Jacob Arcadelt. English composers rivaled the Flemish; leading English madrigal composers of the Renaissance include Thomas Weelkes, William Byrd, Thomas Morley, and Orlando Gibbons. Often, English madrigal composers were influenced by the work of Italians. The main Italian madrigal composers were Luca Marenzio, Carlo Gesualdo, and Claudio Monteverdi. Monteverdi was the most accomplished artist of the three; in addition to composing madrigals, he composed the first major operas, including L'Arianna and Orfeo.

Bibliography

See Burckhardt's oft-translated classic, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860); J. H. Plumb, The Horizon Book of the Renaissance (1961); J. R. Hale, ed., A Concise Encyclopedia of the Italian Renaissance (1981); P. A. Ramsey, ed., Rome in the Renaissance (1982); A. B. Giamatti, Exile and Change in Renaissance Literature (1984); J. Snyder, The Northern Renaissance (1985); M. Elsky, Authorizing Words: Speech, Writing and Print in the English Renaissance (1986); J. Hale, The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance (1994); L. Jardine, Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance (1996).

Now I cannot possiby name all the Renaissance Masters as there are far too many. Famous Masters include, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Verocchio, Raphael, Bottecelli etc.

Try

www.wga.hu

for comprehensive listings of the masters and their works.



Ten famous paintings and why they are still famous today? I'll give you a few famous works but you can finish your own homework!

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci in the refrectory of Santa Maria dell Grazie in Milan. Compare this to Domenico Ghirlando's version of the Last Supper and you'll see how Leonardo's version is very different from Domenico's. Domenico was still copying the traditional manner of painting this subject whereas Leonardo used a new painting tecnique (which failed badly) and portrayed in his characters the motions of the mind. He has caught each figure in motion as they react to Jesus saying, 'one of you will betray me'.

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescos.

Michelangelo painted the ceiling prior to the bloody sack of Rome. He painted the Last judgement after the event. In simplistic terms you can see the effect of the bloodbath that was Rome during the sack, mirrored in Michelangelo's tortured figures.

Seld portrait of Albrecht Durer, Prado Madrid.

In this work the painter intends to elivate himself above the satus of artisan with his fine clothes and celebrated his new social status. Artists during the Renaissance were elevated in social status with help from the powerful guilds and the patronage of the church and the rich and famous.

Titian, The Venus of Urbino, Uffizi FLorence.

The first European painting which depicts a naked woman, hand on her upper thigh, engaging the viewer with direct eye contact. This painting was scandalous at the time and is very much debatd still.


Drawing of Santa Maria della Neve by Leonardo da Vinci, Uffizi, Florence. Known as the first landscape of modern art. He, for the first time during this period portrays nature in motion. This is a very important drawing.


Right now you carry on and do some research.

I;ll give you a clue to one of the artists you can use for question 5. Leonardo da Vinci discovered the maxilliary sinus cavity and doctors today have made a discovery using his drawings of the heart. A little research and you'll be onto a winner. There's much more on this subject and some clues in the passage on the Renaissance above.

Good luck and work hard.

Answer 2

The title 'The Renaissance Man is a Hollywood Movie that has nothing to do with the historical epic. The Renaissance was the rebirth of Occidental Scholarship in Europe at the end of whathad literally been the Dark Ages.

The failure of 7 Crusades and the partical occupation of Europe by the Moore created a disillusioned and repressed condition for the European mind, compounded by the invasions of pagan Lumbards from the north! What scholarship that was being done then was being done by the Moors who were the first to translate many of the Greek Classics.

The reason for this is that the rivalry of the religions had strengthened the Church which now dictated what could be studied and tought much like the way modern socities control and dissiminate propaganda today during times of conflict.

Thanks to Marco Polo, Europe solved it's military problem with the invention and use of guns and cannon which stablized Europe and the after benefit of the Crusades was an increase in international trade which generated wealth most notably to families like the Medici who could boast of even underwriting wars between city states.

The wealth of the Medici thus challenged the grip that the Church had on culture and scholarship and this gave men like Bottichello the chance to experiment with classical architecture based on complex Greek studies and holdovers from the moors, thus the Baroque movement began. Artist moved away from strict religious iconography and introduced sentuality and the aesthetic human form with all it's emotions!

Chancery penmanship reintroduced the Roman Capital which had been repalced by the North African Uncal. This primitive and sudo-racist approach was first called the Antiquo and later restrained and renamed the Humanist hand which became the bases for typoeset, although it was the moorish influences that would lead to script writting!

It is ludicrus to expect someone to name all of the Reniassance Artist and even to pick ten painting is highly doubious, the former couldn't be completed in a lifetime and the significance is not in any painting but the advances the Artist himself made. Rembrant is even considered a reniassance master and is know not so much for any one painting but for his control of lighting. Michelangelo is known just as much for sculpture as his murals, Ruben is the master of perspective, Carvaggio is a romantic da'Vinchi is a fine draftsman, Raphel is sentual, Greco is imaginative, Valesquez is noble. A. Mathus would anticipate the Italic Hands, Neudorffer would show the grandure of Fractura and then there are the scientist and astrologers.

All would encourage the people to step outside the box of the puritanical church, not out of irreverance but to think, dream and imagine as Europe had never dreamed before. Those dreams have been the hallmark of Europes grand intellectaul acheivements and aesthetic realism and are her calling card to this day!

Answer 3

Q#7= Will you do your own homework?

Ok. I don't know WHO was given the title of the Renaissance since the title itself is addressed to a certain period of European history. The definition means "rebirth" since it was a rebirth of Greek and Roman cultures.

I don't know of a master of any of the various Renaissance movements (and there were more than one).

Other than that, you should try to do your homework on your own.

Answer 4

Believe in the Shield