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Why?
Middle Ages Europe suffered from war and plague
Began to question the church
Taught you need to suffer during life for reward in heaven
Renaissance
Means rebirth
1300-1600
Educated people wanted to bring back to life the culture of classical Greece and Rome
Spread from Italy to the rest of Europe
City States
Oversea trade led to the growth of city-states in northern Italy
The bubonic plague killed up to 60% of the population during the Middle Ages
Laborers could demand higher wages
It was hard to expand business so merchants perused other interests (art)
Merchants
Merchants became wealthy
Merchants felt they deserved power and wealth because they earned it
In the past, power was inherited
Medici Family
Powerful banking family that gained political control of Florence
The family’s bank had branches throughout Italy and Europe
Cosimo Medici won control of Florence’s government in 1434 and was a dictator for 30 years
Instead of having a formal political position he gave members of the ruling council loans and then told them what to do
Humanism
Focused on human potential and achievements
Influenced artists and architects to carry on classical traditions
Study the subjects common to classical education: history, literature and philosophy (these subjects are called the humanities)
Humanism
Taught that you could enjoy life on earth without offending God (If you have money spend it on stuff you want!)
Secular – become concerned with worldly things going on here and now – not just spiritual life and the afterlife
Patrons of Art
Church leaders, merchants and wealthy families paid for artwork
They either had their own portrait painted or donated art to be displayed throughout the city
Renaissance Man
Excel in all aspects of life – be educated, have a good personality, do “artsy” things as well as be athletic
Renaissance Women-were expected to inspire art yet not create it
Renaissance Art
They copied classical models of art
Used the technique of perspective – showing three dimensions on a flat surface
Difference in Painting
MedievalRenaissance (The Virgin and
Child with Saint Anne by Leonardo da Vinci, 1510)
Michelangelo
Poet, sculptor, architect and painter
Used a realistic style when depicting the human body
Madonna & Child
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
A great artist, but more than any other person of his age, personified the idea of the “Renaissance man” Someone of broad interests
who is accomplished in both the arts and sciences
Mona Lisa uses light and shadow and perspective to make the figures fully human, enigmatic, and mysterious
Leonardo da Vinci
da Vinci’s study of the proportions of the human
body
da Vinci’s plans for a helicopter
Political Power & The Renaissance Is it better to be loved more than feared or feared more
than loved?
Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513 while he was virtually under house arrest
served in the Florentine Republic, accused of conspiracy, arrested & tortured in prison. Released to his country home, he wrote the first modern treatise on political science.
Focus is how to get & keep power Rejected Medieval thought that rulers must follow Christian morals. Said morality
unrelated to politics. Humans are motivated by self-interest.
“{Men} are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely.”
A prince acts on behalf of state. When possible do good.. BUT… be ready to do evil when necessary. The ends justify the means.
Think like Machiavelli“Everyone realizes how praiseworthy it is for a prince to honor his word and to be straightforward rather than crafty in his dealings; none the less, contemporary experience shows that princes who have achieved great things have been those who have given their word lightly, who have known how to trick men with their cunning, and who, in the end, have overcome those abiding by honest principles.”
What does Machiavelli use as the basis for his argument about how a prince should act?
Does Machiavelli think that a prince should prefer to be loved or feared? Why?
Why might Machiavelli have argued that political activity should not be restricted by moral principles?