THE RENAISSANCE

 

     The Revival of Learning

         -- started with XII translation project

         -- translated works formed basis of curriculum at medieval universities

         in XV Byzantine manuscripts imported into Western Europe

 

     Humanism

         Replaced theology in status

         Relations of people in society

         Activity: reworking Classical literature

         Rebellion against Scholasticism

         Worshipped remote past

         A nice, but fairly detailed introduction to humanism can be found at the site: http://www.pagesz.net/~stevek/intellect/humanism.html

         If you want a simple definition, with links to some important works, try: http://library.thinkquest.org/12160/philosophy/humanism.htm

 

 

     Early Humanism

         Prior to printing

         Manuel Chrysoloras came to Italy in 1397 from Byzantium

n   taught Greek in Italy

n   A brief page about Chrysoloras: http://www.fwkc.com/encyclopedia/low/articles/c/c005000497f.html

 

         Ptolemy's Geography not known before 1406 when brought from Constantinople

         Sources dried up after 1453

 

     Printing of Ancient Scientific Classics

         Early printing was of very old texts:

              Bible, theology, law, medicine

              Few contemporary works

              Few scientific works

 

     Need for Latin translations

         Very few Western Europeans literate in Greek even into XVI and XVII

         Greek science had to be translated into Latin

         Euclid

         Medical works: Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Galen, etc.

 

     Scientific Atmosphere in Early Renaissance

         Little interest in science among humanists

         Had to wait for translations from Greek

         Scholasticism gave way to Empiricism

              -- closer study of nature

 

Perspective

 

     Paolo Toscanelli (1396-1482)

         brought Ptolemy's Geography to Italy

         On Ptolemy’s Geography see: http://www.bl.uk/exhibitions/maps/ptolemy.html

 

 

     Filippo Brunelleschi

         Renaissance Man in Florence

         built Dome of cathedral in Florence

         popularized perspective in art and architecture

         On Brunelleschi and his contributions: http://www.crs4.it/Ars/arshtml/arch1.html and http://www.crs4.it/Ars/arshtml/arch2.html

         These two sites goover some of the same ground as James Burke did in the video shown in class.

 

 

     Leone Battista Alberti (1404-1472)

         discovered mathematical laws of perspective

         A brief web page on perspective: http://www.cquest.toronto.edu/psych/psy280f/ch7/linearP.html

         A quick overview of Alberti’s work: http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/pers/lbalber.htm

 

     Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg (1471-1528)

         proportions of human body by age and sex

         A site on Dürer and his contribution to art: http://www.boglewood.com/cornaro/xdurer.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

     Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

         Genius in some areas, barely functioning in others

         Small artistic output

         Intense working style and attention to detail

         Very secretive

         Scientific interests:

              Flying machine

              helicopter

              parachute

              flight in birds

              designed parabolic compass

              designed guns, other engineering apparati

              worked out principles of perspective

              studied physiology, embryology

     This site goes well beyond the needs of this course, but it does have a lot of easily assimilated stuff on Leonardo. It’s an interactive site run by the Boston Museum of Science: http://www.mos.org/leonardo/

 

 

Practical Arts in XVI

     Vanoccio Biringuccio (1460-1539)

         Pirotechnia (1540)

         A brief site on Biringuccio: http://www.britannica.com/seo/v/vannoccio-biringuccio/

 

     Agricola (1490-1555)

         (George Bauer)

         De re Metallica (1556)

         A brief web page on Agricola: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/treasures/science/agricola.html

 

 

     Paracelsus (1493-1541)

         Actual name: Aureolus Philleppus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim

         Founded Iatrochemistry

         A site on Paracelsus that relates him to the humanist movement: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/paracelsus/paracelsus_2.html

 

 

Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)

     Studied anatomy (i.e., Galen) in Paris, 1533-1536

     1537 began teaching surgery in Padua

     On the Fabric of the Human Body, 1543 (note this date)

         -- raised biological observations to new level

n   artist for book probably from school of Titian

n   A site about Vesalius: http://oz.plymouth.edu/~biology/history/vesalius.html

n   And another: http://www.med.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/antiqua/texth.htm