Renaissance

 All about Renaissance and incidents related to it: 

 The word "Renaissance" is a Latin word which means rebirth. 

Some interesting facts about Renaissance: 

* It is a transitional period from the Medieval era to the modern age. 

* It took place in Greece and spread all over the world gradually. 

* When Renaissance  took place in England during the time of Queen Elizabeth, people got rid of austerity, rigidity, and restrictions. The concepts of blind faith in religion, obligations towards the bishops and others started disappearing gradually.

* People stopped believing anything blindly. Rather, they learned how to sharpen their reasoning sense and throw questions on every established norm. Overall, renaissance brought mental and spiritual transformation. ( the influence of Socrates who said, "Know thyself, "An unexamined life is not worth living." According to Socrates, we all want to lead a happy life. To discern the definition of happiness, we have to understand the meanings of "good" and "bad". To have a clear and distinguished idea of these complementary terms, we have to build up the capability of making questions and refute others' logics.)

* Renaissance is a phase in the history of England which is basically responsible for the emergence of individualism, secularism, humanism etcetera. It has put a great emphasis on the pursuit of knowledge, creative activities, and scientific inventions. This phase is decidedly a movement of intellectual cultivation. 

Inventions: 

* gun powder

*  compass (used as a navigation tool not to lose track while returning to home after doing businesses in other countries. This practice, in fact, paved the path of colonialism.) 

* printing press established by William Caxton. 

Great figures:

* Geoffrey Chaucer 

He restored English from the verge of extinction during the Norman reign. 

                                                Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) 

He was the 

# Father of English poetry 

#Father of English Language 

# Founder of English literature 

# First National English Poet 

# First Great Painter of life

# The Morning Star of English songs 

Chaucer used the East Midland dialect of English language and upgraded it as standard English. His total life of 60  years can be divided into 3 parts. These are: 

1) French Period (30 years) 

2) Italian Period (15 years) 

3) English Period (15 years) 

French Period: 

In this stage of life, Chaucer went to France and took some pieces of French writings. Then he translated them. One of his translations includes Romaunt of the Rose. 

Italian Period/ Diplomatic Period: 

In this phase of life, Chaucer was influenced by some great Italian literary figures like Dante, Petrarch, and Boccacio and wrote the poems:

# "Troilus and Criseyde" 

# "The House of Fame"

# "The Parliament of Fowls"

# "The Legend of Good Women"

English Period: 

This last part of this life helped him produce the masterpiece of his life The Canterbury Tales. He discovered himself in this masterpiece. 

* John Wycliff: 

He translated the Bible in English for the convenience of the common people as they did not know Latin. Moreover, Wycliff also used an English dialect and established it as the language of English prose. So, Wycliff is known as the "Father of English prose." 

The History of Renaissance: 

Renaissance first started in Italy. We know about the Dark Ages of England. Let's have a glimpse on the condition of Italy in the pre-Renaissance era. In the pre-Renaissance era, the purpose of art was determined on the scale of orthodoxy and rigidity. This whole thing will become clear to us if we have  look at the poem Fra Lippo Lippi written by Robert Browning. The central character Lippo is  forced to suppress his physical instincts. Lippo always loves to draw what he sees in reality. When he was 8 years old, he lived in streets. There he witnessed two divergent groups of people. In one group, people were truly sincere to their prayer. On the other hand, the people who belonged to the another group were corrupted and came to the temples just to show off in the name of prayer. He also observed the hardships of the orphan children. As a result, he wants to delineate everything he witnessed in his paintings. Nevertheless, the church has put heavy restrictions on him. He is highly advised to follow Gitto's paintings who painted only soul. It was said to him, 

                                                             "Give us no more of body than shows soul!

                                                                Here's Gitto with his saint a praising God,

                                                               That sets us praising- why not stop with him?

                                                                Paint the soul, never mind the legs and arms!

                                                                Rub all out, try at it a second time." 

Lippo also has raised his voice against the austere mentality of the authority through his speech because the viewpoint of the authority seems detestable to him. In Lippo's view, everything is created by God. So, both body and soul are needed. We can't walk on one leg. Rather, we must need both of our legs to walk. That's why, a soul without body is meaningless. Lippo says, 

                                                            "The beauty and the wonder and the power, 

                                                              The shape of things, their colours, lights, and shades,

                                                               Changes, surprises and God made it all."

To Lippo, life is big, beautiful, and worthy of enjoying. So, we should not waste our time by wearing a fake mask and acting like hypocrite people. He says, 

                                                             "You tell too many lies and hurt yourself,

                                                                You don't like what you only like too much, 

                                                                You do like what you find abundantly detestable."

Art was regarded as the mirror of life during Renaissance. Art was for art, not for rendering moral messages. Renaissance was started in Italy in 1350 and lasted till 1400. The cultures, thoughts, and beliefs of the Greek and Roman civilization were strikingly proliferated over Europe. 

In the age of Renaissance, the concept of 'Humanism' became extremely popular. Humanism is the new way of thinking and an opportunity to seek rational thoughts. Interestingly, this concept has played a vital role in engendering and popularizing the concept of 'Individualism'. People had developed their own rational thoughts and felt averse to be dominated by any blind beliefs. 

Italian poet and scholar Francesco Petrarch was acclaimed as the 'Father of Humanism'. He studied the works of Roman philosophers, such as Virgil, Cicero, Aeneid, and his pieces of works became a vast source of inspiration to the writers and poets of Renaissance era. 

The great Medici family who cherished the works of the artists as well as scientists and patronized them: 

The Medici family was an affluent family in Italy during Renaissance. Their generous patronage in the fields of arts, science, and in other intellectual pursuits had left a progressive impact in this age. They paid commissions to the artists for the artists' major works of art. As a result, the artists could properly concentrate on their work as they did not think about money. The wool business and the bank were  the two pivotal sources of earning of this family. Giovanno de Medici was the head of the wool merchants and established the bank as well. His son was Cosimo de Medici became the Gran maestro (leader) of  Florence city-state in 1437. 

The bank was the largest bank of Europe. It was at the peak of success and also reputed. It also made remarkable improvements in the accounting system including the development of the double-entry bookkeeping system. 

The major arts and scientific inventions became possible due to this family. The field of architecture also flourished. Lorenzo de Medici supported the painters Mossacio, Michealangelo, Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo de Vinci. Besides, this family encouraged architect Brunelleschi to rebuild the Basilica of San Lorenzo. 

The Medici family was also an admirer of science. Galileo Galilea also gained support from this family in order to invent the telescope and carry on other pursuits. Galilea also worked as a tutor for the Medici children. 

The great creations of this era: 

Monalisa by Leonardo da Vinci: 

Some important facts about this portrait: 

Model: Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Glocondo 

The way of painting:

* Vinci used glazes that had a very small amount of pigment. 

* There is no show-off in this piece of art. 

* It is absolutely different from the stereotypical paintings of the aristocratic people in which the models used to were flamboyant dresses and jewelleries. Rather, this painting is quite simple in appearance. However, it contains intense mystery and significance. 

* Leonardo used the glazes of black and white in the background exquisitely which has brought depth and luminosity in this portrait. 

* The irregular brush strokes made it more lifelike.

* Simple appearance of the model was given priority so that the people cannot be distracted from her face.

* This portrait bears a classic, pyramid-shaped composition.

* This composition helps people to put their sole concentration on the face of the model and examine her expressions.

* Models in the 15th century were serious, stiff, and upright. Nevertheless, Monalisa seems to be calm, cool, and relaxed.

* Monalisa is evidently making an eye contact with the viewers, however, women of that time never did it. So, it's clear that this painting is absolutely a deviation from the traditional artworks.

* The background also plays an important part to make this portrait a path-breaker because paintings were generally made in a room or a chamber in the previous time, but the landscape of the background is bred from Leonardo's imagination and have a myriad of sophisticated implications.

* The background has some certain features. These are: 

# it is mystical and aerial. 

# the icy mountain, curved path, and bridge resemble her curved hair and clothing. So, a close connection between nature and human beings is visible. 

*The eyes of Monalisa are always enigmatic.

*Monalisa's shoulders are levelled, but the landscape is not lined up on both sides. It is skewed on one side. This pattern depicts the conflicts of human mind.

* Her smile is mysterious. It comes, goes, and also lingers.  It is also noticeable that subjects did not smile before the advent of Renaissance.

* Lionardo has used some special techniques to prepare this groundbreaking work. 

Sfumato is one of them. It's the blending technique to soften colours so that there cannot be any harsh, sharp, or unnatural line. 

Chiaroscuro is the another one. It blends the contrast colours, light and dark, to create a 3D look.

Monalisa is a symbol of individualism and secularism. Leonardo worked on all types of expressions and muscles to create a swiping view of Monalisa's smile.

Leonardo da Vinci:

*He is one of the greatest inquisitive minds of this age.

* He had a veracious appetite for knowledge.

*He dedicated himself to the study of anatomy, geology, and philosophy.

* His collaboration with physician Marcantonio della Torre in dissecting a human body made him more of a scientist than an artist.

David by Michelangelo:

* This sculpture was made based on a Biblical story. 

* Esteemed artist, writer, and historian Georgio Vasari stated, "No other artwork is equal to it in any state." 

* The whole sculpture depicts that a man can become a hero by dint of his intelligence and willpower. 

* A marble replica of this sculpture is kept in Piazza della Signoria. 

Description of this nonpareil creation: 

# David's furrowed brows and calculative gaze indicates that he is concentrating on the challenge with full integrity which he is going to face. 

# This sculpture is a combination of both tensed and relaxed postures.

# The interest in nudity is obvious.

# David's smooth penis denotes that he can control his physical desires when he is on duty.

# his intense gaze resembles his resolute mind.

# David's neck is tensed, the veins of his right hands are bulged out. He holds the sling in his left shoulder which is draped over his shoulder and the handle of the sling is in his right hand. 

# His head and hands are unusually big in comparison to the other parts of the body. 

# A foreskin is visible on the penis which is against the practice of circumcision, but it is a convention of Renaissance artwork. 

# David does not stand straight. The asymmetrical figure gives importance to relaxation and comfort of human body which can be derived from pleasures. The legs and the right hand are relaxed. It is noticeable that the legs are bearing the weight of the whole body. 

# It is told that David cannot look straight as there was shortage of marbles. 

# The prime inspiration that encourages the artist to give birth to this masterpiece was the battle of the Israelites with Goliah. Goliah urged the Israelites to fight with him. David was totally unweaponed. On the other hand, Goliah was well-equipped. David defeated his well-prepared rival with a sling and and beheaded him later with his own sword. The victory of David represents the triumph of the Republic of Florence as it was battling with the surrounding threats. 

Michealangelo's David is a deviation from the earlier Renaissance portrayals of David. The bronze statues by Donatello and Verrochio represent the victorious hero who has already won against Goliah. However, Michealangelo's David captures David's expressions before the battle. David is also an upholder of individualism. 

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci: 

This famous fresco was produced in Milan when Vinci moved there to work for the Duke of Milan. The basic theme of this artwork is eating, Vinci, in fact, has created the true effect of refectory. 

Description: 

* The room has 3 windows and four walls. Through the windows we can observe a beautiful, shadowy, misty, greyish, and divine landscape. 

* The "aerial perspective" device is used to create the illusion of depth in landscape. 

* There are coffers on the ceiling and tapestries on the walls. 

* Vinci has again used his famous pyramid-shaped composition to paint Jesus Christ as he has done while drawing Monalisa. This technique is used to focus on Jesus's countenance. 

* 12 apostles can be seen in total who are divided into 3 sets of four. 

* The number 3 and 4 have special significance. "3" indicates to 'Trinity' and the number '4' refers to the 4 gospels in the New Testament of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Since it was the Renaissance era, the liberal New Testament was followed instead of the rigid Old Testament. 

* Different apostles have different facial expressions when Jesus says, "One of you is about to betray me." Sadness, protest, dubiousness, anger are mixed in their expressions. 

* Judas is holding a bag of money which he has got from the Jews. 

*Why did the Jews hate Jesus Christ and want to crucify Him?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X5g-NChz0Tfzvks5PuYz02v5WwBLlyBR/view?usp=drivesdk 

***( You can know the answer of this aforementioned crucial question from the given link)

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli:

Venus is the goddess of love and sex. Her Greek name is Aphrodite. Eros (Cupid) is her son and the god of love. It is believed that as she is the goddess of charm, joy, and cheer, tranquil breeze blows for her, colourful flowers embroider the earth, waves and cluster of blue and white clouds are always in a harmony. Venus wanders through radiant light. 

* The history of Venus's birth: 

In the Iliad, Venus is the daughter of  Zeus and Dione. However, it is also claimed that she has sprang up from foam of the sea. Her name 'Aphros' denotes "foam" in Greek. So, the sea-birth took place in the sea near Cythera and she wafted to Cyprus. These two places Cythera and Cyprus are significant as Aphrodite is also known as Cythera and Cyprus. 

* Botticelli's work: 

The art focuses on the emergence of the bare-naked goddess Aphrodite from a vast shell on the Cyprus shore. On her left side, winged Zephyr, the god of wind, and his female peer Aura or Chloris are present. 

On the right side, we can see a female figure with a lavish and flower-embroidered costume to cover Venus. This lady is wearing a flowery dress and her position is very close to the trees. In fact, she is the goddess of the hours of Spring. 

Zephyr is blowing wind to guide Venus. . Venus's wavy hair indicates to the waves of the sea. Her hair is hiding her vagina and this pose refers that Venus is trying to pose in a moderate way. It is also noticeable that her face is free from all blemishes and her eyes are filled with peace and serenity. It seems that she is brooding over something amidst the peaceful nature. 

How Venus is an epitome of Renaissance? 

Botticelli was inspired by a statue of Venus. As Renaissance is an age of rebirth, Venus's rebirth from the foam also indicates to the starting of a new life. Zephyr can be considered as Greek learning and knowledge which was the main inspiration of Renaissance. Venus's wavy hair is a signal to the intricate mind of Renaissance people. Moreover, women were supposed to be the source of comfort and happiness during Renaissance. Her position makes her so desirable. Venus is the reflection of Renaissance women since she is curvy, slender, and pale.  She is trying to be moderate while posing and the goddess of the hours of Spring is coming to cover her with a mantle so that she can protect her virginity. At the time of Renaissance, women had to be virgin before their marriage and they could not have sex before tying knot. Most importantly, Venus is a representative of individualism, humanism, and natural world. 

The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci:

Roman architect Vitruvian is the model of Leonardo in this painting. The man in this painting is an epitome of both art and science. In this painting, we can see the image of a man superimposed in two positions. This masterpiece, in fact, is an evident reflection of Vinci's genius mind who have triumphantly explored the branches of both art and science.

*The description of the painting:

# It is related to anatomy and depicts the exact proportion of human body. Thus, it establishes a connection between ideal human proportion and geometry.

# The face of the model is resolute.

# The positions of the knees and ankles are delicate. His right feet is posed in such a way as if it were in a relaxed position.

# The circle and the rectangle denote the painting's relation to geometry.

# The extended arms, legs, and the lines on the arms and legs are drawn in the same thickness.

The Vitruvian Man stands for the idea of individualism and the naked body is a stark indication towards the transition from the Medieval era.

Galileo Galilei:

Galileo Galilei is an Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, and polymath. Some designations are attributed to him. These are:

* 'Father of observational astronomy'. He was repulsive to acquire knowledge from theoretical astronomy.

 

* 'Father of modern science'

* 'Father of scientific method'

Galilei studied velocity, speed, gravity, relativity, motion, inertia, projectile motion etcetera. He invented thermoscope and various military compasses. However, his most notable invention is the telescope by which he accomplished his scientific observation of celestial objects. Galileo's contribution to observational anatomy include observation of the phases of Venus, four largest satellites of Jupiter, Saturn's rings, and the analysis of sunspots.

Galileo opposed the theory of geocentrism which supports the idea that the earth is fixed and the sun is moving around the earth. According to Galileo, the sun is fixed and the earth rotates around the sun.

This theory created a vociferous situation and met opposition from the Catholic Church since it contradicted the Biblical scripture.  Though Galileo defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, he was forced to spend the rest of his life under house arrest. During this time, he wrote Two New Sciences.

Influence of Cicero on the age of Renaissance:

Marcus Tullius Cicero is a Roman philosopher, orator, and statesman of Rome. He was a central political figure during the reign of Julius Caesar. He has produced six influential books on rhetoric and eight on philosophy. He is considered as one of the greatest orators and prose stylists of

Rome. He became the enemy of Mark Antony and 

attacked him through

several speeches. Cicero refused Caeser to make an alliance with Caeser

and for this reason, he was exiled. 

Cicero and Renaissance:

In his book the Republic, Cicero shows the two sides of human beings. One is the rational, intellectual, and the thoughtful side and the other is the side of a brute animal to represent human being's ignorance , lack of intellect, and indifference to use reasoning sense. So, Cicero declared that education is a must to pursue wisdom and cultivate rationality. He says, "The minds rose higher and succeeding in achieving, in thought or action something worthy of what I have previously called the gift of the gods. So, let us regard those who theorize about ethical principles as great man, which indeed they are."

To Cicero, the main purpose of art is to teach, heal, and grow. Art should not be a product of fantasy and exaggeration. Rather, it should be reflective and intellectual. The men who understand themselves can also have a deep feeling for beauty and wisdom and the society which revere education can fight with the instincts and follies of brute animals. He further adds, " For lust sets over our thoughts like a cruel mistress ordering and compelling us to do outlandish things. As their is no way to appease them once they inflamed person with their seductive charms, they drive men to every sort of crime."  This lust for domination is known as "libido dominandi" in Augustine's words. 

Some powerful quotes of Cicero: 

1) "Great is the power of Habit. It teaches us to bear fatigue and despise wounds and pain."

2) "Gratitude is not only the parent of virtues, but the parent of all others."

3) "Cultivation to the mind is necessary as food to the body."

4) "If you are not ashamed to think it, you should not be ashamed to say it."

5) "Peace is liberty in tranquility."

6) "A man of liberty is full of faith."

7) "A home without books, a body without soul.''

8) "Virtue is a habit of mind consistent with nature, moderation, and reason."

9) "No one can give you better advice than yourself."

10) "The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory."

So, from the long discussion above, it is clear that blind belief had no place in life, People always tried to give priority to arguments and counter-arguments. In the concluding part of this blog, I will love to present an argument between two famous personalities Ptolemy and Copernicus regarding the position of the SUN in the universe. 

The heliocentric concept versus the geocentric concept: 

Copernicus, the son of a wealthy merchant and a Renaissance polymath, astronomer, mathematician, Catholic canon, introduced this idea to the world. He is widely known for his Heliocentrism theory. 

The Heliocentric theory:

Copernicus proposed that the sun is fixed and the earth revolves around the sun. He proposed this theory in the book On the Heavenly Bodies. Interestingly, the book was published when Copernicus was on his deathbed. 

3 Incorrect Notions of That Time: 

# The earth was the center of the universe.

# There was a uniform circular motion in the heaven. 

# Objects in the heaven were made from a perfect and unchangeable substance. 

Copernicus proved all these notions wrong by the concept of retrograde motion and varying brightness of the planets. The planets vary in their brightness as their distances from the sun are not the same. 

The Retrograde Motion: 

The planets revolve anti-clockwise around the sun for gravity. The distance of the earth is lesser than the Mars, the Jupiter, the Saturn, and its orbit is smaller. So, it moves faster. As the super planets move slower, they stop at a point (stationary point-01) and reverse their direction of motion and move. This reverse motion is known as retrograde motion. Then, the planets slow down again and reach the second stationary point. Finally, it they reverse their motion for the second time and continues in its direct order.

N.B. Aristachus of Samos ( Samos is an island off the coast of Turkey) already proposed that the sun is fixed and the earth rotates around it. Unfortunately, his writings were lost. 

The Geocentric Theory: 

Ptolmy, an Egyptian astrologer, mathematician, and geographer rejected the hypothesis of Aristachus and supported Aristotle who gave the logic that the earth is fixed and the sun rotates around it. Ptolemy developed this idea through mathematical detail and observation. 

How did Aristotle support Geocentrism? 

Aristotle put some questions to support his belief. The questions are: 

1) If the earth actually span on an axis (as it is required in a heliocentric system to explain the diurnal motion of the sky) why did not objects fly off the spinning sky? 

2) If the earth was in motion around the sun, why did not it leave behind the birds flying in the sky? 

3) If the earth was actually on an orbit around the sun , why was not a parallax effect observed? 

Definitely, there is a parallax effect, but it is very small because the stars are so far away from the earth. 

The concept of epicycle: 

Ptolemy incorporated the notion of epicycle of Hipparchus. An epicycle is a small, circular orbit on which  the planets were said to move while making a rotation around the earth. In Copernican model, the sun was at the center, still the epicycles  were needed and it required fewer epicycles than Ptolemic. The motion of the planets could not be described without epicycles although we know that the orbits of the planets are ellipse, not circle.  

Here, I have covered significant information about Renaissance. Read them and learn something new!👍😘