4. Giorgio Vassari
Lives of the Artists
Referred to the age
between Greco-
Roman and
Renaissance as the
“degenerate period”
and first to call it the
Middle Ages. It stuck!
5. Signifies the rediscovery and utilization of ancient
virtues, skills, knowledge, and culture which had been
lost in the barbarous centuries follow the fall of Rome
in the West c. fifth century A.D. ~Paul Johnson
Most generations, however, look back to some golden
age
The 9th century under Charlemagne
The 12th century under Hildebrand who formed what
later became universities
Events like these may be called a proto-renaissanceand
from them universities like Notre Dame and Oxford
emerged
6. But why didn’t the proto-renaissances spread and sustain
themselves
Two Reasons:
Money ~ “The root of all civilization is money” ~ Will Durant
In late Middle Ages wealth was being produced in great quantity
Occupations of large-scale commerce and banking florished
With the accumulation of wealth came the patronage of the art,
architecture, literature, and music
The Human Element
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3byt7xMSCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpydugTkt1U
7. The Human Element
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsCG26886w8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpydugTkt1U
Money can buy art, but only if there are craftsmen to
produce it
The late Middle Ages, and the transitional 14th century
had an abundance of both money and craftsmen
8. Workshops of all kinds emerged specializing in
intermediate technology:
Stone
Leather
Metal
Wood
Plaster
Chemicals
Fabrics
Machinery
Families of those who worked in these shops produced
the art
10. Important Figures Roles
Charles IV (France) King of France (Last Capetian king)
King Edward III (England) Nephew of Charles IV
King Phillip VI Believed himself to successor of Charles
IV
The Black Prince Son of Edward III (English General)
Henry V King of England (succeeded Edward III
& lead military)
Joan of Arc French leader (at age 13 heard the voice
of God & led the French to victory at
siege of Orleans)
11. Stages Dates Battles Victor
1st 1340-1356 Crecy & England
Poitiers
2nd 1364-1372 La Rochelle France
3rd 1415-1424 Agincourt England
4th 1428-1453 Siege of Orleans France
13. The Black Plague (1348)
The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
The Great Schism (1309-1376)
14. Dante the man
Born in Florence
Exiled for criticism of government and
church
Dante the poet
Classical influence
Christian influence
Italian influence
Dante the pilgrim
“Midway in the journey of our life I
found myself in a dark wood…how hard
to say what a harsh thing was that
wood savage and rough and hard”
Divine Comedy
Inferno - Hell
Purgatorio - Purgatory
Paradiso – Paradise
Sacramental view of the world &
history – Beatrice and Virgil
15. Inferno – Hell
“Ye who enter, abandon all hope.”
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral
crisis, maintain their neutrality.”
“The path to paradise begins in hell.”
“Into the eternal darkness, into fire and into ice. ”
“The devil is not as black as he is painted.”
Purgatorio – Purgatory
Paradiso– Paradise
"My son, you've seen the temporary fire and the eternal fire; you have reached
the place past which my powers cannot see. I've brought you here through
intellect and art; from now on, let your pleasure be your guide; you're past the
steep and past the narrow paths. Look at the sun that shines upon your brow;
look at the grasses, flowers, and the shrubs born here, spontaneously, of the
earth. Among them, you can rest or walk until the coming of the glad and
lovely eyes-yourself." [Virgil's last words to Dante as he gives Dante the power to
guide himself. Canto XXVII, Purgatorio]
16. Love
The center of the center is love
Love, then, is the very center of Divine Comedy
Virgil - all sin is a distorted attempt at love
Purgatory does is realign, purify and redirect our love
It is love which gives rise to all our actions, and it is love "which moves
the sun and the other stars”
Sin is a failureor misdirectionof love
Ordinate
Inordinate
Love too little = slothful
Love too much = lustful
Sacramental view of the world & history – Beatrice and Virgil
'O light and honor of all other poets, may my long study and the
intense love that made me search your volume serve me now. You are
my master and my author, you-the only one from whom my writing
drew the noble style for which I have been honored.'"
17. Father of humanism
Augustinian influence
Influence of Cicero &
Virgil
Latin Scholar –
discovered and copied
many ancient texts
His love – Laura