While Humanism initially began as a predominantly literary movement, its influence quickly pervaded the general culture of the time, re-introducing classical Greek and Roman art forms and contributing to the development of the Renaissance.
Humanists considered the ancient world to be the pinnacle of human achievement, and thought its accomplishments should serve as the model for contemporary Europe.
Humanism was an optimistic philosophy that saw man as a rational and sentient being, with the ability to decide and think for himself. It saw man as inherently good by nature, which was in tension with the Christian view of man as the original sinner needing redemption. It provoked fresh insight into the nature of reality, questioning beyond God and spirituality, and provided knowledge about history beyond Christian history.
Renaissance Humanists saw no conflict between their study of the Ancients and Christianity. The lack of perceived conflict allowed Early Renaissance artists to combine classical forms, classical themes, and Christian theology freely.
Early Renaissance sculpture is a great vehicle to explore the emerging Renaissance style. Donatello became renowned as the greatest sculptor of the Early Renaissance, known especially for his classical, and unusually erotic, statue of David, which became one of the icons of the Florentine republic.
Humanism affected the artistic community and how artists were perceived. While medieval society viewed artists as servants and craftspeople, Renaissance artists were trained intellectuals, and their art reflected this newfound point of view.
Patronage of the arts became an important activity, and commissions included secular subject matter as well as religious. In painting, the treatment of the elements of perspective and light became of particular concern.
He used perspective in order to create a feeling of depth in his paintings. In addition, the use of oil paint had its beginnings in the early part of the 16th century, and its use continued to be explored extensively throughout the High Renaissance.
Some of the first Humanists were great collectors of antique manuscripts, including Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Coluccio Salutati, and Poggio Bracciolini. In Italy, the Humanist educational program won rapid acceptance and, by the midth century, many of the upper classes had received Humanist educations, possibly in addition to traditional scholastic ones.
Some of the highest officials of the church were Humanists with the resources to amass important libraries. Such was Cardinal Basilios Bessarion, a convert to the Latin church from Greek Orthodoxy, who was considered for the papacy and was one of the most learned scholars of his time.
Humanism played a major role in education during the Renaissance, with the goal of cultivating the moral and intellectual character of citizens. During the Renaissance, Humanism played a major role in education. Humanists —proponents or practitioners of Humanism during the Renaissance—believed that human beings could be dramatically changed by education.
While noting some criticisms, they accept his view about the importance of Florentine civic humanism and its links to republicanism. Petrarch strongly criticized medieval approaches and values, proposed ancient texts as sources of wisdom and models of style, and anticipated humanist pronouncements about the dignity of man. By Hans Baron, 51— Bishop, Morris.
Petrarch and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, An attractive and well-written biography that brings Petrarch alive.
Foster, Kenelm. Petrarch: Poet and Humanist. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, Short introduction to Petrarch and his works; emphasizes his life and poetry more than his philosophy. Trinkaus, Charles. Emphasizes Petrarch as a humanist and a philosopher, as well as his role in shaping Renaissance views on man.
On pp. After Hans Baron see Civic Humanism , most scholars, especially in the English-speaking world, have accepted that there was a connection between humanism and politics.
While humanism everywhere had as its base a knowledge and respect for classical texts as inspiration and models of deportment and learning, it took on different coloration and attitudes in different political and social settings. In Florence, major humanists filled the chancellorship, a high civil-service position; chancellors were both intellectual leaders and politically involved. Black, Robert. Benedetto Accolti and the Florentine Renaissance.
Study of Accolti b. Brown, Alison. Study of another Florentine chancellor and humanist. Sees Scala, who was chancellor from to , as combining his humanism with a focus on the centralization of political authority in Florence.
Bruni, Leonardo. This work provides a summary of his life and translates selections from his most important writings. Field, Arthur. The Origins of the Platonic Academy of Florence. Study of the Platonic Academy, a group of Florentine humanists and philosophers who studied the writings of Plato and other ancient texts in the s and s.
Godman, Peter. Emphasizes that Florentine humanism was secular, and sees tensions between the thought of the humanists and Machiavelli.
Martines, Lauro. The Social World of the Florentine Humanists, — Studies the social, political, and economic situations of forty-five Florentines strongly committed to humanism.
Demonstrates that they came from the elite ranks of Florentine society, and notes the congruence between their social positions and some of the values of civic humanism. Fundamental study of Salutati b. While Salutati was the most important early leader of Florentine humanists, Witt also emphasizes medieval and religious tendencies in his thought.
Humanism in Rome differed from Florentine humanism. The pope was an elected monarch who, with the aid of the Roman Curia, governed both an international church and the Papal States in central Italy.
The humanists were clergymen rather than heads of families and civic office holders. Hence, Roman humanism did not celebrate republicanism or duties to family. Rather, Roman humanists, most of whom were born elsewhere and moved to Rome, emphasized the links between imperial Rome and the papacy, between the ancient city and Renaissance Rome.
Historical research since the late 20th century demonstrates that Roman humanism was just as intellectually rich as that of Florence, but distinct. Stinger and Rowland offer more-general surveys, while Celenza translates an interesting text. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, Introduction, Latin text, and English translation of a humanist treatise on the papal Curia, written in It praises the institution and criticizes its members.
Emphasizes the Roman humanist themes, including Ciceronian Latin style and humanistic theology, from the s to Explains the operation of the Curia. McGinness, Frederick J. Continues the study of sacred oratory in Rome in the late 16th century, as preachers blended spirituality, humanistic rhetorical style, and the symbolic value of Rome.
Emphasizes the humanistic revival of classical rhetoric in preaching at the papal court. Rowland, Ingrid D. Emphasizes the enthusiasm for the classical period in papal Rome among scholars, artists, and bankers, and the connections among them between and Stinger, Charles L.
The Renaissance in Rome. A cultural survey of Rome from to , with material on humanism. It emphasizes the importance of the example of ancient Rome. Venice, the longest-lasting republic in Renaissance Italy, had a strong humanist culture. Its humanists were almost always Venetian patricians and citizens who emphasized unanimity, civic responsibility, and allegiance to Aristotelian philosophy, as King and King point out. Bouwsma deals with late Venetian humanism and cultural values in conflict with the papacy.
Bouwsma, William J. Berkeley: University of California Press, Although it probably overstates the Renaissance-versus-papacy theme, the book demonstrates the continued importance of humanistic and civic themes in the late Renaissance in Venice. Large and wide-ranging study. King, Margaret L. Venetian Humanism in an Age of Patrician Dominance. Major survey of the themes of Venetian humanism in the 15th century, with extensive bio-bibliographical information about ninety-two leading Venetian humanists.
The starting point for study of Venetian humanism. Has twelve studies of Venetian and female humanists of the 15th century. Offers detailed investigations of the humanist Giovanni Caldiera and several female humanists.
In Naples, humanists developed notions of magnanimity and other social virtues within a princely context, as Bentley demonstrates, while Milanese humanists glorified their rulers; see Ianziti Bolognese humanism developed in the intersecting circles of the university and the Bentivoglio family and made contributions in philology, as Raimondi and Beroaldo show.
Bentley, Jerry H. Politics and Culture in Renaissance Naples. Examines the roles and views of Neapolitan humanists, especially Giovanni Pontano b. Neapolitan humanism revolved around the court and articulated princely values to some extent. Beroaldo, Filippo, the Elder.
Annotationes centum. Edited with introduction and commentary by Lucia A. Reprints brief Latin philological studies of classical texts in which Beroaldo b. Excellent introduction explains his method. Ianziti, Gary. Oxford: Clarendon, Studies the writing of humanistic historiography that praised the Sforza dukes of Milan.
Raimondi, Ezio. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, Originally published in Bernstein offers an excellent introduction to German humanism as a whole. Spitz studies the first important German humanist, and Spitz extends the analysis to others; Spitz surveys broader issues. Akkerman and Vanderjagt studies Rudolph Agricola, Rummel surveys a humanist-Scholastic clash, and Rummel looks at the broader reasons for the quarrels between humanists and Scholastics.
Watts studies Nicholas of Cusa, an original and provocative thinker. Akkerman, Fokke, and A. Vanderjagt, eds. Excellent collection of studies, the majority in English, about the life and writings of Agricola, who studied in Italy and wrote an enormously influential humanist rhetoric manual first published in , as well as other works. Bernstein, Eckhard. German Humanism.
Boston: Twayne, Excellent survey of German humanism from to Discusses origins, themes, and major figures and provides excellent bibliography. Does not take strong interpretive stances. Rummel, Erika. Surveys the sharp debates between humanists and Scholastic theologians, beginning in Italy and passing to Germany between roughly and An attempt to destroy Hebrew books, which humanists defended as important for the correct interpretation of the Bible, became a struggle between humanists and Scholastics between and Includes a historical introduction and translation of key texts.
Available in paperback. Spitz, Lewis W. Conrad Celtis, the German Arch-Humanist. Study of Celtis b. The Religious Renaissance of the German Humanists. Notes Italian influences, religious themes, and reformist tendencies. Helps explain why many German humanists supported Luther. Luther and German Humanism. A collection of articles arguing for strong Italian influence on German humanism, delineating the characteristics of German humanism, and assessing the importance of humanism in the German Reformation.
Watts, Pauline Moffitt. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, Nicholas of Cusa b. Several key works have shaped current scholarship on French and Spanish humanism; all have extensive bibliographies. Bataillon , originally published in , is a monumental study of Spanish humanism that is still valuable. Bataillon, Marcel. Geneva, Switzerland: Librairie Droz, Fundamental study first published as a single volume in and subsequently expanded.
Emphasizes the influence of Erasmus in Spain and the subsequent suppression of Erasmian humanism by the Inquisition. Gundersheimer, Werner L. French Humanism, — London: Macmillan, Collection of studies by well-known scholars on French humanism and humanists. Kelley, Donald R. Broad study of the influence of humanism on French historiography and law. Traces the steps by which French humanists used historical techniques derived from humanism to understand French history and, in the process, developed a modern historical consciousness.
Edited by Eugene F. Rice Jr. McNeil, David O. Geneva, Switzerland: Droz, Stone, Donald, Jr. Good introductory survey. After an introduction about the Renaissance and humanism, it provides succinct summaries of key figures and themes, organized around the reigns of French kings. Hay studies a pioneering humanist. Thomas More b. Marius offers a comprehensive biography of More, while Hexter and Surtz analyze Utopia. Gleason, John B. John Colet. Study of Colet b. Hay, Denys. Study of Polydore Vergil b.
Hexter, J. Marius, Richard. Thomas More: A Biography. London: Dent, A comprehensive but not particularly sympathetic biography of More that notes his harsh attitude toward heretics. Mayer, Thomas F. Starkey b. McConica, James K. Important study detailing the growth of humanist influence at the English court and the links between humanism and the English Reformation. Surtz, Edward. A detailed study of the combination of humanism and communism in the Utopia.
Helpful in indicating the classical and Christian sources used, how More used them, and his sense of irony. A few works played large roles in spreading humanist ideas in England and winning public approval for humanism. Ascham offers a precise humanist educational guide, including which classical texts to read, while Elyot combines a humanistic educational program with advice to rulers.
The works of Thomas More b. See More — Ascham, Roger. The Schoolmaster Edited by Lawrence V. Ascham b. The Schoolmaster , published in , described an education based on humanist principles, and was widely reprinted. Elyot, Thomas. Edited by Donald W. Elyot b. Like Ascham , the book was often reprinted. More, Thomas. Universally lauded as one of the greatest artists of all time, Leonardo da Vinci is known for his contributions to the Renaissance period in the form of portraits and religious paintings.
Da Vinci was the eponymous "Renaissance Man," proficient not only in art, but also in mathematics, science, and technology. Michelangelo was the legendary Italian Renaissance artist famous for his sculpters of David and his Pieta, and he is perhaps best known for his large-scale painted frescos in the Sistine Chapel. The Italian Renaissance painter and architect Raphael is celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings.
Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.
Caravaggio was an Italian Late-Renaissance and Baroque painter who is considered a master of chiaroscuro. He is known for his hot temper and for making powerful portraits and religious scenes. Chiaroscuro, Tenebrism, and Sfumato. Emphasizing drama and depth, the Renaissance techniques of Chiaroscuro, Tenebrism, and Sfumato allowed artists like Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, and Rembrandt to illuminate visual narratives out from the shadows.
Early Renaissance. Early in the 15th century, Florentine artists rejuvenated the arts with a more humanistic and individualistic treatment that spawned on of the most creative revolutions in the arts. High Renaissance. The High Renaissance, the epitome of Italian art before the modern era was the exemplified in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael - among others.
Primavera late s-early s Artist: Sandro Botticelli This famous Early Renaissance painting depicts figures from classical mythology: the god Mercury plucking a golden fruit from a tree, the three graces dancing together, and Venus, the goddess of love, at the center with Primavera, the goddess of spring, to her left.
The Vitruvian Man c. View all Important Art. The books and articles below constitute a bibliography of the sources used in the writing of this page. These also suggest some accessible resources for further research, especially ones that can be found and purchased via the internet.
List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Table of Contents Expand. What Is Renaissance Humanism? Origins of Humanism. The 15th Century. Renaissance Humanism after The End of Renaissance Humanism. Robert Wilde. History Expert. Robert Wilde is a historian who writes about European history.
He is the author of the History in an Afternoon textbook series. Updated February 07, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Wilde, Robert. A Guide to Renaissance Humanism. A Beginner's Guide to the Renaissance. Renaissance Architecture and Its Influence. Imitation in Rhetoric and Composition. Humanity Bloomed During the Renaissance.
Architecture in Italy for the Lifelong Learner. An Introduction to Ancient Classical History.
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