renaissance

• CITIES were the center of the action
• Milan and Florence had wealthy merchants and bankers
• Artists in these cities were inspired by the former splendor of classical Greece and Rome
  • Merchants dominated political life
  • The Medici were a powerful banking family
  • They paid artists, writers, and musicians to create beautiful works of art
  • They were patrons
    A Super-Patron: Isabella d’Este
    
    
    • Educated, brilliant
    • A gifted singer, lute player, innovative dancer
    • Wealthy, powerful parents
    • She sponsored painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, architects
    • A fashionista, she even designed her own perfume
    • Patron of da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bellini, Correggio, and many, many others
      humanism
      
      
      • A deep interest in what people have already achieved, as well as what they are capable of achieving in the future
      • It’s not a coincidence that humanism resembles the Greek idea of arete
      Classical (ancient Greek, ancient Roman) writings were important to them
      Worldly (secular) values were essential - concerned with the here and now
      Christian values still important, but separate from secular values