Team Assignment: Art Movement: Art Period

Directions: Innovatively cover the life and major works of the art period selected. Mention any movements the period dealt with. Cover the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Include the recognizable characteristics and attributes. Keep it simple, but thorough.

About 1450, European scholars became more interested in studying the world around them. Their art became more true to life. They began to explore new lands. The new age in Europe was eventually called “the Renaissance.”

Historians consider the Renaissance to be the beginning of modern history.

“Renaissance,” French for “rebirth”, perfectly describes the intellectual and economic changes that occurred in Europe from the 14th through the 16th centuries.

During the era known by this name, Europe emerged from the economic hardships of the Middle Ages and experienced a time of financial growth. Most importantly, the Renaissance was an age in which artistic, social, scientific, and political thought turned in new directions.

The Renaissance was much more than simply studying the work of ancient scholars…

It influenced painting, sculpture, and architecture. Paintings became more realistic and focused less often on religious topics.

Rich families became patrons and commissioned great art. Artists advanced the Renaissance style of showing nature and depicting the feelings of people. In Britain, there was a boom in literature and drama that included the plays of William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare caused a lot of controversy, yet he also earned lavish praise and has greatly impacted the world in areas of literature, culture, art, theatre, and film, and is considered one of the best English language writers ever.

One of his most famous plays was Romeo and Juliet. Written over 400 years ago, it has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musicals and opera. In the 20th century the play has been adapted in versions as diverse as MGM's comparatively faithful 1936 film, the 1950s stage musical West Side Story, and 1996's MTV-inspired Romeo + Juliet.

Seen here is the trailer for this film:

In Shakespeares lifetime, he wrote 154 sonnets and 37 plays. Within these he coined many phrases like:

• Dead as a doornail – first seen in Henry the Sixth
• It was Greek to me – first seen in Julius Caesar
• Knock! Knock! Who’s there? – first seen in Macbeth

And many new words like:

• Addiction – first seen in Henry the Fifth and then in Othello
• Or Bedroom – this was first seen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• The word eyeball was also never used in spoken or written language until he wrote it in The Tempest

Many Renaissance scholars looked to the past for inspiration. A person who studied the classics was called a humanist. Humanists recreated classical styles in art, literature, and architecture. Today we refer to the study of literature, philosophy and art as the humanities. The civilizations of Greece and Rome ended long ago, but they continue to influence us today.

Renaissance artists studied perspective, or the differences in the way things look when they are close to something or far away. The artists painted in a way that showed these differences. As a result, their paintings seem to have depth.

Seen here are Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and The Last Supper - The most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious painting of all time… People have been trying to guess the secret behind the smile of his Mona Lisa ever since he painted it around 1505.

Here is The Creation of Adam – painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. It illustrates the Biblical story from the Book of Genesis in which God the Father, breathes life into Adam, the first man.

Seen here are 3 famous sculptures by Michelangelo. The top left was done for his own tomb, but he never completed it…

Our group also created a slideshow using major pieces of the period. We have paired it with the unique sayings Shakespeare came up with. We hope you enjoy it as well as the music we have added to a playlist featuring two of the composers of the period.