欧洲文化7DivisionFour

1、I. General IntroductionRenaissancegenerally refers to western civilization in the period between the 14th and mid-17th century.Renaissancemeans revival, especially in this period of history, revival of interests in ancient Greek and Roman culture. Renaissance, therefore, in essence, was a historical

2、 period in which European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of conservatism in feudalist Europe and introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, to lift the restrictions in all areas placed by the Roman church authorities.During the period of Rena

3、issance, old science revived and new science emerged, national languages and national cultures free from the absolute control of the papal authority in Rome took shape and art and literature flourished as never before.Renaissance started in Florence and Venice with the flowering of paintings, sculpt

4、ure and architecture. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of Europe.In different countries, the movement occurred in different periods with different emphasis. Italyfine arts Leonardo da Vinci (达芬奇达芬奇) Michelangelo Buonarroti （米开朗基罗）（米开朗基罗） Raphael （拉斐尔）（拉斐尔） FranceLiterature Michel Eyq

5、ues de Montaigne （蒙田）（蒙田） Englandphilosophy and drama William Shakespeare （莎士比亚）（莎士比亚）FlorenceVeniceII. Renaissance in Italy2.1 Historical backgroundBecause of its geographical position, foreign trade developed early in Italy. This brought Italy into contact with other cultures and gave rise to urba

6、n economy and helped Italy to accumulate wealth which was an essential factor for the flowering of art and literature.From the 11th century, cities began to rise in central and northern Italy.As time went on, the country was divided into city-estate that were ruled by princes of commerce maintaining

7、 a delicate balance of power between one another, and an alliance that was comparable to modern international relations.Towards the 15th century there were among the city-estates five main onesthe Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence and Venice, the papal states and the kingdom of Venice.For two

8、 centuries beginning from the late 15th century, Florence was the golden city which gave birth to a whole generation of poets, scholars, artists and sculptors. There was in Florence a revival of interest in classical learning and rising of humanist ideas. And to spread the new ideas, libraries, acad

9、emies were founded. Printing was invented.The Renaissance reached its height in the 16th century with its center moving to Milan, then to Rome, and created High renaissance (1490-1530). Meantime by the beginning of the 16th century, Venetian art had come into being in full glory.2.2 The rise of huma

10、nismAs wealth grew in Italy, there was an increasing interest in other pursuits. Universities, libraries, academies were set up for scholastic studies. There was time and money for things of beauty and breaths of art.Intellectuals who used to help training priests and spreading doctrines of Christia

11、n faith became closely tied up with a new philosophy and culture in harmony with their needs and aspiration.At the heart of the Renaissance philosophy was the assertion of the greatness of man. This is best summarized in the lines of Shakespeare. 131).Related to this is the belief in the promotion o

12、f wealth, pleasure and a frank admiration for the beauty of human body. This ran exactly counter to the medieval ascetical(苦行的苦行的) ideal of poverty and stoicism(克制克制), and shifted mans interest from Christianity to humanity, from religion to philosophy, from heaven to earth, from beauty of God, and

13、the House of god to the beauty of the human body in all its joys and pains, senses and feelings.The earliest humanists, however, were scholars in Florence who had great interests in the study of classic language, literature and philosophy.The philosophy of humanism is reflected in the art and litera

14、ture in Italy and the rest of Europe, to pass down as the beginning of history of modern man, who, instead of brooding about death and the other world, lives and works for the present and future progress of mankind.2.3 LiteratureGiovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)Boccaccios greatest work was the Decamero

15、n(十十日谈日谈), written in his middle years. The book is a collection of 100 tales told by seven young ladies and three young gentlemen on their way to escape the Black Death of 1348. The tales are witty, licentious(放荡的放荡的), full of praises of true love and wisdom and also satire on the hypocrisy of the

16、priest and the aristocrat.With the Decameron the courtly themes of medieval literature began to give way to the voice and mores of early modern society. It is the greatest achievement of prose fiction in the Middle Ages.2.4 Renaissance artA radical break with medieval methods of representing the vis

17、ible world occurred in Italy during the second half of the 13th century. However, after the Black Death of 1348 there came a marked decline. It was not until the second decade of the 15th century that there was a decided break with the medieval pictorial tradition.The tradition of Renaissance art ha

18、s the following features:Art broke away from the domination of the church.Themes of paintings changed from purely celestial realm focusing on the stories of the Bible, of God Jesus and Mary to an appreciation of all aspects of nature and man.The artists studied the ruins of Roman and Greek temples a

19、nd put many of the principles of ancient civilizations into their works. They began to be supported by individual collectors.Artists introduced in their works scientific theories of anatomy(解剖学解剖学) and perspective.High Renaissance ArtistsLeonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) Leonardo da Vinci was a painter,

20、 a sculptor, an architect, a musician, an engineer, and a scientist. He was a man of many talents, a Renaissance man in the true sense of the word. His best paintings include Last Supper and Mona Lisa. Many European art masters have painted on the same subject. But none of their visions has been so

21、impressive as Da Vincis. And none has the enduring value in the art world as his.If Last Supper is the most famous of religious pictures, then Mona Lisa probably is the worlds most famous portrait. Mona Lisa had as its model wife of a banker. The quietly folded hands, the gaze that is directed at th

22、e observer, the ambiguity of the smile together help to create a curious effect and a secret effect.Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)Michelangelo was Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet. He was a towering figure of the renaissance. He created a style of art in which he freed himself from

23、 the old tradition of decoration on the one hand and documentary realism on the other. Art to him was the means by which he expressed his vision of man, man beauty, mans nobility, his own anguish and his own energy, a means by which he made inquiry into the reality.His masterpieces are: David, Sisin

24、e Chapel(西西斯廷斯廷教堂教堂 ), Dying Slave, and Moses.David, the result of Michelangelos studies in Rome of ancient sculpture, but it never could be taken for ancient statue. Apart from the muscular body and tense emotion, there is the combination of outer calm and inner tension.Sistine Chapelit was so call

25、ed because it was the chapel in the Venetian which had been built by Pope Sixtus IV. For 4 years, Michelangelo worked on a 30-feet high scaffolding in the Sistine Chapel, lying on his back and looking upwards, to cover the whole ceiling and vault of the building with nine scenes from the First Book

26、of the Bible, The Genesis. Dying Slavea marble statue destined for the tomb of Pope Julius II. Mosesit was a superhuman figure carved for the tomb of Julius II, which would have been Michelangelos greatest masterpiece if it had been carried out as planned.Raphael (1483-150)Raphael was one of the maj

27、or painters during the Renaissance. There is in his work the exquisite harmony and balance of the High renaissance.His famous works are Madonna del Granduca(大公爵圣母大公爵圣母), Madonna with the fish, The Sistine Madonna, Madonna of the Chair, and Madonna on the Lawn（草地上的圣（草地上的圣母）母）. One of his famous paint

28、ings beside the Maddonas is School of Athens(雅典学院雅典学院), a painting depicting two leaders of philosophy, Plato and Aristotle engaged in argument and surrounded by their audience who had a great variety of attitudes.Titian (1488-1576)A Venetian painter, Titian was the most prolific (多产的多产的) of the great Venetian painter of the western world, a supreme colorist, and in a broad sense, the father of the modern mode of painting. His painting is acknowledged to have established the pictorial tradition in western art.His major works include: The Venus of Urbino（乌尔比诺的维纳斯）（乌尔比诺的维纳斯） , Sacred and Pro