Renaissance

Throughout the past old ages the outgrowth of architecture have gone through assorted evolutionary stages.The doctrine of Architecture produced with clip two major subdivisions which is the basic Renaissance and Baroque architecture. The development of Architecture from basic Renaissance signifier which indicates holding the features of self-respect and formality shown through symmetricalness and that to hold an available infinite for rational battle with the Godhead which can be asserted that it surely provides a rational battle with architecture which is a more effectual agency to grok and understand architectural signifier than the Baroque signifier which perversely presented the beginning of new dynamic, fluid and theatrical attack to architecture that was designed to impact straight upon emotional manners of battle. The Baroque architecture which was originally linked to the counter reformation which is a motion within the Catholic Church to reconstruct itself to react to the Protestant church and its embroideries were more approachable to the feelings and power of the Italian church which formed a new manner, whereas Renaissance was a mixture of spiritual and secular force and retreat the prosperity and strength of the Italian churches.

From the 14 to the 17century In Italy, the metropolis of Florence specifically is where the launch of Renaissance architecture which is besides known as ‘Rebirth’ or ‘Revival’ of the Roman authoritative Humanistic disciplines had foremost began and subsequently was distributed to the remainder of Europe. Symmetry, geometry, proportion and regularity of elements are they are shown in Ancient Roman architecture is what stipulate the Renaissance manner. However, in the metropolis of Florence, designers and creative persons demonstrated their support through their advancement of new forms of picture, sculpture and architecture, similar to seeking of prestigiousness and place through their aid of art and letters by the bankers and rich merchandisers. Hence, As clip passed by Renaissance Architecture has evolved and went through multiple phases.At first it has gone through the Early period which is the first passage period. Secondly comes Proto-Baroque which is before Baroque or in other words High Renaissance.Finally It evaluated to Baroque period.Baroque architecture began in late 16century in Italy that turned Renaissance architecture into a philosophical and inventive in a theatrical manner manner frequently to show an inventive thought. Lights and dramatic strength is used besides to stand for Baroque architecture. Bernini and Borromini are the first two major designers that developed Baroque period as Bernini was the first one to germinate many sculptures into his edifices and the Francesco Burromini came to Italy to larn from Bernini.

However, every manner of Architecture has its ain features, stuffs, elements and forms and different purposes, but it is supported that nearing architecture with Renaissance manner tends to be more piquant with architecture and understanding it and stand foring it in a right signifier than Baroque manner. Late Roman edifices, peculiarly Donato Bramante’s St. Peter ‘s Basilica Tempietto in Rome its design attains a colossal integrity that was non known before and hence can be considered as ascendant to baroque architecture. Donato Bramante was an Italian designer, who introduced Renaissance architectureto Milan and the High Renaissance manner to Rome, where his program for St. Peter ‘s Basilica formed the footing of the design executed by Michelangelo.

The tempietto identified the start of the Renaissance in Rome in 1502, when a sanctuary to stand for where saint Peter was killed was requested from Alexander to be built allegedly.Bramante made his edifice to typify the Christian mention for tradition and Platonic penchant for the early church. The edifice is surrounded by a one-story Doric colonnade with entablature and bannister and a 2-story cylinder covered by a hemispherical dome

Renaissance architecture in both of these edifices tends to holding two-dimensional classicm in which its walls are decorated with culomns, pediments, and blind arches of little physical deepness and that serves as level canvases for a classical inveer, which serves to divide a wall into a precise and orderly signifier, perversely in Baroque architecture the walls are profoundly chelised and curved which treats as undulating whole.Furthermore, St Peter’s basilica and Donato Bramante’s Tempietto in Rome have Facades that are symmetrical around their perpendicular axis. A systenm of pilasters, arches and entlabatures which form a relative surmount the frontages and the columns and Windowss demonstrate patterned advance toward the centre.In contrast Buildings such as John Balthasar Neumann’s Pilgrimage Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Bamburg, Germany the frontages consisted of many curves, Baroque pediments (which is the triangular country between the rooftop and the border of the roofs ) were frequently extremely decorated. Scrolls and gilded formed the tips sometimes.

The Baroque manner has its alone egg-shaped form and took the advantage of marbles, bronze and gildings in copiousness of the inside and sometimes the insides are covered by multiple aureate puttos and life sized 1s. Using an art technique called as ‘‘Trompe l’oeil’’ painting including strongly realistic imagination hence to make the optical vision and semblance for objects to be seeable in three dimensions the ceilings and domes of the Baroque architecture were formed, alternatively of being an ordinary two dimensional picture. The major function that Baroque architecture acted upon was the call for an architecture that is both approachable and accessible to feelings and emotions and besides a shown statement of wealth and power of church. The frontages consisted of many curves, Baroque pediments ( which is the triangular country between the terminal of the roofs and the rooftop ) were normally highly decorated. The tips were sometimes turned into coils and gilded. A listed characteristics of churrigueresque architecture would include more curves instead than consecutive lines, cosmetic columns alternatively of a supportive one and twisted in form every bit good, detailing with a high sense of ornament, using the visual aspect of traveling and uninterrupted flow every bit good, along with an copiousness of Windowss, and a batch of pictures intermixing with the architecture. The church was constructed between the twelvemonth of 1743 to 1772 along with it alone design in the inside which strongly reflect the Baroque architecture. The program of the church shows the church has layout which is considered to be a complex of extremely divided spacial agreement in a Latin cross signifier, along with a series of ellipses that divides a big series of ellipses that’s perpendicular to it. Traveling on to the ceiling, it’s broken up with immense Windowss that allow the infinite to be exposed to directional visible radiation. Uniting all this together which is the sum of light coming from the Windowss and the flawless stucco work done by the designers, created an astonishing and simple in footings of a transporting inside which has been called God ‘s Ballroom. As a individual approaches the church he or she will witness a fantastic sandstone facade resembling a glorious Baroque manner along with an appealing and warm chromaticity.

In decision, Baroque architecture which considered to be related to emotional battle, this manner or architecture dressed ore and give more attending to ornament more than support of the construction, curves instead than consecutive lines, and accent on the visual aspect of motion all along the church. Although Baroque has barrows many characteristics from the idiosyncrasy and Renaissance, but at the same clip there is a batch of differences found between these two manners of architecture. In bespeaking those differences u will reason that Renaissance is more based on pragmatism and being consecutive, every bit good as holding the features of self-respect and formality shown through symmetricalness and that to hold an available infinite for rational battle with the Godhead which can be asserted that it surely provides a rational battle with architecture, while the Baroque manner concentrates more in being complex and in a flow.

The Renaissance was the great age of vocal polyphony, music consisting of a number of equally important voice parts all woven together to create a complex tapestry of overlapping melodies and beautiful harmonies. In religious music, the primary compositional forms were the Mass and the motet, while in secular music they were the French chanson, or song (for three or four voices), and the Italian madrigal. Instrumental music was not, for the most part, as formalized during the Renaissance as it would later become.

Instruments were used in varying combinations to accompany singers (in both religious and secular music), to provide music for private entertainment and dancing, and to provide festive or ceremonial music for towns and royal courts. Principal instruments of the period included the lute, organ, and harpsichord, viols, recorders shawms (double-reed precursors of the oboe), cruhorns (also double-reed instruments), trombones and trumpets (Gangwere).

Among the most important composers of the Renaissance were Guillaume Dufay, of the so-called Burgundian school, centered at the court of the dukes of Burgundy in Dijon France and Johannes Ockeghem, Jacob Obrecht, Josquin des Prez, and later, Orlando di Lasoo of the Flemish school (Pen).

The Mass

The unvarying structure of the mass, the constancy of the text, and the solemnity of function were not conducive to musical experimentation in mass composition. Flemish masses still used the cantus firmus techniques of the earlier Burgundian masters. In the hands of exceptional composers such as Giovanni da Palestrina the mass was a highly devotional and serene expression of the liturgy, perfectly suited to the austerity demanded by the Counter Reformation. Palestrina’s flexible arched melodic lines, his studied use of consonance and dissonance, and his beautifully constructed harmonic sonorities became the model for generations of counterpoint teachers (Hoffman).

The Motet

The early motet (from the French word meaning “word”) frequently contained different texts in various languages for each voice parts. Complexities of word setting and tone painting were simply not an important aspect of the music for early motet composers. As the humanism began to exert its influence, composers grew more attentive to text setting. The single text was the motivating force for the motet. Each section of music was presented as a separate musical episode that attempted to highlight the clarity of the text as well as to convey the emotional impact of the words.

This style of sensitive text representation came to be known as music reservata. Composers developed specific techniques for the musica reservata style. Second, the natural speech rhythm was matched by melodic rhythm so that the words were correctly accented. Third, syllabic treatment of text and expressive figures were used to portray the message of the text (Hoffman).

The Chanson

Chansons were three-voice secular works in which the music closely mirrored the meaning of the French poetic text. The text, usually an expression of love, was in rondeau form with a two-line refrain (A B a A a b A B). Although they may have been performed entirely by voices, the usual presentation probably featured a solo voice on the top (superius) line with the bottom two polyphonic lines played by instruments (Hoffman).

Other musics such as chorale, anthem, psalm settings, frottola and madrigal are legacies of Renaissance period. It was only during the Renaissance that musicians begun to recognize the idiomatic potential of instruments and consequently began composing in particular genres intended for instrumental rather than choral performance (Pen).

Works Cited

Gangwere, Blanche. Music History During the Renaissance Period, 1520-1550: A Documented Chronology. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.

Hoffman, Miles. The Npr Classical Music Companion: An Essential Guide for Enlightened Listening. Houghton Mifflin Books, 2005.

Pen, Ronald. Introduction to Music. McGraw-Hill Professional, 1992.

16th century was the golden period for English literature culminating from the age of Renaissance born from the deathbed of medieval scholasticism to whole new thoughts, ideas and culture. The human thoughts were free from the bondage of fixed principles of Aristotelian philosophy to the doctrines of Christianity. The period of Renaissance implied a perception of greater beauty and polish in the Greek and Latin Scholars. In other words, it was a birth of a kind of new inventiveness in classicism. The renaissance revived ancient classical learning into an arena of Dramatics. Play writers from liturgical play shifted to the miracle to morality and from the morality to the interlude and from their journey began to with the regular drama of Elizabethan age.

Play writers began to avoid classicist approach in favor of originality and secular ideas defying the old conventional ways. In this air of new thoughts and ideologies and certain social obstructions plaguing the theater world, there was born William Shakespeare, a new soul to whom Ben Johnson a worthy rival and harsh critic gave his glowing tribute with these words:

“Soul of the age!

Applause! Delight! the wonder of our stage !

Triumph, my Britain! Thou hast one to show,

To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe.

He was not of an age, but for all the time. (Payne & Hunter 2003)

Shakespeare genius operated in his capacity to capture the length and breath of human life’s and character in all its complexity and variety and has touched every element of human experience and every segment of human sensibility. Within his plays are interlaced the stories in all his variegated form whether it was passion of Othello or agonized sense and spirited Hamlet or the tortured souls of romantic couple Romeo and Juliet. Story of Romeo and Juliet breathes within the heart and soul of lovers for many generations ahead and is admired and loved by very one.

It was Romeo & Juliet that has made Shakespeare realized his full potential as play writer, and he could have been 26 years old then and made him stand apart than the rest of his contemporaries.  It was written around 1595 when the major tremor struck London in 1540, and he mentioned this episode through the voice of Nurse in Act 11, scene 3, line 23. (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation 1996)

Romeo and Juliet should not be visualized as only a tragic love story but deep within lies prejudices of tradition and practices that was the hallmark of the society 16th century. Society demanded women and men, both to adhere to family honor by following the tradition of families even if it was at the cost of bloodshed and the end of love. It is a story of love that flourished even though there was a strong rivalry between two families reaching to the extent of killings.

Montagues and the Capulets are enemies, always ready to take revenge on each other, entangling themselves in bloody feud on the streets of Verona. Each time one member of a family is killed, his relatives will be eager to sort revenge by taking blood of the other and if any one found Romeo meeting Juliet, he is sure to get killed. In this environment of deep hatred and bloodshed, Shakespeare gave a very fervent place to love. Lovers enjoy each others company and bestow their affection for each other, and say all what lovers would love to say to each other. Till today, lovers take the example of love of Romeo and Juliet.

It is better to die rather than live without their love, is an essence that spreads through Romeo Juliet and within all of us. They both meet strangely and it is misunderstanding that kills them both. It was the love at first sight and it is to the Shakespeare genius that he told to all the lovers the fact that love at first sight could culminate in true love.

The story start with these lines:

“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean” (Act I, Prologue)

And amidst all the confusions and in an effort to meet, both Romeo and Juliet die. Their death was the beginning of new rays of hope for the peace. Both died but it was the love finally that won. The play culminates with the words:

“For never was a story of more woe (sorrow)
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo”. (Act V, Scene III)

Romeo and Juliet have all the elements that could make it a good story. It has a plot, climax, accurate settings, characters, symbolism and theme that have made it one of the masterpieces. Amidst this, Shakespeare has knitted very beautifully elements of both distressing scenes but along with that humor, bloody battles and civil enmity, and naive love and unapprised hate formed the part of this play. The setting of Romeo and Juliet took place in the cities of Verona and Mantua, Italy, within a p of four days. Majority of the action took place at Verona except the scene Act V, scene 1 which occurred in Mantua.

The settings reveal the social life with certain political nuances. Verona became a battlefield due to bloody revenges between Capulet and Montague families and it was a place where Romeo and Juliet were told that they should hate each other owing to their genre. Romeo and Juliet shower their love for each other at the fruitful Capulet orchard at Verona, whereas at Mantua, Romeo is exiled after he kills Tybalt. The lovers took their lives too at the Capulet tomb.

Weather also plays a most crucial aspect to settings. It is a month of July when major incidents happen. The July is a hot season good enough to escalate the tempers of every one. Temper of characters rises high quite often even at the slightest pretext and ends only after bloody revenge. Romeo in whose heart there is an ardent love for Juliet; he too takes revenge on Tybalt and is banished. In the end, without any second thought thinking Juliet is dead, he kills himself. The hot weather is also a sign of igniting the sexual and love passion between Romeo and Juliet.

The play starts with a prologue, as was the general tendency among play writers of that era, which is followed by the sequence of events covered in five acts. Unlike other Shakespearean plays, there is a single plot, which is enacted onstage and is in chronological order. There are no flashbacks and the focus is shown on Romeo throughout the play. The structure of plot is very well developed with exposition, climax, rising and falling action, denouement and symbolism. The climax arises at several points in the story. In one of them, it reaches the point when Juliet takes a drink pretending to be dead and Romeo did not receive the correct letter.

Shakespeare uses less of symbolism yet it is a very important part of the play. Light and Dark images reflects the intensity of love that is sparking between Romeo and Juliet and their glory of happiness when they are together and sadness when separated. The light and dark images are the symbolic of devilish yet powerful forces bringing them together and also separating them. Darkness brings Romeo and Juliet together whereas light separates them, but darkness again prevails when Romeo dies. In other words, world is not stable but is a constantly changing.

There is always a light after day and day after light. The other symbols are swords representing violent attitude and poison which is not basically evil as it was given to Juliet by Friar Lawrence to make her appear dead. But the irony of the fact is that this potion became a cause of the death. Thus it adopts dual purpose. It became a cause of death but rejoined the two bitter enemies. Another symbol thumb biting by the buffoonish Samson is not a very important symbol but shows the incoherent pride and vulgur display of power.

Romeo and Juliet’s characters breath life but not much effort is given to character development. Unlike Macbeth, it is a plot that has generated much interest. The more emphasis is give to the character of Romeo who looses temper very soon. He is just a teen whose love at first sight changes the whole scenario and life of both the families.

Shakespeare is world’s greatest play writer and all this elements are so well structured together that they make us realize emotions and appeals of lovebirds within our souls. Society crushed their love by their intriguing patterns and traditional approach, yet from the play, also emerges that eventually in the end it is the love only that always blossom.

Romeo and Juliet is a true reflection of society of 15-16th century. Royal families pride and their sense of revenge take their and their relatives and even their children on the bed of blood. But this is not an end though Romeo and Juliet died yet they are there within all of us inspiring in us the true love.

With poetic diction and eloquent words, Shakespeare challenges the old traditional ways to give fresh lease of life. It is an end of Romeo and Juliet but a beginning for many more Romeo and Juliet’s in this world.

REFERENCE LIST

Bates Alfred. 1906. ROMEO AND JULIET: An analysis of the play by Shakespeare The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization Vol. 14. pp. 6-13. London: Historical Publishing Company. Retrieved on January 13, 2008 from W.W.W: http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/romeoandjuliet001.html

Hazlitt William. 1817. ROMEO AND JULIET: An analysis of the play by William Shakespeare. (Originally published in Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays. London: C.H. Reynell) Retrieved on January 13, 2008 from W.W.W:

http://www.theatredatabase.com/16th_century/william_shakespeare_010.html

Johnson Bill. The Power and Passion of Love and Hate: A Review of Romeo and Juliet. Retrieved on January 13, 2008 from W.W.W: http://www.storyispromise.com/rjoutlin.htm

Mabillard  Amanda. 2000. (Updated: 2006) An Analysis of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  Shakespeare Online. Retrieved on January 13, 2008 from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/playanalysis/romeocommentary.html

Mowat Barbara A.  and Werstine Paul. 1992. Romeo and Juliet. New Folger Library Shakespeare edition.

Payne Michael & Hunter John. 2003. Renaissance Literature: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishing.

Shakespeare William.2001. Romeo and Juliet (Contributor Roma Gill) Published by Oxford University Press.

Siegal Paul N. 1961. Christianity and the Religion of Love in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare Quarterly 12(4) pp. 371-392

Smirnov Aleksandr. 1936. Shakespeare: A Marxist Interpretation. (Translated by SONIA VOLOCHOVA, Transcribed by Sally Ryan for marxists.org, 2000.) New York: The Critics Group.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. 1996. The Tragedy. Retrieved on January 13, 2008 from W.W.W: http://www.romeoandjuliet.com/setting/tragedy.html

Lee-Michael Torcedo Prof. Quiroz English 1302 October 22, 2012 Dreams After the civil war, African Americans obtained their freedom. Still despised by many white Americans, African Americans continued to fight for justice. Around the early 1900’s the Harlem Renaissance began across the nation they fought for their culture and expressed it through art, music, dance, and literature. One of the biggest names in the Harlem Renaissance is Langston Hughes (Harlem). The poems he wrote better expressed the feelings of the many African Americans during this era.

Langston Hughes published his poem, “As I Grew Older,” which explains the difficulty many African Americans had with following their dreams during this time. On February 1, 1902, Carrie M. Langston and James N. Hughes gave birth to, arguably, the most famous Harlem Renaissance literary poet, Langston Hughes. He grew up attending school in Kansas and Illinois, and graduated from High School in Ohio where he began writing his poetry. Later, Hughes went on to college, but stopped shortly after.

He took many jobs in New York and a job working on a freighter that took him across the Atlantic Ocean to African, Spain, and France. He returned to Washington D. C. to live with his mother with hopes of returning to college. He had trouble making enough money and didn’t go back to college until a year later where he graduated from Lincoln University in 1929. After college, he began publishing his works and started to become famous. On May 22, 1967, Langston Hughes died of cancer in New York (Langston). Langston Hughes’ legend still lives to this day, and his poems are often mentioned in literature.

In his poem “As I Grew Older,” published in 1925, he begins by saying “It was a long time ago/ I have almost forgotten my dream/ But it was there then/ In front of me/ Bright like a sun—/ My dream” (1-4). Whether or not Langston Hughes wrote this about himself or not, it can go either way on who could be mentioning this and who is reflecting on the past that was a “long time ago”. Hughes gave the perspective that the main persona is talking about his past and about how even though his dream was right in front of him, he could not grasp it.

In the early ages of Langston Hughes life, many obstacles barricaded him from reaching his dreams and goals, losing sights of what he really wanted. He talks about a wall in the poem that rises slowly between him and this dream. It “rose until it touched the sky” (11). The wall symbolizes his obstacles or what blocked him from his dreams. The wall rising until it touched the sky showed the degree and emphasis of the difficulty for Hughes to see his dreams. On line thirteen he mentions the shadow that the wall covered him in. There was no more light to be seen.

All hope seemed to be lost until he “breaks” down the wall, “shatters” the darkness, and “smashes” the night. At the other side of this wall, is light, the sun, and his dream. Langston Hughes must have at one point in following his dream felt so overwhelmed with everything in his way and just “lie down in the shadow” (15). Just like in his poem, he takes down that wall and does not let it get in his way. He is successful in reaching his dream of becoming a well-known poet even through the worst of times. His poem reflects the situation many African Americans faced during this time.

Freedom is still new to most and following dreams is difficult because of prejudism. Many African Americans ran into this “wall” and many did not break through as Langston Hughes did. Although some did, they went through the same difficulties as Hughes poetically explained in his poem. The beauty of this poem is the universality of it. It may have been written to explain the difficulties African Americans had, but it reflects the difficulty for anyone following their dreams should not be forgotten. They are not always easy to achieve, but that does not mean one should give up.

The poem is powerful in meaning and motivational as it speaks to anyone and illustrates that you should never surrender. Langston Hughes’ dream as a young boy was to be known as a poet. Much like the wall, he had to overcome many obstacles to achieve his dreams. He would vision his dream so clearly in front of him like the sun but as he got older and taller, so did this wall that blocked his way. Even though, Hughes smashed down that wall and become one of the most well-known founders of the Harlem Renaissance. Works Cited “Harlem Renaissance – Biography. com – Biography. com. ” Famous Biographies & TV Shows – Biography. om. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www. biography. com/tv/classroom/harlem-renaissance>. Hughes, Langston. “As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes. ” PoemHunter. Com – Thousands of poems and poets. Poetry Search Engine. N. p. , 3 Jan. 2003. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www. poemhunter. com/poem/as-i-grew-older/>. “Langston Hughes Biography – life, children, parents, name, story, history, school, mother, book, information, born, college. ” Encyclopedia of World Biography. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www. notablebiographies. com/Ho-Jo/Hughes-Langston. html#b>.

The Renaissance began in the late 15th century and pned from Italy to throughout Europe, and it was a rebirth of everything ranging from economy to art. Francois Clouet was a painter to the Kings and his work “Lady in Her Bath”, embraced this new form of artistic expression. In this paper I am going to explain how the “Lady in Her Bath” painting reflects the culture and ideology of the Renaissance Era and as well, explain some of the values, influences, themes, and techniques used. I will also provide information about the social, political and religious history of the Renaissance Era that influenced its art and artists.

The Lady in her bath was painted in 1571 and is said to be the most interesting painting by Clouet; he is also said to be the first ever artist to use the bath as a setting for a portrait (Answer. com). The painting has all the classical signs of Renaissance art, and is secular in theme and emphasizes the grandeur of the individual. Clouet’s painting shows the culture and ideology of the Era by showing how wealthy the woman was and that she must have come from a wealthy family. It was said at one time that the painting of the woman in this picture was one of the mistresses of Henry II, but that has now been ruled out.

She (the woman in the painting) is wearing what looks to be a couple of expensive pieces of jewelry, which in the Renaissance Era, it wasn’t normal for individuals to wear jewelry because most of the people were too poor to buy things that weren’t a necessity to support themselves or their families. Another sign that the woman must be wealthy or from a wealthy family is that she has a fresh bowl of fruit sitting next to her while she is bathing. To the poor, baths were to clean themselves up not for relaxation.

Some of the techniques Clouet continued to use were the conventions of the international portrait style which was prevalent throughout the courts of Europe. These techniques were passed down from Clouet’s father, Jean Clouet (Answer. com). Oil painting and water color was also other techniques Clouet used. The term Renaissance is French for “rebirth”, and it was the rebirth of Europe from the 14th through the early 17th centuries. Europe emerged from the economic stagnation of the Middle Ages and experienced a time of financial growth.

This Era turned artistic, social, scientific and political thoughts in new directions. The Renaissance generated three ideas that were frowned upon during the Middle Ages; secularism (the belief that religion has no place in the day to day activities), humanism (the cultural and intellectual movement that emphasized secular concerns as a result of the discovery of literature and art), and individualism (belief in the importance of the individual and the virtues of self reliance and personal independence) (Wikipedia. om). Writers and artists began to focus on the individual and their potential. During the time of the Renaissance Era, people were becoming more aware of Christianity and the Catholic religion was being pushed aside. Religious books were being rewritten and new laws were coming into order as well. The wealthy people were the ones keeping the Catholic religion alive while the poor were the ones converting to Christianity.

The “Lady in her Bath” painting by Clouet is not only a beautiful example of Europe’s rebirth, but of art and the artists during that time; from the new techniques that were being used to the different types of paints from oil to water color. And most significantly, it shows the transition from religious only paintings to more secular paintings that depict just how beautiful the human body is; transforming embarrassment and shame to embracement.

References

Answer.com. Francois Clouet. Retrieved on 01/16/2013 at: http://www.answers.com/topic/jean-and-fran-ois-clouet French Renaissance. Retrieved on 01/16/2013 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Renaissance History of the Renaissance, Retrieved on 01/15/2013 at: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac88 National Gallery of Art: The Collection (2008). Francois Clouet, A lady in her Bath. Retrieved on 01/15/2013 at: http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg41a/gg41a-46112.html

Renaissance Humanism is defined as “a literary and linguistic movement-an attempt to revive classical Latin (and later Greek), as well as the values and sensibilities that came with the language” (Hunt et al, 415). I think that Machiavelli was a humanist of his era because in his writing The Prince, he relied on history to provide a handbook to future rulers and princes. Machiavelli drew much of this guidebook from his past dealings with politicians and their self-ambitious monarchies.

In my opinion he wrote this guide to as a way to show future princes that the ways of the past should be adhered to in order for Italy to regain its prior glory. In The Prince Machiavelli uses many examples from history to show that we need to embrace the past in order to gain a prosperous future. Machiavelli’s, The Prince serves as a handbook to future rulers with their roles and responsibilities. Machiavelli begins his handbook with his view of princely virtues.

He argues that in order for a person to be a good leader and stay in rule he must not just be a good person but that “he must learn how to not be good” (Lawall et al, 1951) in order to protect himself from anyone trying to overtake his rule. He must always be prepared and not make himself the “good guy” all the time. Machiavelli shows that being a good person all of the time will only allow for the bad people to overpower the good people, “because anyone who determines to act in all circumstances the part of a good man must come to ruin among so many who are not good” (Lawall et al, 1951).

Machiavelli goes on to further his humanistic views on how a prince should be viewed by his people. He discusses the choices a person of power has in being “liberal” (1952) and generous or stingy. He goes on to say that being too liberal will bring a man of power to ruin and that being frugal is important. He explains that as long as a ruler “abstains from the property of his citizens and subjects” he will gain the respect of his people. He goes on to discuss that a ruler will be more respected if he is living and spending other people’s money.

He discusses the examples set by Cyrus, Caesar, and Alexander in which they lived off “plunder, loot and ransom” (1953). These three rulers were spending the “money of others” (1953) and therefore were not hurting themselves by having to spend what was already theirs. Machiavelli goes on to explain that “nothing eats itself up as fast as does liberality” (1953) because when practiced it can lead to poverty and will make a ruler have to raise taxes which will in turn bring hatred on by his people (1953).

Machiavelli also discusses the importance of being feared and loved as well as, being thought of as cruel but compassionate all at the same time. He uses Dido and Borgia as examples. Borgia is used as the example for cruelty. He says that because Borgia was so cruel his cruelness brought prosperity and unity to Romagna and therefore was prosperous because of the fear that he instilled in his people. But because his Senate was too “compassionate” he lost his clout (1954).

Machiavelli also explains that a new prince is going to face several challenges and because of this will be faced to make very hard decisions that may or may not hurt his reputation among his people. Here he uses Virgil’s Dido as an example, “Hard circumstances and the newness of my realm force me to do such things, and to keep watch over all my lands” (1954). From these examples, Machiavelli is telling his reader that as a prince they must be flexible and show cruelty or compassion when needed in any situation.

Machiavelli goes on to state that a prince should “be slow in believing and acting, and should make no one afraid of him”…so that “too much confidence does not make him incautious, and too much suspicion does not make him unbearable” (1954). This is the way to keep support from his people and will not turn their backs on him when the going gets tough. Renaissance Humanism is defined as “a literary and linguistic movement-an attempt to revive classical Latin (and later Greek), as well as the values and sensibilities that came with the language” (Hunt et al, 415).

Machiavelli’s The Prince was essentially a handbook for how a Prince should portray himself but could also be seen as a day to day handbook by the everyday people of his time for they were all faced with the same moral decisions on a daily basis. Machiavelli used The Prince as a gateway to create a moral and philosophical guide for all people in general and uses examples from history to show that the past needs to be embraced in order to gain a prosperous future.

At the height of the Hussite crisis in the early 1400’s, when the authorities ordered 200 manuscripts of heretical writings burned, people on both sides realized quite well the significance of that act. Two hundred handwritten manuscripts would be hard to replace. Not only would it be a time consuming job, but also trained scribes would be hard to find. After all, most of them worked for the Church, and it seemed unlikely that the Church would loan out its scribes to copy the works of heretics.

Although the Hussites more than held their own against the Church, their movement remained confined mainly to the borders of their homeland of Bohemia. One main reason for this was that there was no mass media, such as the printing press to spread the word. A century later, all that had changed. Like any other invention, the printing press came along and had an impact when the right conditions existed at the right time and place. In this case, that was Europe in the mid 1400’s.

Like many or most inventions, the printing press was not the result of just one man’s ingenious insight into all the problems involved in creating the printing press. Rather, printing was a combination of several different inventions and innovations: block printing, rag paper, oil based ink, interchangeable metal type, and the squeeze press. If one process started the chain reaction of events that led to the invention of the printing press, it was the rise of towns in Western Europe that sparked trade with the outside world all the way to China.

That trade exposed Europeans to three things important for the invention of the printing press: rag paper, block printing, and, oddly enough, the Black Death. For centuries the Chinese had been making rag paper, which was made from a pulp of water and discarded rags that was then pressed into sheets of paper. When the Arabs met the Chinese at the battle of the Talas River in 751 A. D. , they carried off several prisoners skilled in making such paper. The technology spread gradually across the Muslim world, up through Spain and into Western Europe by the late 1200’s.

The squeeze press used in pressing the pulp into sheets of paper would also lend itself to pressing print evenly onto paper. The Black Death, which itself spread to Western Europe thanks to expanded trade routes, also greatly catalyzed the invention of the printing press in three ways, two of which combined with the invention of rag paper to provide Europe with plentiful paper. First of all, the survivors of the Black Death inherited the property of those who did not survive, so that even peasants found themselves a good deal richer.

Since the textile industry was the most developed industry in Western Europe at that time, it should come as no surprise that people spent their money largely on new clothes. However, clothes wear out, leaving rags. As a result, fourteenth century Europe had plenty of rags to make into rag paper, which was much cheaper than the parchment (sheepskin) and vellum (calfskin) used to make books until then. Even by 1300, paper was only one-sixth the cost of parchment, and its relative cost continued to fall. Considering it took 170 calfskins or 300 sheepskins to make one copy of the Bible, we can see what a bargain paper was.

But the Black Death had also killed off many of the monks who copied the books, since the crowded conditions in the monasteries had contributed to an unusually high mortality rate. One result of this was that the cost of copying books rose drastically while the cost of paper was dropping. Many people considered this unacceptable and looked for a better way to copy books. Thus the Black Death rag paper combined to create both lots of cheap paper plus an incentive for the invention of the printing press.

The Black Death also helped lead to the decline of the Church, the rise of a money economy, and subsequently the Italian Renaissance with its secular ideas and emphasis on painting. It was the Renaissance artists who, in their search for a more durable paint, came up with oil-based paints. Adapting these to an oil-based ink that would adhere to metal type was fairly simple. Block printing, carved on porcelain, had existed for centuries before making its way to Europe. Some experiments with interchangeable copper type had been carried on in Korea.

However, Chinese printing did not advance beyond that, possibly because the Chinese writing system used thousands of characters and was too unmanageable. For centuries after its introduction into Europe, block printing still found little use, since wooden printing blocks wore out quickly when compared to the time it took to carve them. As a result of the time and expense involved in making block prints, a few playing cards and pages of books were printed this way, but little else. What people needed was a movable type made of metal.

And here again, the revival of towns and trade played a major role, since it stimulated a mining boom, especially in Germany, along with better techniques for working metals, including soft metals such as gold and copper. It was a goldsmith from Mainz, Germany, Johannes Gutenberg, who created a durable and interchangeable metal type that allowed him to print many different pages, using the same letters over and over again in different combinations. It was also Gutenberg who combined all these disparate elements of movable type, rag paper, the squeeze press, and oil based inks to invent the first printing press in 1451.

The first printed books were religious in nature, as were most medieval books. They also imitated (handwritten) manuscript form so that people would accept this new revolutionary way of copying books. The printing press soon changed the forms and uses of books quite radically. Books stopped imitating manuscript forms such as lined paper to help the copiers and abbreviations to save time in copying. They also covered an increasingly wider variety of non-religious topics (such as grammars, etiquette, and geology books) that appealed especially to the professional members of the middle class.

By 1482, there were about 100 printing presses in Western Europe: 50 in Italy, 30 in Germany, 9 in France, 8 each in Spain and Holland, and 4 in England. A Venetian printer, Aldus Manutius, realized that the real market was not for big heavy volumes of the Bible, but for smaller, cheaper, and easier to handle “pocket books”. Manutius further revolutionized book copying by his focusing on these smaller editions that more people could afford. He printed translations of the Greek classics and thus helped spread knowledge in general, and the Renaissance in particular, across Europe.

By 1500, there were some 40,000 different editions with over 6,000,000 copies in print. The printing press had dramatic effects on European civilization. Its immediate effect was that it spread information quickly and accurately. This helped create a wider literate reading public. However, its importance lay not just in how it spread information and opinions, but also in what sorts of information and opinions it was spreading. There were two main directions printing took, both of which were probably totally unforeseen by its creators.

First of all, more and more books of a secular nature were printed, with especially profound results in science. Scientists working on the same problem in different parts of Europe especially benefited, since they could print the results of their work and share it accurately with a large number of other scientists. They in turn could take that accurate, not miscopied, information, work with it and advance knowledge and understanding further. Of course, they could accurately share their information with many others and the process would continue.

By the 1600’s, this process would lead to the Scientific Revolution of the Enlightenment, which would radically alter how Europeans viewed the world and universe. The printing press also created its share of trouble as far as some people were concerned. It took book copying out of the hands of the Church and made it much harder for the Church to control or censor what was being written. It was hard enough to control what Wycliffe and Hus wrote with just a few hundred copies of their works in circulation.

Imagine the problems the Church had when literally thousands of such works could be produced at a fraction of the cost. Each new printing press was just another hole in the dyke to be plugged up, and the Church had only so many fingers with which to do the job. It is no accident that the breakup of Europe’s religious unity during the Protestant Reformation corresponded with the spread of printing. The difference between Martin Luther’s successful Reformation and the Hussites’ much more limited success was that Luther was armed with the printing press and knew how to use it with devastating effect.

Some people go as far as to say that the printing press is the most important invention between the invention of writing itself and the computer. Although it is impossible to justify that statement to everyone’s satisfaction, one can safely say that the printing press has been one of the most powerful inventions of the modern era. It has advanced and spread knowledge and molded public opinion in a way that nothing before the advent of television and radio in the twentieth century could rival. If it were not able to, then freedom of the press would not be such a jealously guarded liberty as it is today.