| Renaissance
The period of time in western Europe known as the Renaissance was characterized
by an intense interest in the classical art and writings of the ancient
Greeks and Romans. There was a new reliance on self as opposed to a dependence
on the Church to regulate society and individual lives. The Renaissance
was a time of experimentation with science, the arts, and politics. Come
and explore the “rebirth” or blossoming of western European
society from about 1400 AD to 1650 AD. 
Places To Go | People
To See | Things To Do | Teacher
Resources
Places To Go
Great
Buildings Online: Renaissance Architecture
Visit the
Ducal Palace in Urbino , Italy , the Pazzi Palace in Florence , and
the Sforza Chapel in Rome .
Library
of Congress : Rome Reborn: The Vatican Library & Renaissance
Culture
Visit the Library of
Congress and browse through its primary sources and exhibits relating
to the Italian Renaissance.
Sistine
Chapel
Travel to the Sistine
Chapel. It was built in 1473 under the direction of Pope Sixtus IV and
contains the famous ceiling and side panels by Michelangelo. The ceiling
contains nine Old Testament and 12 New Testament scenes and was completed
between 1508 and 1511.
St.
Peters
St.
Peters
Explore St.
Peter’s Basilica in Rome . Bramante, Michelangelo,
Raphael, Bernini, Brunelleschi….all were involved in some way
with the building and adorning of this crowning centerpiece in the Vatican.
Florence
Florence
Travel to Firenze
. This beautiful Italian town with its renowned art and architecture if
often called the Jewel of the Renaissance.
Santa
Maria delle Grazie
Travel to Milan
, Italy to the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and experience Leonardo
da Vinci’s masterpiece, The Last Supper.
Venice
Explore Venice
of the Renaissance. The Renaissance was characterized by the growth of
trade and the establishment of expanded trade routes with the East and
the Middle East , as well as with the rest of Europe . Because of its
geography, Venice became a great Renaissance sea power and became the
center of the Italian trading empire.
People To See
Mona
Lisa
Spend time with the
person in the painting that seems to personify the Italian Renaissance.
Sandro
Botticelli
Sandro
Botticelli
Get to know Sandro Botticelli.
He is famous for his painting, the Birth of Venus. He worked mostly in
Florence and was a favorite of the Medici family.
Andrea
del Verrocchio
Meet Andrea
del Verrocchio, a noted early Renaissance sculptor from Florence , who
worked mostly with metal. He was a teacher of Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo
da Vinci
Leonardo
da Vinci
Leonardo
da Vinci
Visit with Leonardo da Vinci.
He is the quintessential symbol of the Italian Renaissance. He was a sculptor,
painter, engineer, scientist, inventor, writer, and musician.
Raphael
Raphael
Raphael
Raphael
Meet Santi Raphael, one of
the most celebrated painters of the High Renaissance.
Michelangelo
Buonarroti
Visit with Michelangelo
Buonarroti, the epitomy of the Italian Renaissance.
Giotto
Giotto
Meet Giotto
di Bondone. He was a Florentine painter of the early Italian Renaissance.
Pope
Julius II
Spend time with Pope
Julius II. During his papacy, he employed Michelangelo to embellish the
Sistine Chapel, had Bramante rebuild the Vatican palace, and hired Raphael
to paint his official portrait.
Tintoretto
Meet
Tintoretto, a Venetian Renaissance painter of the 16 th century.
Titian
Titian
Titian
Get to know Titian who was
famous for his innovative use of color in his Italian 16 th century paintings.
Jan
van Eyck
Jan
van Eyck
Meet Jan van Eyck, a master
of the Northern Renaissance.
Vasco
da Gama
Vasco
da Gama
Get to know explorer,
Vasco da Gama. He was the Portuguese navigator who opened the first European
sea route to India between 1497 and 1499. Expanded trade routes were helped
spread Eastern and Middle Eastern influences and philosophies to western
Europe.
Gerardus
Mercator
Gerardus
Mercator
Spend
time with Gerardus Mercator who was a Flemish cartographer who developed
the method of portraying the spherical world as a flat surface. This helped
the development of trade routes and made it easier for navigators to set
courses by compass.
Albrecht
Durer
Albrecht
Durer
Albrecht
Durer
Get to know Albrecht Durer.
He was influenced by his Italian contemporaries and helped introduce Renaissance
thought into northern Europe .
Hans
Holbein the younger
Make the acquaintance of Hans
Holbein, the Younger. His father, Hans Holbein, was also an artist. The
son’s portraits were an important
reflection of the Northern Renaissance.
Hieronymus
Bosch
Hieronymus
Bosch
Meet Hieronymus Bosch. His
often macabre paintings are a famous part of the early Northern Renaissance.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Meet a 16 th century Flemish painter of the Northern Renaissance.
Machiavelli
Machiavelli
Meet
Niccolo Machiavelli, a notable writer of the Italian Renaissance. His book,
the Prince, supported the premise that political leaders should do whatever
is necessary—albeit immoral or dishonest—to further
their causes, interests, and quests for power and influence.
Miguel
de Cervantes
Meet Miguel
de Cervantes, the Spanish 16 th century writer and poet and author of Don
Quixote de la Mancha.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
Spend time with William Shakespeare, the
16 th century British writer, poet, and playwright.
Lorenzo
Ghiberti
He was a sculptor
and an architect who spent the majority of his life making the 28 panels
of his best known piece, the doors of the baptistery in Florence
Donato
Bramante
Meet Donato
Bramante, an architect of the High Italian Renaissance. He spent much of
his life employed by Pope Julius II and was the principal architect of
St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican .
Donatello
Meet Donatello, Italian
sculptor.
Benvenuto
Cellini
Make the acquaintance
of Benvenuto Cellini, a Florentine metalworker who intricate and decorative
jewelry, vases, candlesticks, and other ornaments were mostly created under
the tutelage of Pope Clement VII.
Filippo
Brunelleschi
Filippo
Brunelleschi
Spend
time with Filippo Brunelleschi, one of the most famous architects of the
Renaissance.
Copernicus
Copernicus
Meet Nicholas
Copernicus, a Polish astronomer of the 1500s who studied and wrote in Rome
and published his revolutionizing theories of the universe.
Galileo
Galileo
Galileo
Get to know Galilei
Galileo. He was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist and
a supporter of the Copernican theory. His own theories of the universe
caused him to be in great conflict with existing scientific thought of
the time.
Johann
Gutenburg
Visit with Johann Gutenburg,
the 15 th century German printer and inventor. His method of printing with
movable type was instrumental in making information available to the common
man and spreading the ideas of the Renaissance.
Desiderius
Erasmus
Desiderius
Erasmus
Get to know Desiderius
Erasmus. He was a Dutch Roman Catholic priest whose translations of Greek
and Roman writings were an influence on the Renaissance humanist thinkers.
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More
Meet
Sir Thomas More, the English humanist and clergyman of the late 1400s and
early 1500s. He was beheaded by Henry VIII because he refused to acknowledge
the English king as the head of the English church.
Francois Rabelais
Francois Rabelais
Get to know Francois Rabelais. He was a French writer and physician
in the 1500s whose writings reflect the humanist philosophies of the
Renaissance.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Spend time with Martin Luther, the German leader of the Protestant
Reformation in the 1500s.
Petrarch
Petrarch
Meet Francesco Petrarca. He was an Italian poet in the 1300s whose
influence is credited with planting the seeds of the Renaissance. His
study of Greek and Roman writing helped bring about a resurgence of interest
in ancient texts and philosophies.
The
Borgias : An Italian Renaissance Family
Meet the
Borgias family of 16 th and 17 th century Italy . Their roots were initially
in Spain , but their infamy lies in Italy . Rodrigo Borgias became Pope
Alexander VI and is remembered as a corrupt and immoral pope. Rodrigo’s
son, Cesare is said to have been the model for Machiavelli’s
The Prince. Lucrezia Borgias is famous for poisoning her enemies.
Things To Do
Learner.org:
Renaissance
Renaissance if French
for “rebirth”. Discover the forces
that drove this rebirth in Europe .
Medieval
and Renaissance Food Homepage
Take a taste of resources about
Renaissance food.
15
th Century Renaissance Art
16
th Century Renaissance Art
Browse through dozens of
web links for Italian and Northern Renaissance art information.
Renaissance Dance
Tap your toe to Renaissance dance.
The
Renaissance Period
Browse through
links to resources about Renaissance music.
Renaissance
Art and Architecture
Access an extensive
list of links to Renaissance resources.
Medici:
Godfathers of the Renaissance
Learn about the Medici
family, prominent figures of the Italian Renaissance in Florence
and patrons of the arts.
Virtual
Renaissance: A Journey through Time
Experience
the Renaissance through virtual time travel.
Renaissance:
The Elizabethan World
Learn about food, occupations,
games, pastimes, religion, fashion, manners, attitudes, and education
in the time of Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare.
Who’s
Who in Medieval History and the Renaissance
Search for notable
individuals from the Renaissance.
Luminarium
Read the works of Renaissance writers
from 1485 to 1603.
Shakespeare
Insulter
If insulting people with Renaissance
terminology is appealing to you, try the Shakespeare Insulter, “Thou
reeky milk-livered strumpet!”
WebMuseum:
Italian Renaissance
Find access to information
about artists and architects of the early and high Renaissance eras in
Italy .
The
Internet Renaissance Band
Listen to a collection
of music from the Renaissance period.
The Society for Creative
Anachronism, Inc
Learn about the Renaissance by attending a Renaissance
Fair. “The
Society for Creative Anachronism is an international organization dedicated
to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century
Europe . It consists of 18 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing
in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle
Ages and Renaissance, attend events which may feature tournaments, arts
exhibits, classes, workshops, dancing, feasts, and more.”
Teacher Resources
Lesson Plan/Webquests
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