Important People and Leaders (copy)

Giotto di Bondone

(1266-1337) Florence painter - influential pre-Renaissance painter + friend of Dante. Use of realistic scenes from nature.

Filippo Brunelleschi

(1377-1446) Florence Architect - created II Duomo, the first Italian freestanding dome since antiquity. He brought perspective to renaissance artists

Donatello

(1386-1466) Florence sculptor - David, first freestanding bronze statue of a human in Europe since antiquity.

Masaccio

(1401-1428) Florence painter - “Father of Modern Art” Created Explusion + Holy Trinity, which marked an advance medieval Renaissance painting. Use of anatomy + perspective.

Giovanni Bellini

(1430-1516) Venice painter - leading painter of the Venetian School, the master of Giogione and Titan, known for altarpieces and his Madonnas.

Sandro Botticelli

(1444-1510) Florence painter - Famous for the Birth of Venus, helped decorate the Sistine chapel, and follower of Savonarola.

Domenico Ghrlandiao

(1449-1494) Florence painter - Founder of a school of painting and Michelangelo’s teacher

Leonardo da Vinci

(1452-1519) Florence painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist - the “Renaissance Man” Pater of the Last Supper + Mona Lisa, and the engineer of flying machines and tanks. Rival of Michelangelo and patrons were Lorenzo the Magnificant and Lodovico Sforza.

Michelangelo Buanarroti

(1474-1564) Florence painter, sculptor, architect, and poet. Sculpted Pieta + David + Mosses. Famous for painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for Pope Julius II, greatest sculptor of hands. Part of the trinity of great 15-century artists.

Raphael Sanzo

(1483-1520) Urbino, Italy Painter - Chief architect of St. Peter’s Cathedral, master of oil painting The School of Athens. He is part of the trinity of great 15-century artists.

Artemesia Gentileschi

(1590-1642) Italian Painter - Noted for Judith paintings Father was a painter whose patrons included King Charles I of England.

Dante

(1265-1321) Florence - Author of Divine Comedy (an imaginary journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven) Helped define vernacular of what is now the Italian language

Francesco Petrarch

(1304-1374) Italian - The first great humanist thinker and scholar of Latin. “Father of Humanism” Major works: Triumphs + On the Solitary Life.

Giovanni Boccaccio

(1313-1375) Italian - Petrarch’s friend and a contributor to the development of classic Italian prose, wrote Decameron (Bawdy tale of love in all its forms)

Leonardo Bruni

(1369-1444) Italian humanist - his history of Florence noted for the need for authentic sources in examining history. Translated Plutarch, Demostence, Aristole, Plato from Greek to Latin.

Thomas a Kempis

(1380-1471) German ecclesiastic and writer -Religious purist wrote Imitation of Christ. Taught that the individual soul could commune directly with god without sacraments, people, or Christ.

Lorenzo Valla

(1406-1457) Italian humanist - Italian Renaissance humanist famous for On Pleasure, about the Epicureans

Pico della Mirandola

(1463-1494) Italian humanist - Leading humanist of Italian Renaissance and author of Oration on the Dignity of Man.

Desiderius Erasmus (of Rotterdam)

(1466-1536) Florence Catholic author/scholar created new Greek and Latin translations of the New Testament, and wrote The Praise of Folly + Handbook of a Christian Night. Enemy of Martin Luther, an ally of Thomas More. Wanted reforms in the Catholic Church. Leader in the field of Renaissance learning in Northern Europe.

Niccolo Machiavelli

(1469-1527) Florence - Wrote The Prince, his application for employment with Lorenzo Medici, the most important work on political science for centuries.

Baldassare Castiglione

(1478-1529) Milan and Urbino - Author of The Book of Courtier, the first book of etiquette for nobles.

Thomas More

(1478-1538) England - Author of Utopia. As lord chancellor of England, he opposed Henry VIII’s break with the catholic church. He was beheaded for sticking to his principles.

Benvenuto Cellini

(1500-1571) Florence sculptor, goldsmith, and author. Wrote an autobiography of life in Renaissance Italy. Illustrated why he was a prime exemplar of virtue. Worked under Michelangelo and was patronized by Pope Clement VII.

Francois Rebelais

(1494-1553) France - Invented the Essay, derived from the French word for test.

Miguel de Cervantes

(1547-1616) Spain - Criticized chivalry of the Spanish court and medieval institutions of the state in his Don Quixote.

Nicholas of Cusa

(1401-1464) Rhineland (Germany ) A churchman and Roman Catholic prelate and philosopher, focused on mystical philosophy. Anticipated Copernicas by his belief in Earth’s rotation and revolution around the sun.

Pope Nicholas V

(r. 1447-1455) Italian - Patron of art and literature

Pope Innocent VIII

(r. 1484-1492) Italian - Declared Henry VII lawful king of England and appointed Torquemada as Grand Inquisitor of Spain

Pope Alexander VI

(r. 1492-1503) Spain - Bribed his way to the Papacy, children (Cesare Borgia + Lucretia Borgia) often at the Vatican when young. He gave papal land to children and was a patron of the arts. He ordered the execution of Savonrola and said, “God has given us the papacy. Now let us enjoy it.”

Pope Julius II

(R. 1503-1513) Italian - Rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica and Patronized Raphael, Michelangelo, Bramante, and others.

Pope Leo X

(r. 1513-1521) Italian - the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, had a lavish lifestyle as he ate from gold plates and threw them away. Failed to realize the importance of the Reformation and issued papal bull excommunicating Luther.

Girolamo Savonarola

(1452-1498) Ferrara, Italy Dominican monk and church reformer - Gave vehement sermons about the corruption of secular life, the ruling class, and the worldliness of the clergy. Led Romans to revolt. Began Bonfires on the Vanities and burned Sandro Botticelli’s paintings. Drove Piero de Medici from power in Florence and became a virtual dictator, preaching a crusade to establish a Christian state. Denounced by Pope Alexander VI and lost power to aristocracy. He was captured, trialed for heresy, and then tortured, hanged, and burned.

Regiomontanus

(1436-1476) Germany Mathematician/Scientist - Laid foundation for mathematical concept of universe.

Nicholas Copernicus

(1473-1543) Poland Scientist - Revived the idea of a heliocentric (sun-centered) solar system from the ancients. It shocked Europe when the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres was published, but Galileo’s support later caused a bigger controversy.

Johann Gutenberg

(1398-1468) Germany - First to produce books with movable lead type, c.1450

Cesare Borgia

(1475-1507) originally Spanish - son of Pope Alexander VI and he conquered much of central Italy, including Urbino. He acted with cruelty and treachery and was a model for Machiavelli’s prince

Isabelle d’Este

(1474-1539) Marchioness of Mantua - Married Giovanni Gonzaga, outstanding diplomat and patron of learning, and turned Mantua into the center of learning and thought

Giovanni de Medici

(1390-1429) Florence - Wealthy Merchants supported smaller guilds and common people. Virtual ruler of Florence from 1421-1429, and Began banking dynasty.

Cosimo de Medici

(1389-1464) Florence - son of Giovanni, Banker + patron of the arts. “Father of his country”

Lorenzo de Medici

“The Magnificent” (1449-1492) grandson of Giovanni (not Cosimo’s son) Florence - Patron of the arts, father of a pope, and allegedly immoral and tyrannical ruler.