1. Introduction to ‘The West’
Part 4: Renaissance and Reformation

2. Plan
1. What was the Renaissance?
 Renaissance symbolism in Hans Holbein’s The
Ambassadors (1533)
2. Southern Europe: the Italian Renaissance
– Origins
– Renaissance education
– Characteristics of Renaissance art
3. Northern Europe: the Reformation
– Lutheran reform
– Calvinist reform
– Impact and legacy

3. Hans Holbein’s
The Ambassadors
(1533)

4. The Rise of the Italian City States

5. The Rise of the Italian City States
• In High Middle ages city
states like Venice
monopolised Mediterranean
trade

6. The Rise of the Italian City States
• In High Middle ages city
states like Venice
monopolised Mediterranean
trade
• Exotic goods and new modes
of artistic expression
imported from East
Doge’s Palace, Venice (top),
Vakil Mosque, Persia (middle),
Abassid Palace, Baghdad
(bottom)

7. The Rise of the Italian City States
• In High Middle ages city
states like Venice
monopolised Mediterranean
trade
• Exotic goods and new modes
of artistic expression
imported from East
• More efficient trading and
banking practices
Doge’s Palace, Venice (top),
Vakil Mosque, Persia (middle),
Abassid Palace, Baghdad
(bottom)

8. The Rise of the Italian City States
• In High Middle ages city
states like Venice
monopolised Mediterranean
trade
• Exotic goods and new modes
of artistic expression
imported from East
• More efficient trading and
banking practices
• Similar in size to city states of
ancient Greece

9. The Rise of the Italian City States
• In High Middle ages city
states like Venice
monopolised Mediterranean
trade
• Exotic goods and new modes
of artistic expression
imported from East
• More efficient trading and
banking practices
• Similar in size to city states of
ancient Greece
• Evolved new forms of
representative government
to broaden the political
power base

10. A New Way of Life
• Emphasis on effort, talent,
and creative genius as basis
of merit rather than heredity
Bust of Michelangelo, Daniele da Volerra, 1565,

11. A New Way of Life
• Emphasis on effort, talent,
and creative genius as basis
of merit rather than heredity
• Newly rich merchants
supported the arts as a
means of publicising their
power
Adoration of the Magi (1475) by Sandro
Botticelli.

12. A New Way of Life
• Emphasis on effort, talent,
and creative genius as basis
of merit rather than heredity
• Newly rich merchants
supported the arts as a
means of publicising their
power
Bronze doors of Florence’ Baptistery,
designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti

13. A New Way of Life
• Emphasis on effort, talent,
and creative genius as basis
of merit rather than heredity
• Newly rich merchants
supported the arts as a
means of publicising their
power
Dome of Florence Cathedral,
designed by Filippo Brunelleschi

14. A New Way of Life
• Emphasis on effort, talent,
and creative genius as basis
of merit rather than heredity
• Newly rich merchants
supported the arts as a
means of publicising their
power
• Increasing focus on secular
world of human affairs rather
than salvation
The Money Changer and His
Wife (1514), by Quentin Matsys

15. A New Way of Life
• Emphasis on effort, talent,
and creative genius as basis
of merit rather than heredity
• Newly rich merchants
supported the arts as a
means of publicising their
power
• Increasing focus on secular
world of human affairs rather
than salvation
• Opportunistic nature of
urban life released citizens
from old hierarchies and gave
rise to individualism
The Money Changer and His
Wife (1514), by Quentin Matsys

16. Humanist Education
• Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374),
father of Renaissance Humanism
Renaissance educationalist
Francesco Petrarch 1304 - 1374

17. Humanist Education
• Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374),
father of Renaissance Humanism
• Influenced by writings of Roman
senator Cicero
Roman senator, Cicero 106 -43 BC

18. Humanist Education
• Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374),
father of Renaissance Humanism
• Influenced by writings of Roman
senator Cicero
• Education should not only consist of
acquiring knowledge, but also how to
communicate knowledge for the
public good
Roman senator, Cicero 106 -43 BC

19. Humanist Education
• Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374),
father of Renaissance Humanism
• Influenced by writings of Roman
senator Cicero
• Education should not only consist of
acquiring knowledge, but also how to
communicate knowledge for the
public good
• A curriculum of grammar, rhetoric,
poetry, history, and moral philosophy
Roman senator, Cicero 106 -43 BC

20. Humanist Education
• Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374),
father of Renaissance Humanism
• Influenced by writings of Roman
senator Cicero
• Education should not only consist of
acquiring knowledge, but also how to
communicate knowledge for the
public good
• A curriculum of grammar, rhetoric,
poetry, history, and moral philosophy
• Knowledge of Latin and Greek still a
sign of culture and intellect; rules of
good writing in English still based on
Latin models
The population
is expected to
more than
double in the
next ten years

21. Question?
• What similarities do you see between the
Renaissance and classical Greece?

22. Renaissance Humanism
• A return to the pre-Augustinian
Homeric values and the concept
of ‘arete’ especially.
“ What a piece of work is a man!
How noble in reason, how
infinite in faculty! In form and
moving how express and
admirable! In action how like an
Angel! In apprehension how like
a god! The beauty of the world! ”
Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2.

23. Invention of Printing
• 1455 Johannes Gutenberg
invents printing process
with movable, metal type

24. Invention of Printing
• 1455 Johannes Gutenberg
invents printing process
with movable, metal type

25. Invention of Printing
• 1455 Johannes Gutenberg
invents printing process
with movable, metal type
• Publishing industry
develops with religious
then secular publications
A book on the science of navigation
published in 1592

26. Invention of Printing
A book on the science of navigation
published in 1592
• 1455 Johannes Gutenberg
invents printing process
with movable, metal type
• Publishing industry
develops with religious
then secular publications
• Increased literacy and
helped establish national
languages and literatures

27. Invention of Printing
• 1455 Johannes Gutenberg
invents printing process
with movable, metal type
• Publishing industry
develops with religious
then secular publications
• Increased literacy and
helped establish national
languages and literatures
• Over 150 million books
published in Europe alone
in the 16th century

28. Salvation and the Sacraments
• Salvation in the Middle
Ages depended on
receiving the sacraments
Baptism

29. Salvation and the Sacraments
• Salvation in the Middle
Ages depended on
receiving the sacraments
Confession or Absolution

30. Salvation and the Sacraments
• Salvation in the Middle
Ages depended on
receiving the sacraments
Communion or the Eucharist

31. Salvation and the Sacraments
• Salvation in the Middle
Ages depended on
receiving the sacraments
• Power of the medieval
Church derived from its
exclusive right to provide
these

32. Salvation and the Sacraments
• Salvation in the Middle
Ages depended on
receiving the sacraments
• Power of the medieval
Church derived from its
exclusive right to provide
these
• Reformers criticised the
sacraments as
encouraging a superficial
commitment to religion

33. Corruption and abuse of power in the
medieval Church
• Sale of Indulgences: Rich
could buy their way out of
purgatory
An artistic representation of purgatory

34. Corruption and abuse of power in the
medieval Church
• Sale of Indulgences: Rich
could buy their way out of
purgatory
Representation of the selling of indulgences

35. Corruption and abuse of power in the
medieval Church
• Sale of Indulgences: Rich
could buy their way out of
purgatory
• Simony and nepotism:
Important positions either
sold or given to nobility

36. Corruption and abuse of power in the
medieval Church
• Sale of Indulgences: Rich
could buy their way out of
purgatory
• Simony and nepotism:
Important positions either
sold or given to nobility
• Moral decline: Trading
favours for absolution,
luxury, sexual relationships

37. Corruption and abuse of power in the
medieval Church
• Sale of Indulgences: Rich
could buy their way out of
purgatory
• Simony and nepotism:
Important positions either
sold or given to nobility
• Moral decline: Trading
favours for absolution,
luxury, sexual relationships
• Ignorance and illiteracy:
some priests did not know
the meaning of the Latin
they were reciting

38. Lutheran Reform - 1517

39. Lutheran Reform - 1517
• Salvation by faith alone: no
“bargaining for” salvation by
doing good works

40. Lutheran Reform - 1517
• Salvation by faith alone: no
“bargaining for” salvation by
doing good works
• Absolute authority of
scripture: no priest is required
to interpret the bible; no rituals
are required to enter heaven;
pope and peasant have equal
status

41. Lutheran Reform - 1517
• Salvation by faith alone: no
“bargaining for” salvation by
doing good works
• Absolute authority of
scripture: no priest is required
to interpret the bible; no rituals
are required to enter heaven;
pope and peasant have equal
status
• Engagement with secular
world: it is not necessary to
retreat to a monastery to lead
a holy life

42. Calvinist Reform - 1536
• Doctrine of Depravity: Augustinian
view that humans are essentially
sinful

43. Calvinist Reform - 1536
• Doctrine of Depravity: Augustinian
view that humans are essentially
sinful
• Doctrine of predestination: Since
God is all-knowing, he already
knows who is going to heaven and
who is destined for hell; good works
will not earn you passage to heaven

44. Calvinist Reform - 1536
• Doctrine of Depravity: Augustinian
view that humans are essentially
sinful
• Doctrine of predestination: Since
God is all-knowing, he already
knows who is going to heaven and
who is destined for hell; good works
will not earn you passage to heaven
• Rationalisation of religion: the
‘beauty’ and ‘magic’ of religious
rituals distracts worshippers from
developing a private relationship
with God

45. Calvinist Reform - 1536
• Doctrine of Depravity: Augustinian
view that humans are essentially
sinful
• Doctrine of predestination: Since
God is all-knowing, he already
knows who is going to heaven and
who is destined for hell; good works
will not earn you passage to heaven
• Rationalisation of religion: the
‘beauty’ and ‘magic’ of religious
rituals distracts worshippers from
developing a private relationship
with God
• Emphasised the importance of hard
work and financial success as a sign
that you had been ‘chosen’

46. Religious Wars of the 17th Century

47. Religious Wars of the 17th Century
• Thirty Years War (1618-
1648) devastates central
Europe and bankrupts
participating states

48. Religious Wars of the 17th Century
• Thirty Years War (1618-
1648) devastates central
Europe and bankrupts
participating states

49. Religious Wars of the 17th Century
• Thirty Years War (1618-
1648) devastates central
Europe and bankrupts
participating states
• Peace of Westphalia
(1648) lays foundations
of modern nation-state

50. Religious Wars of the 17th Century
• Thirty Years War (1618-
1648) devastates central
Europe and bankrupts
participating states
• Peace of Westphalia
(1648) lays foundations
of modern nation-state
• Last major religious war
in Europe and beginning
of an age of peace, trade
and tolerance.

51. The legacy of the Reformation
• Encouraged literacy and
development of national
languages
A page from the Tyndale Bible

52. The legacy of the Reformation
• Encouraged literacy and
development of national
languages
• Nation states benefitted
from the decentralisation
of religious authority
(Henry VIII)

53. The legacy of the Reformation
• Encouraged literacy and
development of national
languages
• Nation states benefitted
from the decentralisation
of religious authority
(Henry VIII)
• Further emphasised the
individual over the
collective

54. The legacy of the Reformation
• Encouraged literacy and
development of national
languages
• Nation states benefitted
from the decentralisation
of religious authority
(Henry VIII)
• Further emphasised the
individual over the
collective
• Challenged political as well
as religious hierarchies;
democratic ethos
The German Peasants’ Revolt, 1524

55. Protestantism and Capitalism
• Why did modern capitalism initially
occur in the West and not in other
parts of the world?
• Major works
– The Protestant Ethic and the
Spirit of Capitalism (Two Parts:
1904 and 1905)
– The Religion of China (1913)
– The Religion of India (1916-
1917)
– Ancient Judaism (1917)
Max Weber

56. Protestantism and Capitalism
Max Weber
• Protestant religion emphasises
 reason
 the individual
 engagement with the secular
world
• Calvinism encourages the
accumulation of wealth as a sign
that you have been chosen
• Calvinist morality discouraged the
pursuit of sensual pleasure.
Wealth is to be accumulated for its
own sake

57. Characteristics of Renaissance Art
• Use of perspective
• Balanced and ordered composition
• Portraits
• Naturalistic rendering
• Depiction of classical themes

58. Perspective
Trinity
Massacio,
1425-1427

59. Betrothal
of the Virgin
Raphael, 1504

60. Balanced and ordered composition
Leonardo da Vinci’s
The Dreyfus
Madonna
with the
Pomegranate, 1469

61. Balanced and ordered composition
Leonardo da Vinci’s
The Dreyfus
Madonna
with the
Pomegranate, 1469

62. Canagiani
Madonna,
Raphael, 1507

63. Canagiani
Madonna,
Raphael, 1507

64. Canagiani
Madonna,
Raphael, 1507

65. Portraits
The Duke &
Dutchess of
Urbino
Piero della
Francesca,
1465-1466

66. David
Donatello, 1430
Naturalistic Rendering
The first life-size, freestanding nude sculpture since antiquity

67. David
Michelangelo, 1504

68. Depiction of Classical Themes
School of
Athens
Raphael,
1509 - 1511

69. Birth of
Venus
Sandro
Botticelli,
1486