Cities of Renaissance Period

CITIES OF RENAISSANCE PERIOD
INTRODUCTION
• The European Renaissance was a time of massive
economic and cultural growth following the
stagnation of the Middle Ages.
• Beginning in Italy in the 14th century, the
movement spread to all parts of the continent
during the next 300 years.
• The outstanding cultural and artistic heritage of
the Renaissance can still be seen today in many of
the great cities of the period, including Florence
and Venice in Italy, Bruges in Belgium and Toledo
in Spain.
FLORENCE
• Italy was divided into many city-states(Florence, Milan, Venice
etc.),each with their own government(some were ruled by despots,
and others were republics).
• It All Began in Florence
• Florence is the city where the Renaissance began, and where it
reached its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries under the
patronage of the powerful Medici family.
• Some of the greatest names in Renaissance art are associated with
the city, including Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo.
The poet Dante, the political theorist Machiavelli and the scientist
Galileo also lived and worked in Florence.
• Buildings like the Pitti Palace, Uffizi Gallery and Florence Cathedral
are among the masterpieces of Renaissance architecture.
• Florence was a Republic in the
sense that there was a constitution
which limited the power of the
nobility (as well as laborers) and
ensured that no one person or group
could have complete political control
(so it was far from our ideal of
everyone voting, in fact a very small
percentage of the population had
the vote).
•Political power resided in the hands

of middle-class merchants, a few
wealthy families (such as the Medici,
important art patrons who would
later rule Florence) and the powerful
guilds.
PITTI PALACE
UFFIZI GALLERY
FLORENCE CATHEDRAL
WHY DID RENAISSANCE START IN
FLORENCE?
• Extraordinary wealth accumulated in Florence
during this period among a growing middle and
upper class of merchants and bankers. With the
accumulation of wealth often comes a desire to
use it to enjoy the pleasures of life—and not an
exclusive focus on the hereafter.
• Florence saw itself as the ideal city state, a place
where the freedom of the individual was
guaranteed, and where many citizens had the
right to participate in the government
• In 1400 Florence was engaged in a struggle with the Duke of Milan.
The Florentine people feared the loss of liberty and respect for
individuals that was the pride of their Republic. Luckily for Florence,
the Duke of Milan caught the plague and died in 1402.
• Then, between 1408 and 1414 Florence was threatened once again,
this time by the King of Naples, who also died before he could
successfully conquer Florence.
• And in 1423 the Florentine people prepared for war against the son
of the Duke of Milan who had threatened them earlier. Again, luckily
for Florence, the Duke was defeated in 1425.
• The Florentine citizens interpreted these military "victories" as signs
of God's favor and protection. They imagined themselves as the
"New Rome" -- in other words, as the heirs to the Ancient Roman
Republic, prepared to sacrifice for the cause of freedom and liberty.
• The Florentine people were very proud of their form of government
in the early 15th century. A republic is, after all, a place that respects
the opinions of individuals, individualism was a critical part of the
Humanism that thrived in Florence in the 15th century.
BRUGES IN BELGIUM
• Artists in Bruges
• In Northern Europe, the Renaissance first took hold in the
Flemish-speaking area of modern-day Belgium.
• Bruges was one of the great cities of the period and where
the heritage of the Renaissance is most easily visible today.
• Michelangelo's sculpture of the Madonna and Child is on
display in the city, as it has been since it was purchased by a
wealthy Flemish merchant during Michelangelo's own
lifetime.
• Bruges also produced artists of its own, however. Probably
the best known of these is the 15th century painter Jan van
Eyck, whose works can be seen in the city's museums.
TOLEDO IN SPAIN
• Toledo's Imperial Ties

• When the King of Spain moved his capital to Madrid in the 16th
century, the old capital of Toledo became a forgotten backwater
-- a virtual time capsule of the Renaissance period.
• At its height, however, the city was more than just the capital of
Spain. The Spanish king was also the Holy Roman Emperor, and
for a time Toledo was the imperial capital.
• The greatest painter of the Spanish Renaissance, El Greco, lived
and worked in the city for almost 40 years. Among the many
works by him that remain in Toledo is his masterpiece, the
gigantic "Burial of the Count of Orgaz."

Cities of Renaissance Period

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CITIES OF RENAISSANCE PERIOD

•Political power resided in the hands

• Toledo's Imperial Ties

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