Italian Renaissance
The Impact of the Italian Renaissance upon English Literature
The Italian Renaissance's focus upon humanity and scientific discovery paved the way of much of the intellectual literary exploration that was to take place during the England of the subsequent century. Plays such as Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" openly questioned the ideal that humanity must be subservient to God, and embodied the Renaissance ideal that the proper focus of humanity was humanity, not the divine alone. In Marlowe's play, the scholar Faustus mocks the Catholic Church, and sells his soul to gain more knowledge and to get a kiss from the lovely ideal of classical beauty, Helen of Troy.
Thus, one of the predominant literary influences of the Italian Renaissance was that humanity and the desire of humanity to expand upon its knowledge of the known and scientific world, not humanity's relationship with God alone, became the primary focus of poetry and drama. Freed from the need to conform to dogmatic struggles and to merely adhere to Biblical narratives, new fictions flourished. However, there was also an embrace of past, existing forms of Mediterranean literary ideals, such as the Italian sonnet form that became the Elizabethan sonnet form. The latter modified the original Italian sonnet's rhythmical constraints for the English language.
The focus upon Italy was not simply intellectual but was also aesthetic. The ideal of the beauty of Italy, and the passionate atmosphere of the land is evidenced in such plays as Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," and the construction of Italy as an exotic and romantic place, both far and near from England. Also, the Renaissance's fascination with Classical Rome is reflected in England's near0obsession with such texts and plays revolving around classical allusions and themes, and the predominance of Italian motifs in British education, such as the need to study ancient Roman authors as Julius and Augustus Caesar, both of whom figure in plays such as "Julius Caesar" and "Anthony and Cleopatra."
Italian Renaissance Renaissance ("Rebirth") refers to the period after the Middle Ages when a series of dynamic intellectual, cultural and artistic movements from the 14th to 16th century catapulted Europe towards rapid development leading to the Age of Enlightenment, the industrial revolution and the modern time. During this rich period of exciting developments in arts, sciences and politics, Italy was the major catalyst and became the cultural leader of Europe. It
The landscape diffuses in colors to give optical illusion of perspective and farness. The first figures, of the two children are softly modeled in lights and shades. The light is bright and clear and it seems to have no specific direction. Although Renaissance had great preoccupation with the study of light and the use of it to give volume, there will pass a longer time before artists would really use the
Italian Renaissance Art Mannerism Mannerism is a period of European art that arose from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It went on until around 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style developed to take its place, but Northern Mannerism lasted into the first part of the 17th century, all through much of Europe. Stylistically, Mannerism includes an assortment of methods swayed by, and responding to, the
The Black Death and RenaissanceThe Black Death swept across Europe from 1347 to 1351, leading to an estimated death of 75-200 million people, or approximately 30-60% of Europe\\\'s total population at that time (Gottfried, 2010). It was believed to be caused by the Bubonic plague, a deadly infection carried by fleas on black rats, and it resulted in severe social, economic, and cultural impacts. The Renaissance, on the other hand,
Bernini's statuary group is a combination of lyric and mimetic representation depicting both a mythical episode and vital energy which is best felt when looking at Persephone's hand pushing against Pluto's face. In fact, even this apparently simple detail is dual in the sense that on one hand, it is meant to give the impression of despair and struggle, and on the other, this gesture results in creases in Pluto's
The biggest reason for this was financial. Farming takes time to sow, grow and harvest, and there was simply not time for that; the Italian immigrant needed to make as much money as he could in the least time possible; farming simply would not work (2008). Farming also implied a certain amount of permanence, which was not the plan for many Italian immigrants (Mintz 2007). Land in America was also
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