Botticelli, The Birth of Venus

 

 

 

Questions

 

1. Read this page or this one and give a brief explanation of the meaning of the term “Renaissance”.

2. Do this exercise to understand the meaning of Humanism. What is the definition of Humanism according to the Webster dictionary ? (NB : “classical letters ” means litterature from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, before Christianity).
Answer questions A to H.
What is Man's place in the humanists' vision of the world ? Which reference appears in all the texts which also appears in the painting above ?

3. Compare these different paintings representing the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple :

• this one by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in 1342
• this one by Gentile da Fabriano in 1423
• this one by Giovanni Bellini in 1459
• this one by Carpaccio in 1510

Do you see an evolution in the way the painters represent the same scene ? What do you think this evolution has to do with what you have learned about the new ways of thinking of that era ?