5.11 Artists and Realism

Formal education was not the only way through which humanists shaped the minds of their age. Art, architecture and books were wonderfully effective in transmitting humanist ideas. Italian artists were inspired by studying works of the past. The material remains of Roman culture were sought with as much excitement as ancient texts. A thousand years after the fall of Rome, fragments of art were discovered in the ruins of ancient Rome and other deserted cities. Their admiration for the figures of 'perfectly' proportioned men and women, sculpted so many centuries ago, made Italian sculptors want to continue that tradition.

In 1416, Donatello (1386–1466) broke new ground with his lifelike statues — the first since antiquity to depict a free-standing nude (David) and a freely moving rider on horseback. Donatello's example showed sculptors that the human body itself, accurately observed, could be a subject worthy of monumental art.

5.11.1 Anatomy — Vesalius and the Dissection of the Human Body

Artists' concern to be accurate was helped by the work of scientists. To study bone structures, artists went to the laboratories of medical schools. Andreas Vesalius (1514–64) — a Belgian and a professor of medicine at the University of Padua — was the first to dissect the human body. This was the beginning of modern physiology^?. (NCERT also gives the European spelling 'Versalius'.) Vesalius published his findings in 1543 in On the Fabric of the Human Body, a book illustrated with woodcut diagrams of muscle and bone that became the standard text of European medicine for centuries.

5.11.2 Brunelleschi's Perspective and the Geometry of Painting

Painters did not have older works to use as a model. But they, like sculptors, painted as realistically as possible. They found that a knowledge of geometry helped them understand perspective^?, and that by noting the changing quality of light, their pictures acquired a three-dimensional quality. The use of oil as a medium for painting also gave a greater richness of colour to paintings than before. In the colours and designs of costumes in many paintings, there is evidence of the influence of Chinese and Persian art, made available to Europeans by the Mongols.

Thus, anatomy, geometry, physics, as well as a strong sense of what was beautiful, gave a new quality to Italian art, which was to be called 'realism'^? and which continued till the nineteenth century.

5.11.3 Leonardo da Vinci — "Disciple of Experiment"

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) had an amazing range of interests — from botany and anatomy to mathematics and art. He painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. One of his dreams was to be able to fly: he spent years observing birds in flight, and designed a flying machine. He proudly signed his name "Leonardo da Vinci, disciple of experiment" — a phrase that captures the entire Renaissance attitude to knowledge.

5.11.4 Raphael, Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel

Two artists shared the heights of the High Renaissance with Leonardo. Raphael Sanzio (1483–1520) brought a unique grace and harmony to his Madonnas and the great fresco The School of Athens, in which he portrayed Plato, Aristotle and his own teachers among the philosophers. Michelangelo (whom we met in Part 1) was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome between 1508 and 1512 — nine scenes from Genesis, including the famous Creation of Adam in which God's finger reaches towards the outstretched hand of the first man. NCERT records that he also sculpted The Pietà and designed the dome of St Peter's Church.

5.11.5 Oil Painting in Flanders

Italian painters increasingly used oil as a medium, but the technique had been pioneered earlier in Flanders (modern Belgium and the Netherlands) by painters such as Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441). Oil paint dried slowly, allowing layers of transparent glazes to be built up. The result was a luminous depth of colour that fresco and tempera could never match. By the early sixteenth century the Flemish technique had been adopted across Italy and was a defining feature of Renaissance painting.

5.12 Architecture — The Revival of the Classical Style

The city of Rome revived in a spectacular way in the fifteenth century. From 1417, the popes were politically stronger because the weakness caused by the election of two rival popes since 1378 had ended. They actively encouraged the study of Rome's history. The ruins in Rome were carefully excavated by archaeologists (archaeology^? was a new skill). This inspired a 'new' style in architecture that was actually a revival of the imperial Roman style — now called 'classical'^?. Popes, wealthy merchants and aristocrats employed architects familiar with classical architecture; artists and sculptors were also engaged to decorate buildings with paintings, sculptures and reliefs.

Some individuals were skilled equally as painters, sculptors and architects. The most impressive example, again, is Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564). Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446), the architect who designed the spectacular Duomo of Florence, had started his career as a sculptor. Italian architecture in the sixteenth century copied many features of imperial Roman buildings — domes, columns, semi-circular arches, pediments and symmetrical façades.

5.13 The First Printed Books — The Gutenberg Revolution

If people in other countries wanted to see paintings, sculptures or buildings of great artists, they had to travel to Italy. But in the case of the written word, what was written in Italy could travel to other countries. This was because of the greatest revolution of the sixteenth century — the mastery of the technology of printing^?. For this, Europeans were indebted to other peoples — to the Chinese, for printing technology, and to Mongol rulers, because European traders and diplomats had become familiar with it during visits to their courts. (This was also the case with three other important innovations — firearms, the compass and the abacus.)

Earlier, texts had existed only in a few hand-written copies. In 1455, around 150 copies of the Bible were printed in the workshop of Johannes Gutenberg (1400–58), the German who made the first printing press. Earlier, a single monk would have taken the same amount of time to write out just one copy of the Bible! By 1500, many classical texts, nearly all in Latin, had been printed in Italy. As printed books became available, students no longer had to depend solely on lecture-notes. Ideas, opinions and information moved more widely and more rapidly than ever before. A printed book promoting new ideas could quickly reach hundreds of readers. Individuals could now buy copies for themselves — and the reading habit began to spread among ordinary people.

The chief reason that the humanist culture of Italy spread more rapidly across the Alps from the end of the fifteenth century is that printed books were circulating. This also explains why earlier intellectual movements had been limited to particular regions.

5.14 The Aspirations of Women

The new ideal of individuality and citizenship excluded women. Men from aristocratic families dominated public life and were the decision-makers in their families. They educated their sons to take their place in family businesses or in public life — at times sending their younger sons to join the Church. Although their dowries were invested in the family businesses, women generally had no say in how their husbands ran the business. Marriages were often intended to strengthen business alliances. If an adequate dowry could not be arranged, daughters were sent to convents to live the life of a nun. Obviously, the public role of women was limited and they were looked upon as 'keepers of the household'.

The position of women in the families of merchants was somewhat different. Shopkeepers were very often assisted by their wives in running the shop. In families of merchants and bankers, wives looked after the businesses when the male members were away on work. The early death of a merchant compelled his widow to perform a larger public role than was the case in aristocratic families.

5.14.1 Cassandra Fedele and Isabella d'Este

A few women were intellectually very creative and sensitive about the importance of a humanist education. The Venetian Cassandra Fedele (1465–1558) wrote: "Even though the study of letters promises and offers no reward for women and no dignity, every woman ought to seek and embrace these studies." She was one of a handful of women who questioned the idea that women were incapable of achieving the qualities of a humanist scholar. Fedele was known for her proficiency in Greek and Latin, and was invited to give orations at the University of Padua. Fedele's writings bring into focus the general regard for education in that age. She was one of many Venetian women writers who criticised the republic "for creating a highly limited definition of freedom that favoured the desires of men over those of women".

Another remarkable woman was the Marchesa of Mantua, Isabella d'Este (1474–1539). She ruled the state while her husband was absent, and the court of Mantua, a small state, was famed for its intellectual brilliance. Women's writings revealed their conviction that they should have economic power, property and education to achieve an identity in a world dominated by men.

5.15 Debates within Christianity — The Reformation

Trade and travel, military conquest and diplomatic contacts had linked Italian towns and courts with the world beyond. The new culture was admired and imitated by the educated and the wealthy. Very few of the new ideas filtered down to the ordinary man who, after all, could not read or write.

In the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, many scholars in universities in north Europe were attracted to humanist ideas. Like their Italian colleagues, they too focused on classical Greek and Roman texts along with the holy books of the Christians. But, unlike Italy — where professional scholars dominated the humanist movement — in north Europe humanism attracted many members of the Church. They called on Christians to practise religion in the way laid down in the ancient texts of their religion, discarding unnecessary rituals which they condemned as later additions to a simple religion.

5.15.1 Erasmus and Thomas More — The Christian Humanists

Christian humanists like Thomas More (1478–1535) in England and Erasmus (1466–1536) in Holland felt that the Church had become an institution marked by greed, extorting money at will from ordinary people. One of the favourite methods of the clergy was to sell indulgences^? — documents which apparently freed the buyer from the burden of the sins he had committed. Christians came to realise from printed translations of the Bible in local languages that their religion did not permit such practices.

In almost every part of Europe, peasants began to rebel against the taxes imposed by the Church. While the common folk resented the extortions of churchmen, princes found their interference in the work of the state irritating. They were pleased when the humanists pointed out that the clergy's claim to judicial and fiscal powers originated from a document called the 'Donation of Constantine', supposed to have been issued by Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor. Humanist scholars (most famously Lorenzo Valla) were able to point out that this was not genuine, and had been forged later.

5.15.2 Martin Luther and the 95 Theses (1517)

In 1517, a young German monk called Martin Luther (1483–1546) launched a campaign against the Catholic Church and argued that a person did not need priests to establish contact with God. He asked his followers to have complete faith in God, for faith alone could guide them to the right life and entry into heaven. This movement — called the Protestant Reformation^? — led to the churches in Germany and Switzerland breaking their connection with the Pope and the Catholic Church.

In Switzerland, Luther's ideas were popularised by Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531) and later by Jean Calvin (1509–64). Backed by merchants, the reformers had greater popular appeal in towns, while in rural areas the Catholic Church managed to retain its influence. Other German reformers, like the Anabaptists, were even more radical: they blended the idea of salvation with the end of all forms of social oppression. They said that since God had created all people as equal, they were not expected to pay taxes and had the right to choose their priests. This appealed to peasants oppressed by feudalism.

Luther himself did not support radicalism. He called upon German rulers to suppress the peasants' rebellion, which they did in 1525. But radicalism survived, and merged with the resistance of Protestants in France, who, persecuted by the Catholic rulers, started claiming the right of a people to remove an oppressive ruler and to choose someone of their own liking. Eventually, in France — as in many other parts of Europe — the Catholic Church allowed Protestants to worship as they chose.

5.15.3 Henry VIII and the English Reformation

In England, the rulers ended the connection with the Pope. King Henry VIII sought a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon; when the Pope refused, Henry severed the English Church from Rome and made himself its head. From then onwards the king or queen was the head of the Church. In 1559 the Anglican Church was formally established in England, with the king/queen as its head.

5.15.4 The Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent

The Catholic Church itself did not escape the impact of these ideas, and began to reform itself from within. In Spain and Italy, churchmen emphasised the need for a simple life and service to the poor. In Spain, Ignatius Loyola, in an attempt to combat Protestantism, set up the Society of Jesus in 1540. His followers were called Jesuits^?, whose mission was to serve the poor and to widen their knowledge of other cultures.

The wider Catholic response to the Protestant challenge is usually called the Counter-Reformation^?. Its central event was the Council of Trent (1545–63), a long series of meetings of Catholic bishops in northern Italy that reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, banned the sale of indulgences for money, demanded better training for priests, and tightened the discipline of the clergy. The Council of Trent shaped the Roman Catholic Church for the next four hundred years.

5.16 The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries — A Chronology

5.17 The Copernican Revolution — Science Replaces Earth-centred Belief

The Christian notion of man as a sinner was questioned from an entirely different angle — by scientists. The turning point in European science came with the work of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), a contemporary of Martin Luther. Christians had believed that the earth was a sinful place and that the heavy burden of sin made it immobile. The earth stood at the centre of the universe, around which moved the celestial planets.

Copernicus asserted that the planets, including the earth, rotate around the sun. A devout Christian, Copernicus was afraid of the possible reaction to his theory by traditionalist clergymen. For this reason, he did not want his manuscript, De Revolutionibus^? ('The Rotation'), to be printed. On his deathbed, he gave it to his follower, Joachim Rheticus, who saw it through the press in 1543.

5.17.1 Kepler, Galileo and the Scientific Revolution

It took time for people to accept Copernicus's idea. It was much later — more than half a century later, in fact — that the difference between 'heaven' and 'earth' was bridged through the writings of astronomers like Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) and Galileo Galilei (1564–1642). The theory of the earth as part of a sun-centred system was made popular by Kepler's Cosmographical Mystery, which demonstrated that the planets move around the sun not in circles but in ellipses. Galileo confirmed the notion of the dynamic world in his work The Motion. This revolution in science reached its climax with Isaac Newton's theory of gravitation, published in his Principia Mathematica in 1687.

5.17.2 Reading the Universe — Knowledge from Observation

Galileo once remarked that the Bible, which lights the road to heaven, does not say much about how the heavens work. The work of these thinkers showed that knowledge, as distinct from belief, was based on observation and experiments. Once these scientists had shown the way, experiments and investigations into what came to be called physics, chemistry and biology expanded rapidly. Historians were to label this new approach to the knowledge of man and nature the Scientific Revolution^?.

Consequently, in the minds of sceptics and non-believers, God began to be replaced by Nature as the source of creation. Even those who retained their faith in God started talking about a distant God who does not directly regulate the act of living in the material world. Such ideas were popularised through scientific societies that established a new scientific culture in the public domain. The Paris Academy, established in 1670, and the Royal Society in London for the promotion of natural knowledge, formed in 1662, held lectures and conducted experiments for public viewing.

5.18 Geographical Discoveries — Sailing Beyond the Mediterranean

Alongside the cosmic revolution, a geographical revolution was reshaping the European mind. New techniques of navigation — the compass, the astrolabe, better ships and improved cartography — enabled people to sail much further than had been possible earlier. In 1484 Portuguese mathematicians calculated latitude by observing the sun. In 1492 Christopher Columbus reached America. In 1569 Gerhardus Mercator prepared his cylindrical map of the earth. By the early sixteenth century the long-held Europe-centric view that the Mediterranean Sea was the centre of the world was dead.

The cultural changes in Europe at this time were not shaped only by the 'classical' civilisation of Rome and Greece. The archaeological and literary recovery of Roman culture did create great admiration for that civilisation. But technologies and skills in Asia had moved far ahead of what the Greeks and Romans had known. The expansion of Islam and the Mongol conquests had linked Asia and North Africa with Europe — not politically, but in terms of trade and of the learning of skills. Europeans learned not just from the Greeks and Romans, but from India, Arabia, Iran, Central Asia and China. These debts were not acknowledged for a long time because, when the history of this period started to be written, historians saw it from a Europe-centred viewpoint.

5.19 Putting It Together — A New World View

By 1700 a quietly different European had emerged from the workshop of the Renaissance, the press of Gutenberg, the pulpit of Luther and the telescope of Galileo. Art was driven by anatomy and geometry, not by saintly convention. Books in vernacular languages — German Bibles, English Bibles, Italian poems — circulated in the thousands. Christianity had split: Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans and Catholics would divide the European map permanently. The earth had been demoted from cosmic centre to mere planet, and Newton had given the universe a single mathematical law. The Mediterranean was no longer 'the' sea; the Atlantic and Indian oceans were now Europe's highways. In the next part we will close the theme with a critical reconsideration of whether all of this really constituted a single 'Renaissance'.