Renaissance

Question 1

Baldassare Castiglione

Answer 1

An Italian diplomat and writer who wrote a book describing the ideal member of the court and the ideal woman of the court. He lived during the High Renaissance.

Question 2

Petrach

Answer 2

A Tuscan poet from Florence who lived during the early Renaissance. He played a major role in the revival of classical texts of Latin antiquity due to his passion for these texts.

Question 3

Machiavelli

Answer 3

A political theorist who wrote “The Prince”, a book that taught rulers to be successful by balancing mercy and cruelty and rejecting Christian morality as necessary. He lived during the High Renaissance in Florence.

Question 4

Michelangelo

Answer 4

A sculptor who designed the Medici tomb, painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and sculpted “David”. He lived during the High Renaissance in Italy.

Question 5

Da Vinci

Answer 5

Often referred to as the ideal “Renaissance man”, he was a painter, sculptor, scientist, and architect from Florence whose drawings became the first modern scientific illustrations.

Question 6

Burckhardt

Answer 6

A Swiss historian who lived in the 19th century and wrote “The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy”. He gave the notion of history as “Zeitgeist”

Question 7

Renaissance

Answer 7

A period of cultural rebirth and revival of classical Greco-Roman ideals and literary and art forms that happened in Italy from 1350-1530.

Question 8

Pico della Mirandola

Answer 8

An Italian philosopher who lived in the mid-Renaissance. His book “Oration on the Dignity of Man” expresses his views that humans should be studied, as they are God’s unique creation

Question 9

Savonarola

Answer 9

A Dominican monk who took control of the Florentine republic after the Medici were removed from power. He opposed the papacy on grounds that it was corrupt and welcomed the French invasion as a “cure” to Italy.

Question 10

Peace of Lodi

Answer 10

A peace agreement created from 1453-1454 signed by major city-states of Italy: Florence, Milan, Venice, and Naples. It created peace for about 40 years.

Question 11

Naturalism

Answer 11

A value that developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It emphasizes accurate and natural depiction of natural surroundings including landscapes and the human body.

Question 12

Humanism

Answer 12

A value that developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It emphasizes the revival and study of the classic Greco-Roman fields of learning such as the belief of man as a proper focus of study. It also focused on reviving and correcting classical texts.

Question 13

Civic Humanism

Answer 13

A value that developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It emphasizes love for one’s city-state and serving it by being involved in politics and using one’s talents to serve the city-state’s greater good.

Question 14

virtú

Answer 14

A value that developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It emphasizes developing one’s talents to the fullest and being skilled in multiple fields to become the “Renaissance man”.

Question 15

secularism

Answer 15

A value that developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It emphasizes focus on one’s current life on Earth rather than focus on one’s next life (the afterlife or salvation).

Question 16

individualism

Answer 16

A value that developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It emphasizes separating oneself from the crowd and being an individual with unique ideas.

Question 17

materialism

Answer 17

A value that developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It emphasizes the belief that it is acceptable to accumulate wealth and goods and that they will not deny one entrance into Heaven.

Question 18

Donatello

Answer 18

A Florentine artist who lived in the early-middle Renaissance and was known for his variability and breaking of defined standards along with his skilled use of perspective.

Question 19

Raphael

Answer 19

A painter who lived during the High Renaissance and succeeded Bramante as the architect of the dome at St. Peter’s. He is known for a simple style and beautiful renditions of religious topics.

Question 20

Brunelleschi

Answer 20

An architect who lived in the mid-Renaissance and was the first to apply theories of classical architecture to the Foundling Hospital in Florence. He also oversaw the building of the dome on the Florentine cathedral.

Question 21

Bruni

Answer 21

A Florentine diplomat, scholar, and humanist who served as a chancellor on the Florentine government in the mid-Renaissance.

Question 22

Dante

Answer 22

A Florentine poet who lived slightly before the Black Death. He introduced Tuscan Italian as an exquisite language in his “Divine Comedy”, making him one of the most influential people in the development of the use of the Italian language.

Question 23

Boccaccio

Answer 23

A Tuscan born in the early Renaissance who wrote the book “Decameron”. He also wrote about pagan deities, challenging the Church for their control over the religious themes in literature and art.

Question 24

Vasari

Answer 24

A Tuscan painter who wrote “The Lives of the Most Illustrious Painters” and coined the term “Middle Ages”. He lived at the end of the Renaissance.

Question 25

Divine Comedy

Answer 25

A Tuscan poem written by Dante shortly before the Renaissance that incorporates Latin classical learning and Christian themes.

Question 26

Medici

Answer 26

A Florentine family who took control of Florentine political life in the mid-Renaissance and generally commissioned artwork by great artists.

Question 27

Ghiberti

Answer 27

A Florentine sculptor who designed the bronze doors for the Baptistry in Florence after winning a contest in 1401.

Question 28

Della Robbia

Answer 28

A Florentine artist living in the mid-Renaissance who brought the Renaissance to households below the princely level by setting up a highly productive art workshop.

Question 29

del Verrocchio

Answer 29

A Florentine artist living in the mid-Renaissance who was known to sculpt with metal and be very competitive.

Question 30

Alberti

Answer 30

A Florentine writer who lived in the mid-Renaissance and wrote “De re aedificatoria”, a very influential “how-to” architecture books that set standards and principles still in use today.

Question 31

Bramante

Answer 31

An architect from Urbino who lived during the High Renaissance. One of his most famous achievements is the design of St. Peter’s, which he notably increased in size.

Question 32

Rome

Answer 32

Italy, before, after, and during Renaissance period. A city-state that was a part of the Papal States and served as the influence for those who revived classical texts from antiquity. It was under papal rule.

Question 33

Venice

Answer 33

An Italian city-state during, before, and after the Renaissance period. It specialized in long-distance trade and the production of glass and had an oligarchic republic.

Question 34

Florence

Answer 34

One of the most important city-states of the Italian Renaissance. It was ruled by the Medici family (in the background), and its economy was based upon banking, trade, and wool. It produced many of the period’s greatest artists, sculptors, writers, philosophers, architects, and scholars.

Question 35

Milan

Answer 35

An Italian city-state during, before, and after the Renaissance period. It had a dictatorship and specialized in the production of armor. It allied with France in 1494 against Florence and Venice.

Question 36

Naples

Answer 36

An Italian city-state during, before, and after the Renaissance period. Its main economic specialization was agriculture. It had the least experience of the Renaissance culture and ideals

Question 37

Pope Leo X

Answer 37

A Medici pope who lived during the High Renaissance in Florence. He composed and played music himself and employed humanists as officials and envoys.

Question 38

Pope Julius II

Answer 38

The pope of Rome during the High Renaissance. He drove the powerful Borgia family from Rome and was an enemy of Alexander VI.

Question 39

Pope Alexander VI

Answer 39

The pope of Rome who divided the non-Christian world into zones for exploration and exploitation. He helped Louis XII invade France. High Renaissance.

Question 40

Cosimo de’ Medici

Answer 40

A wealthy Florentine banker who, with his family, took control of Florentine political life in the mid-Renaissance.

Question 41

Lorenzo de’ Medici

Answer 41

The Florentine grandson of Cosimo de’ Medici who survived an assassination attempt in the High Renaissance. He extended his family’s influence with the pope in Rome.

Question 42

Signoria

Answer 42

A government system that consisted of 9 members in Florence. They were elected by the guilds. They proposed laws and conducted foreign affairs. Renaissance period.

Question 43

Nogarola

Answer 43

A humanist from Verona who lived during the mid-Renaissance. She lived a quiet and religious life and apologized for the weakness of women’s nature, especially in the Garden of Eden.

Question 44

Masaccio

Answer 44

A Florentine painter who used mathematical laws to pioneer the technique of perspective. High Renaissance.

Question 45

Valla

Answer 45

A scholar who specialized in rhetoric during the mid-Renaissance. He traveled to Rome and Naples to lecture. He critically examined the Donation of Constantine and found it to be forgery. He believed that all ancient documents ought to be examined carefully, not just accepted as sacred.

Question 46

Mantegna

Answer 46

An artist who used the technique of foreshortening to create his painting “The Dead Christ”. Florence, High Renaissance.

Question 47

Ficino

Answer 47

A Florentine humanist and philosopher who lived during the mid-Renaissance. He combined Christian theology with Platonic ideals and emphasized the soul’s connection to God through knowledge.

Question 48

Vespasiano

Answer 48

A Florentine humanist and writer. He wrote “Lives”, a collection of short biographies of major Florentine figures. Mid-Renaissance.

Question 49

Giotto

Answer 49

Considered the first great painter of the Renaissance. He lived right before the Renaissance began. His paintings reflected humanity, emotion, and naturalism, something unseen since the classical age. Florence, late Middle Ages.

Question 50

La Gente Nuova

Answer 50

A set of people who suddenly became wealthy as a result of irregular inheritance due to the Black Death. They spent lavishly and commissioned artwork, helping boost the start of the Renaissance. Italy, early Renaissance.

Question 51

Sforza

Answer 51

A powerful Milanese family that began as condottieri and used their military positions to become rulers during the mid-Renaissance. They were patrons of da Vinci and Bramante.

Question 52

condottiere

Answer 52

A mercenary of common origins, they were central to the political and military situation in Italy. Renaissance period.

Question 53

Titian

Answer 53

A painter who lived in Venice during the High Renaissance. He was knighted by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He presented figures who had divine attributes but still retained their humanity.

Question 54

Erasmus

Answer 54

A Dutch Renaissance writer who lived during the High Renaissance. He wrote “In Praise of Folly” which criticized those who did not truly understand the meaning of being a Christian: imitating Christ.

Question 55

Botticelli

Answer 55

A humanist and artist from Florence who lived during the mid-Renaissance. He was the first to use ancient mythology for religious content, not only for subject matter.

Question 56

Guicciardini

Answer 56

A Florentine historian and writer who lived during the High Renaissance. He wrote “A History of Florence”.