In this forum, you will watch a video from the Art in the Western World series, by the Annenberg Project. The video is on the early phase of Renaissance Art — “The Early Renaissance.” The narrator is Michael Wood.

The Task

Please watch the video carefully. To do so, click on the link below. It will take you to the “Art of the Western World” homepage.

Once there, please scroll down to the list of series episodes, stopping at the one entitled “The Early Renaissance.” (episode 3). Be sure to watch both parts of this episode, each 30 minutes long.

In the first part of the video, the focus is on the rebirth of classical themes and humanistic ideas as featured in the Renaissance in Florence, Italy in the work of Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Ghiberti, and Botticelli.

In Part II, we see something else: Glowing color — made possible by the new medium of oil paint — and minute detail set the work of the Flemish masters Van Eyck and Grunewald apart from the Florentines. If you wish to view the video close-captioned, click on the ‘CC’ button in the video frame.

When you’re ready to watch the video (1 hour long), scroll down to the video program and click on its corresponding VOD (video on demand) box, on the right of the page. (Be sure your browser allows pop-ups!)

Here’s the video:

https://youtu.be/-9L866iME2s

After viewing the video and taking notes, please answer the following questions drawing upon two sources: 1. our textbook and 2.) the 60-minute video. Both. If you are not backing what you say in your answers with evidence drawn from these sources, you are not answering them correctly.

Give evidence to back all general claims that you make by using both of these sources. Good luck.

1. What role according to the video did Florence play in the artistic innovations of the Renaissance? Give three (3) instances and discuss each in a short paragraph.
2. Leonardi Bruni was a Florentine artist in this early period of the “New Spirit.” How did Bruni and others creatively alter earlier artistic conventions to bring this New Spirit about? Be specific, not general.
3. Much time is given in the video to the problem of the Duomo Cathedral in Florence and its unconstructed dome. It was a vast challenge. Who was given the commission to tackle this architectural challenge? More important, what was his solution? Discuss.
4. In what way did patronage of the arts shift in Florence and other city-states by about 1450? More important, how do you explain for this shift. Use the textbook here.
5. Art in the Northern Renaissance was different from that in the South. In what way?
6. Who was Claus Sluter? Why is he mentioned in this video? What does he add to the story of art in the Northern Renaissance?
7. We are told repeatedly by the textbook that the Renaissance was a secular movement or had secular concerns. What does ‘secular’ mean? Define it. Then explain why most of the art produced in this period had Christian subjects.
8. Art and the Patrons of Art bulk large in the Renaissance and for many reasons. Who was Nicholas Rolin? Why does Michael Woods, your narrator, dwell so long on this otherwise cruel Christian who pauperized many?