Florence Ballard

The Renaissance affected the flowering of culture in Europe socially with the revival of Greek and Roman arts as well as humanistic beliefs, politically with the flowering of arts affecting the leaders of cities and with the growth of the church, and economically in a lack of emphasis placed on wealth and an influx of improved inventions. Ancient Greek and Roman aspects, such as art and humanism, resurfaced during the Renaissance and affected Western Europe socially. An Italian scholar,…

Isabella D’Este: The Lady of the Italian Renaissance The regional courts in Italy during the Renaissance period of the mid-fourteenth to sixteenth centuries played a significant role in the nurturing, spreading and development of Renaissance ideas. “[T]he court [is] defined [as] the space inhabited by the prince, his consort, household, courtiers and officials;” The complex of court buildings usually encompassed a palace or castle where the ruler resided, surrounded by chapels,…

What makes a book stand the test of time, and also remain as a notable perspective within politics; having been written over five-hundred years ago? As for Machiavelli’s The Prince, scholars and politicians continue to find themselves drawing back to many of his perspectives on politics, and the qualities a good ruler. His insights on political leadership has sparked much debate over time, which is exactly why many continue to pursuit an understanding on his viewpoints, and their applications to…

Bernard Berenson was born in Lithuania in 1865, and moved to America when he was 9 years old. Berenson studied art history at Harvard on scholarship, and set off traveling Europe in 1887 with monetary help from patrons, specifically Isabella Stewart Gardner. When money started to run out Berenson still desired to stay in Europe, so he became active in the art market. In 1890 England, Berenson met his future wife, Mary Smith, and with her collaboration, began writing books on Italian art. His…

What does it mean to be Machiavellian? This could be defined in a number of ways but to begin I will start out with a simple definition. According to the Oxford English dictionary Machiavellian is defined as: Cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics or in advancing one’s career. Another site (dictionary.com) defines it as being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli 's “The Prince”, in which political expediency is placed above…

Following an event of such magnitude it shock the contemporary foundation of human society, an event that cut the human population nearly in half,1* it followed reason that many peoples faith would be put into question. This questioning of religious faith following The Back Death, led to a Renaissance. No longer did peoples lives revolve solely around religious faith, after what many felt was god abandoning them in there most dire needs, why would it? During a time that saw a complete breakdown…

Art is constantly changing. Styles come in and out of favor, subject matter old and new are painted and explored, and new techniques are developed. One major development and new technique that vastly changed art was the use of linear perspective during 15th Century Italy. As with any new technique, the use of linear perspective took a while to advance and become the mathematically based depth cue that people now know it as. In the beginning, it was simply the slight convergence of lines, not…

In The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli’s understanding of virtue and effective rule emphasizes the maintenance of political power and the disregard for morality, differing from the ideology of the classic political philosophers. Machiavelli’s concept of virtue is centered around the glorification of a ruler, facilitated by behavioural traits such as bravery, cleverness, deceptiveness, and ruthlessness. Effective rule requires these attributes, as the successful application of these characteristics…

sometimes referred to as “the first realist in politics,” wrote The Prince (1513) in an attempt to ingratiate himself to the ruling Medici family. The Medici family had dismissed him, suspected him of conspiracy, and banished him from the city of Florence only the year prior (1512). It is my contention that although, Machiavelli’s ideas do seem to be thrown – as accusations – in the politics of modernity, the charges are over-exaggerated. Further, most of the claims of Machiavellianism, when…

Renaissance Art and Era The Renaissance era began in Italy, however the time period that it began and ended in are highly debatable. Historians have an estimate that it lasted about 200 to 400 years, and either lasted between 1400 and 1600 or 1300 and 1700. The Renaissance era was heavily influenced by ancient Greece and Rome. Many new philosophies were developed during this time and many old philosophies aided this era in developing over time. The modern age was preceded by the Renaissance era…