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Fairy Tales.
Timeline of Italian Renaissance events from 1401 to 1559.
3
A DAY IN THE LIFE DURING ... THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
by Jacquelin Cangro
Meet Giuseppe, a young apprentice in a Venetian printing shop, and spend a day at work with him and his friend Marco.
4
THE BAPTISTERY DOORS COMPETITION
Cara C. Lubit
Learn about the competition to design new doors for a church
- and how it transformed the artistic career of Lorenzo Ghiberti
from accomplished master to Renaissance master.
6
MEDICI QUIZ: WHICH MEDICI ARE YOU?
Jacquelin Cangro
You probably have more in common with the Medici family than
you think. Take this short quiz and find out which family member
you are most like.
12
LEARNING LIKE DAVINCI
Julie M. Prince
Picture something you’ve always been curious about and
imagine that there is no one to teach you about the subject.
No Internet search engine to browse, no knowledgeable teacher
to question. Most people would just accept that they’d
never know the answers to their questions, but not DaVinci – find
out how his unconventional mind worked.
14
THE MYSTERY OF THE MONA LISA
Rachel Hartman
Look at her, and she may smile at you. Look again, and she
might not. Each year, six million people come to gaze at her
mysterious face. Images of this woman and her smile can be
found throughout the world. The Mona Lisa is considered to
be the most famous painting of all time – learn who the
woman in the painting is and the secret of her smile.
23
CARNIVAL! WHEN THE WORLD IS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
Shannon Shepherd
Carnival was one of the most important and popular festivals
in southern Europe. Read about what you could expect at a typical
Carnival festival
24
WHICH COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE CHARACTER ARE YOU?
Lauren Tunnell
Commedia dell’arte, a new form of theater, emerged in
Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These playful
comedies remained popular for more than two hundred years.
Commedia plays were never scripted. Each actor knew who his
or her character was and what that character’s role in
the story would be. Take our quiz to find out which of the
roles best suits your personality.
26
DARK END TO A GOLDEN AGE
Sylvie Richardson
On a cold February morning in Florence’s town square,
the Piazza della Signoria, a man of God swings by the neck
over a raging fire. Citizens cover their faces to avoid breathing
in the acrid smoke billowing from the gallows. Only twenty
years earlier Florentines could not have foreseen such a grim
episode in their city’s future. What went wrong? Learn
how the lives of one artist and one monk whose paths crossed
at this fateful time offer clues as to what happened in Florence
and, more importantly, why.
30
THE POWER OF MACHIAVELLI
G.J.Hamel
Tyrants and dictators have read a famous work of Machiavelli
and used its practical advice not only to crush their enemies
but also to oppress their own people. Find out what forces
shaped Machiavelli and whom he was writing about at the time.
34
THE SISTINE CHAPEL: JEWEL OF THE ROMAN RENAISSANCE
Peggy Wirgau
"The place is wrong, and no painter am I." This was
Michelangelo's first reaction when Pope Julius II approached
him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Finally, he
consented to undertake the enormous project – learn more
about the chapel that remains one of the most beautiful galleries
of art in the world and a tribute to many great Renaissance
artists.
37
THE BIRTH OF DAVID
Lauren Tunnell
Early in the morning of September 13, 1501, Michelangelo started
to work in the woodshed that was built for him on the cathedral
grounds. Day after day, alone in his workshop, he chiseled
away tirelessly on this creation. It was a monumental task,
and Michelangelo spent three long years on it. Uncover what
this creation was and how Michelangelo was the artist tasked
with it.
41
RAPHAEL: THE YOUNGEST OLD MASTER
Samantha Bell
Learn why sixteenth-century biographer Giorgio Varsari, wrote
these words about Raphael: “While we may term other works
paintings, those of Raphael are living things; the flesh palpitates,
the breath comes and goes, every organ lives, life pulsates
everywhere.”
44
WALK BACK IN TIME: THE UFFIZI GALLERY
Annie Laura Smith
A tour through the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, is a
walk back in time to the Renaissance. The museum is a showcase
for the Renaissance movement, one of the greatest periods in
the history of art – find out why.
49
ROME: A GOLDEN CITY IN RUINS
Deborah Bryson
In the spring of 1527, pilgrims and tourists crossed the many
bridges that spanned the Tiber River. Lush vineyards and flocks
of grazing sheep lay outside the city. Inside the walls, artists
and merchants flourished in the cramped and twisting streets.
The richest families lived in towers that studded the twelve
miles of city walls. When the sun went down on the evening
of May 5, 1527, the golden city of Rome overflowed with riches.
When the sun rose again on May 7, Rome lay in ruins, stripped
of its wealth and filled with thousands of dead and suffering
people. What happened? Let’s look back almost five hundred
years to find out.
53
MEDICI MYSTERIES: MURDER OR MALARIA
Jay C. Hammond
“When a Medici dies, the first assumption is arsenic,” according
to Richard J. Hamilton, a medical toxicologist at Drexel University.
That all the hundreds of Medici family members who have died
over the centuries were poisoned is certainly an exaggeration
and untrue. That doesn’t mean some of them weren’t
poisoned or murdered in more obvious ways. Until the Medici
Project exhumed the remains of several of the more notable
members of the Medici family, however, no scientific or forensic
proof of murder existed. We examine two of the more famous
cases.
57
ARTS & CRAFTS
Page
THE FLAVOR OF ITALY: STILL POULAR TODAY by
Christine Gable
10
CASCARONES OF THE RENAISSANCE by
Tiffany Fisher
22
MAKE A RENAISSANCE FRESCO by
Tiffany Fisher
48
LITERATURE STUDY GUIDES
Page
THE APPRENTICE (Middle School) by Catherine Morin
61
DANTE’S DIVINE COMEDY (High School) by L.S. Carlson and Jim Cort
62
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