Why We Study Art: Introducing Crash Course Art History

Crash Court Art History Preview (2:26): "Over the next 22 episodes, Sarah Urist Green will explore the hidden stories behind artworks. We’ll make connections across time and space, unlock the secrets of the past, and look ahead to the art of the future." Transcript. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6RJUzuVq4w Key texts cited include: Art History Volume 1, 6th edition …

The Medici – Godfathers of the Renaissance

Tsenka Stoycheva: "From a small Italian community in 15th century Florence, the Medici family would rise to rule Europe in many ways. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would also ignite the most important cultural and artisitc revolution in Western history- the European Renaissance. But …

Why Care About the Renaissance?

A student assigned to an open-book, use-the-Internet quiz of multiple-choice questions about the Renaissance can't bother to finish even half the quiz, and turns it in with 30 minutes left in class. This communicates: "I don't care about this history! I don't consider it MY history." I wish she had said what she was thinking, …

The Renaissance: A Short History

The Modern Library Chronicles in the early 21st century produced a series of short 150-page histories intended to introduce the ''general, nonspecialist reader" to periods of history, beginning with topics like "pre-history" and the evolution in meaning of "freedom." Paul Johnson's short history of the Renaissance for the Modern Library is, according to a NYT …

What Machiavellian Really Means

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUlGtrHCGzs&t=25s Ted-ed: "From Shakespeare’s plays to modern TV dramas, the unscrupulous schemer for whom the ends always justify the means has become a familiar character type we love to hate. For centuries, we’ve had a single word to describe such characters: Machiavellian. But is it possible that we’ve been using that word wrong this whole …

Michelangelo’s Italy. How Did It Produce Such A Genius?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcENr29rZr0 Michelangelo (1475-1564) was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet of the High Renaissance born in the Republic of Florence. He exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. European Tour guide Rick Steves offered this lecture by Gene Openshaw, co-author of Rick Steves' Europe 101: History & Art, as he shares …

Sir Thomas More, Man of Conscience and Principle, Rebelled Against King Henry VIII’s Ban on Catholicism

In the 1950s and 1960s, A Man for All Seasons, a play and movie, helped to diminish anti-Catholic bias in American society by telling the story of Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535), an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist who also served as English King Henry VIII's chancellor. He is …

Borgias Played Critical Role in Protestant Reformation, Renaissance, Colonialism, Columbian Exchange

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK6t8VpuFQg&t=19s In this video, Ryan Reeves, (PhD Cambridge) an Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, explains why the Borgia dynasty is, after more than 500 years, "remembered even today as something of a soap opera." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItLou92CsEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpY1_iCUUa8 Popularized by a three-season TV series on various streaming services, the Borgias had a reputation …

11 Broadway Musicals That Illuminate History

One unusual way to learn history is through music. Broadway musicals illuminate the past in ways that dry textbooks cannot. Examples: "Something's Rotten" -- a musical comedy about the English Renaissance, how Shakespeare stole with impunity from other writers and poets (no copyright laws).  Here are two numbers: "Welcome to the Renaissance" and "Black Death." …

Introducing the Renaissance (1300s-1500s) and Humanism

During the European Renaissance (1300-1600), the intellectual movement of humanism emerged. History teacher Paul Sargent defines the Renaissance, describes the movement of humanism and profiles four major figures of the movement: Petrarch (1304-1374), Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457), Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), and Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494). Sargent points out that during the Renaissance, citizens renewed their belief …