Module2TheRenaissance-Period1索材外研版選修8

1、Module2 The Renaissance- Periodl 索材外研版選修 8Part Two Teaching Resources第二局部教學(xué)資源Section 1 Background Readings for Module 2 theRenaissance1. RenaissanceRenaissancemarks a tran siti on from the medieval to the moder n world. Gen erally, it refers to the period between the 14th and mid 17th centuries. It

2、first started from Italy and then spread all over Europe. The renaissanee, which means “ebirth or “bvival ,is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography and astrology, the religious ref

3、ormation and the economic expa nsion. The Ren aissa nee, therefore, in esse nee, is a historical period in which the Europea n huma nist thin kers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising

4、bourgeoisie, and to recover the purity of the early church from the corruptio n of the Roma n Catholic Church.Some Renaissanee personalityrtiusicians: Guillaume Dufay was a famous Renaissaneecomposer, who started a new generation of music. One of Dufay ' most famous breakthroughs was to write mu

5、sic for in strume nts and not just for singing. Guillaume Dufay was also the first composer to use a folk song in the mass. A mass is a group of songs sung to honour God in the Roma n Catholic Church.Scie ntist: Galileo was one of the chief foun ders of moder n scie nee. His greatest achieveme nts w

6、ere his telescope and the laws of motio n. They cha nged the way people view the uni verse. In 1610 he went to Florence to con ti nue his studies of the heave ns where he found the truth of Coper ni cus 'theory .In 1632 he published an importa nt book of the dialogues concerning the two chief wo

7、rld systems of Ptolemy and Coper ni cus.Writer: Shakespeare was known as the greatest dramatist and poet to write in the English Ian guage. Shakespeare in flue need literature and is looked up to for his great works. Some plays he wrote are Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Richard III, and Romeo and Juliet. B

8、esides, he also wrote A Midsummer Night' Dream, which is a comedy. Shakespeare also wrote sonnets and narrative poems.Artist: Michelangelo could possibly be the greatest artist and sculptor. His paintings and sculptures have changed the meanings of art forever. His greatest glory, painting the S

9、istine Chapel, bega n in 1508, and was completed in 1512. His carvi ngs in elude Mado nna of the Stairs,Pieta, and so on.Architect: Leon Battista Alberti was known as the father of modern architecture. He was an ideal Renaissanee man, and contributed a lot to the development of architectural styles

10、in the Renaissanee. Alberti designed the church Sant' Andrea. He also redesigned the Santa Maria Nevella, Which was one of the most elaborate and brilliant pieces of that period.2. The Mona LisaThe Mona Lisa is probably the most famous painting in the world, although it was relatively unknown un

11、til the end of the 19-th century, when symbolist artists took it as the perfect embodiment of universal femininity and brought it to the world's attention. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) pa inted a portrait of Lisa Gherardi ni in 1503-1506. Lisa was the wife of a Flore ntine silk mercha nt. When

12、the painting was bought from Leon ardo by King Francis I of France for 4000 gold coins in 1517, it was known by the French version of its Italia n n ame: La Joc on de. It is only in En glish that is known as Mona (Madam) Lisa. The painting is 77cm by 53cm in size and it was pain ted in oil paint on

13、a wood pan el. This is now deteriorat ing badly, and the Louvre is won deri ng what to do save it. It was stole n from the Louvre in 1911, and only found whe n the thief attempted to sell it to the Uffizi Galleryin Flore nee for $100,000 27 mon ths later. In 1956 it was damaged after acid was throw

14、n over the lower part of the pain ti ng. It took 2 years to restore it. Some one then threw a stone at it. In December 1962 it was taken to the USA and shown in New York and Washi ngton until March 1963; at the time the in sura nee valuation was for $100 millio n. In 1974 it was show n in Tokyo and

15、Moscow. While in Tokyo it was fitted with a bulletproof triplex glass box complete with a built -in air-c on diti oner to keep it at the right temperature and humidity .In 2005, the painting was moved to a new location in the Louvre in Paris, where it was the most visited piece in the collecti on of

16、 6000 paintin gs. 1500 people visit it in an hour on average, most spe nding no more tha n 3 minu tes in front of the pain ti ng. The most freque nt comme nt made by the visitors is Isn 'tit small? The Louvre also makes a lot of money from La Joc on de, selli ng 330,000 gifts related to the pain

17、 ti ng every year.Leonardo da Vinci was a master of design, engineering, science and invention as well as a master of art. Yet most people recog nize Leon ardo, one of the greatest artists of the Ren aissa nce, as the pain ter of the Mona Lisa.The Mona Lisa, the picture of a Florentine lady, has som

18、eth ing of a magical effect. Every one who has ever tried to draw a face knows that what we call its expression rests mainly two things: the corner of the mouth, and the corners of the eyes. Now it is exactly these parts which Leonardo has left indistinet on purpose by letting them fade into a soft

19、shadow. That is why we never quite sure whether Mona Lisa is happy or sad whe n she looks at us. Her expressi on always seems to just escape us. It's not only vagueness which produces the effect. There is much more behind it. If we look carefully at the picture, we can find that the two sides do

20、 not quite match. As a result, whe n we focus on the left side of the picture, the woman looks somehow taller than if we focus on the right side. And her face also seems to change with this change of position. Leonardo da Vinci produced a great work of art, for he knew exactly how far he could go. L

21、ook at the way in which he modeled the hand, or the sleeves with their small folds. Leon ardo could be as hardwork ing as any of the an cie nt people in the patie nt observati on of n ature. He knew the magic which would put life into the colours spread by his magic brush.3. HumanismHumanism is the

22、essence of the Renaissance. Humanism is a system of beliefs upheld by writers and artists of the Renaissanee period in their fighting against medieval asceticism. It states that man is godly, that man is able to find truth, good ness and beauty, and that man is in con trol of the prese nt life rathe

23、r tha n being con trolled by God. Briefly, huma nism puts man at the cen ter of their beliefs and takes man to be the measure of every thing while the former asceticism puts God at the center of their beliefs and takes personal salvation to be the most important thing on the earth for man.4. Renaissance in Denmark2006 has bee n desig nated the year of the Ren aissa nee in Den mark. To mark the occasi on, an exciting array of cul