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Notebook Page 25:

Early-Modern Art
and Literature
Period 2: 1450 CE – 1750 CE
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Impact of Prosperity
The development of world trade networks developed and run by the
Europeans, as well the formation of massive land empires created prosperity

Never before had so many goods existed and been exchanged

The increasing security and organization of large swathes of territory

and people in the Islamic world, Russia, and India also created stability

This allowed peasants and workers to work in peace, creating more

goods, and having those goods traded across the world by Europeans

As a result, rich merchants, gentry, and royal families had far more money
to spend on luxury goods, art, science, and literacy—all gaining popularity
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Early-Modern Art
As the gentry, merchants, and royals became more rich, they spent far
more on demonstrating their wealth through patronizing (paying for) art

One of the more popular forms of art in Europe was Renaissance Art: art
inspired by Classical Rome and Greece (marble statues, columns, & paintings),
as well as the individualistic and secular themes of humanism (scholarly, political,
and artistic emphasis on human life rather than the Divine)

In the Ottoman and Qing empires, portraits were popularized, partic-

ularly those patronized by the emperors and elites of themselves

In Tokugawa Japan, a new form of art was popularized known as woodblock print

Images were carved onto wood blocks and stamped with various colors to paper
Renaissance Art: School of Athens
Japanese Woodblock Print
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Literature and Performing Arts

Richer gentry, merchants, nobles, and royals were also able to fund writers
and playwrights that both captured the culture of the 16 th and 17th centuries

These writers were also able to further develop languages into the
modern languages were know today as English, French, German, etc.

Writers like Shakespeare (English) and Cervantes (Spanish) not

only captured the culture of their time, but they developed the
common vernacular language and grammar rules we see today

They became so famous, they were often funded by kings and queens, such as
Queen Elizabeth of England, and their works spread quickly due to the printing press
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Continued
Outside of Europe, writers like Wu Cheng’en popularized
Chinese writing with the book Journey to the West

This was the best-selling book in the world for several centuries, as
Wu Cheng’en cataloged his journeys to the Islamic and European worlds

Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Cheng’en’s works all popularized their

languages, and helped increase literacy rates among their populations

• In addition to books, plays were also funded by royals and elites that
encapsulated the culture and languages of the time:
• Shakespeare: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, etc.
• Kabuki – Japanese style dance and drama with masks and heavy makeup
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The Scientific Revolution

As the Early Modern Era progressed, new technologies (telescope, vacuum tube),
and relaxed religious control (in Protestant states) allowed for new ideas

Old ideas, such as those of Aristotle’s view on gravity (heavier objects

falling faster), Galen’s view on the body (body comprised of four humors),
and the Bible’s view on the geocentric solar system were challenged

New ideas, like Copernicus’ heliocentric solar system (sun-centered),

and its confirmation by Galileo’s telescope, replaced the old, Classical ideas

The emphasis now was on evidence through math, observation, and experimentation:

• Galileo proving lighter objects fall equally with rocks (experiment on Leaning Tower)
• Newton proving universal laws controlled gravity and movement (Newton’s Laws of Motion)