Renaissance Men and Women Reading Cards

Renaissance Superheroes: Michelangelo

Painter & Michelangelo is the most celebrated Italian sculptor,
Sculptor painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High
Renaissance. He is considered to be the best sculptor
of all time! A number of Michelangelo's works in
painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most
famous in ever created! His output production was also amazing,

making him the best-documented artist of the 16th
century.

Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David,
were sculpted before the age of thirty! Despite his low
opinion of painting, Michelangelo also created two of
the most influential frescoes in the history of Western
art. His most popular frescoes are the scenes from
Genesis. on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Renaissance Superheroes: Leonardo Da Vinci

Many historians refer to Leonardo as the prime example of a" "Renaissance Man",
because of his unsurpassed curiosity. He was a polymath, or man of many
talents, as an inventor, sculptor, mathematician, painter and scientist. Still,
Leonardo is renowned primarily as a painter. Among the artworks he painted,
the Mona Lisa is undeniably the most famous of his portraits. He also painted The Last
Supper the most reproduced religious painting of all time.

His quest to become a skilled painter Sculptor,
led him to dissecting bodies and Inventor,
recording his findings in notebooks. In Scientist!
fact, he even wrote his notes
backwards so his secrets would be
concealed. Furthermore, he sketched
ideas for rudimentary helicopters,
bridges, underwater diving suits and
even flying machines!

Renaissance Superheroes: Dante Alghieri

Dante was a major Italian poet of the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance.
His Divine Comedy is widely considered the greatest literary work composed
in the Italian language and a true masterpiece of world literature. The Divine
Comedy was really a long poem that described a Christian journey through
the afterlife. The main character Virgil

journeys through hell and purgatory (a

place between hell and heaven where

Christians believed people worked to Fantastic
pay off their sins). Later, the book
describes heaven as paradise. His work Writer!

was one of the first to ever be written

in the local dialect and his writing style

became a model for future writers!

Renaissance Superheroes: Johannes Guttenberg

Inventor! Around 1450 a revolutionary printing machine was
created by the German, Johannes Gutenberg. His
printing press used moveable type to mass produce
documents and books, which replaced having to write
by hand. Before the printing press it would take four to five
months to write a book by hand. This new type of printing could
produce more than three hundred pages per day! This meant
that new ideas could be spread throughout Europe quickly, which
further inspired progress during the Renaissance. Furthermore,
as the Bible became accessible to all people, Christians began to
question the authority of the Church. This eventually led to the
reformation of the Catholic Church. Some historians refer to the
printing press as most impactful invention ever made!

Renaissance Superheroes: Titian

Powerful Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian
Painter! painters, equally able to paint portraits,
landscape backgrounds and religious subjects.
His painting methods, particularly in the way
he applied the paint and his
use of color, would influence
not only painters of the Italian
Renaissance, but future
generations of Western art!

Renaissance Superheroes: Albrecht Durer

Durer was an influential and brilliant painter, printmaker and theorist of
the German Renaissance. He established his reputation and influence across
Europe when he was still in his twenties! His high-quality woodcut prints were
among his most popular works of art. He
collaborated with the major Italian

artists of his time,

including Raphael, Giovanni

Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci. His vast Super
body of work includes engravings, Artist!
altarpieces, portraits and self-

portraits, watercolors and books. He

used principles of

mathematics, perspective and ideal

proportions, which made him a true

Renaissance thinker and artist!

Renaissance Superheroes: Andreas Vesalius

Super Andreas Vesalius was an anatomist, physician,
Scientist! and author of one of the most influential
textbooks on human anatomy, De Humani
Corporis Fabrica. He is widely acknowledged
as the founder of the study of human anatomy. He was
both a professor at the University of Padua and an
Imperial physician in the court of Emperor
Charles V. His research and curiosity about
the human body made him a true
renaissance superstar!

Renaissance Superheroes: Isabella I, Queen of Spain

Isabella I was married to Ferdinand II of Aragon. Together, this dynamic duo would unify
Spain. Her reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that
extended well beyond the borders of their kingdom! Isabella and Ferdinand are known
for being ruthless, but effective. They completed the Reconquista (reconquering Spain
for the Christians). They also ordered people to convert to Christianity or be subject to exile.

This particularly affected the Muslim and Jewish residents of

Spain during the Spanish Inquisition.

Most impressively, she is known for

supporting and financing Christopher

Columbus's 1492 voyage that led to the

opening of the New World and to the Unifier &
establishment of Spain as the first global Catholic
power who dominated Europe! It’s no
Hero!

wonder that Isabella was titled a Servant

of God by the Catholic Church in 1974!

Renaissance Superheroes: Elizabeth I, Queen of England

Fearless Firstly, England's defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588
Leader! associated Elizabeth with one of the greatest military
victories in English history. However, her period of
leadership is more noted for a period of growth in the
trade, education and the arts. For this reason, Elizabeth's reign is
known as the Elizabethan era. The period is famous for the
flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William
Shakespeare, which were created in the iconic Globe theatre.
Also, she is known for hiring pirates like Sir Francis Drake to steal
gold from weighted down Spanish Galleons returning from the
New World. It’s no wonder that Elizabeth I is acknowledged as a
charismatic, fearless leader of the Renaissance in England!

Renaissance Superheroes: William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor. He is widely
regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and sometimes ever! His
plays have been translated into every major language and are performed more
often than those of any other playwright! His early
plays were primarily comedies and histories, and these are

regarded as some of the best work ever

produced in these genres. Later, he

wrote mainly tragedies, including

famous works such

as: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear,

and Macbeth. These plays are Incredible
considered some of the finest works in Author!

the English language. In his last phase,

he wrote tragicomedies, also known as

romances, and collaborated with other

playwrights. The most recognizable play of this era is Romeo and

Juliet!

Renaissance Superheroes: Niccolo Machiavelli

Righteous Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance historian,
Leader! politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and
writer. As senior official of the Florentine Republic,
he was responsible for diplomatic and military
affairs. He was secretary Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512
at the same time when the Medici family were out of power. He
wrote his most popular work The Prince in 1513. In the Prince he
proclaimed that, “leaders should be feared and not loved.” He
also stated that, “a leader should be a master of war above all
else.” His harsh leadership style has awarded him the lasting
modern reference of being “Machiavellian” or exceedingly harsh
use of authority.

Renaissance Superheroes: Marco Polo

Awesome Marco Polo was an Italian merchant whose travels are
Explorer recorded in Livres des merveilles du monde (Book of
the Marvels of the World, also known as The Travels
of Marco Polo, c. 1300), a book that introduced
Europeans to Central Asia and China. He traveled to
China with his father and brother where he served
in Mongol leader Kublai Khan’s court. When he
returned, he explained to Europe the marvels that
he saw in China, including luxury items like silk and
porcelain. He inspired a new generation of traders
to travel to Europe to seek profit from new Chinese
products that were in high demand all over Europe.
Historians often credit Marco Polo for initiating the
economic backbone that would fuel the
Renaissance!

Renaissance Superheroes: Miguel Cervantes

Amazing Cervantes is widely regarded as the greatest
Author writer in the Spanish language. In fact, his
influence on the Spanish language is greater
than any other writer! For this reason Spanish is
sometimes called the “the language of Cervantes.” He is
most noted for writing a satirical story about the Middle
Ages called Don Quixote. The story is about the
adventures of man named Mr. Alonso Quixano who reads
so many chivalric romances that he loses his sanity and
decides to set out to revivechivalry, undo wrongs, and
bring justice to the world, under the name Don Quixote de
la Mancha.

Renaissance Superheroes: The Medici Family

The Medici Family was a wealthy merchant family from Florence, Italy.
Overtime, the family evolved into bankers, which financed new
Renaissance businesses. They grew extraordinarily wealthy from the
interest paid on the loans they made. Still, their most important
accomplishment is that they were patrons of the arts. They paid artists handsome

commissions to beautify Florence

with statues, paintings and

architectural wonders. Since there

was money to be made as an

artist, they provided great

incentive for artists to study and

create art in Italy. For this reason, Bankers &
the splendor of the Renaissance Patrons!
era is forever tied to the great

Medici Family!

Renaissance Superheroes: Nicolas Copernicus

Nicolas Copernicus proposed the theory that Earth and other planets
revolved around sun. He is responsible for defining modern astronomy
and for encouraging other scientists of the Renaissance to question
accepted faith-based beliefs of the Catholic
Church. He completed his book De revolutionibus

orbium coelestium (On the

Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres)

just before his death in 1543. The

completion of his book is considered Awesome
a major event in the history of Astronomer!
science, triggering what is referred

to as the Copernican Revolution,

also called the Scientific Revolution!

Renaissance Superheroes: Petrarch

Called the father of humanism because he believed that people
should focus on human values, capabilities and self worth instead
of faith. He was a well known poet that loved old books, collecting
a large library of Ancient Greek and Roman texts.
He encouraged studies of classical culture, which provided

humanists with a new way of looking

at life. Humanist study subjects of the

humanities or grammar, persuasive

language, speech, history, poetry and

moral behavior. Petrarch taught that Humanist!
humanists should use their minds to

question everything. This brought he

and his humanist followers into

conflict with the Catholic Church often

since the Church believed that life

after death was more important than

new discovery.