My focus of study here in Italy is Renaissance and Modern History studies. I mostly focus on the Italian Renaissance and the culture of that time period. I am planning to do my dissertation in the future on Afro-European leaders of the Italian Renaissance, however, I would like to write not just about the ones in Italy but in other countries all over Europe during the "modern period" here on my blog. Starting next week I will write a post a week on these leaders; providing you with facts and ultimately ending with where their blood lines ended up today. But today I want to talk about the age of innocence, the romance period, the period of enlightenment and indulgence.
Italy brought the world out of the period of The Dark Ages with the dawn of the 'rebirth' or age of enlightenment, also known as the rinascimento aka renaissance. During the Dark Ages, there were numerous religious wars, pestilences, plagues, darkness. Most people could not read and the nobility had a strangle hold on the peasantry. The Church, was corrupt and controlled everything and women were subjugated.
The Renaissance brought about the Romantic Period of chivalry, courtly love, knights of valor, Protestantism, new ageism, literature, artistic expression, opera, the middle class, the use of the vulgar (layman's) language, literacy, polyglotism, new world discoveries, world trade and indulgence.
This is not to say the Age of Innocence was not fraught with problems, there were still wars, intrigue, over indulgences, assassinations, The Inquisition, modern slavery, Cristoforo Colombo, new world discovery* (yes I put it on both lists) and corruption. The church still had a stranglehold on power, but it was losing its grip on the minds of the people--well the more enlightened/educated group of people. The peasantry of course was still superstitious and easily controlled and many in the nobility as well. Latin was being used less in everyday life and literary works thanks to Dante Alighieri (Dante's Inferno) and the nobility were fighting wars in the name of God for power and nothing more. Seems things never change, eh?
The Renaissance produced the first world banking system courtesy of the Medici family, checks (as in check books), loans, patronage of the arts and greats such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Petrarca, Machiavelli, Casanova and Shakespeare.
Needless to say, I love this time period to say the least. In fact I truly believe that I lived a past life in Florence during this time period. I hope to eventually do a fashion shoot using the clothing from the Venetian Romantic Period and make-up. I have been spending lots of time looking for work and watching make-up tutorials on Youtube. For now I will leave you with my make-up inspiration of the day.
[slideshow]
