Daily Life
Plate 3
Merchants occupied a fairly high position on the Renaissance social scale. As trade expanded during this period, many members of the merchant class gained great wealth and power, often rivaling that of the nobility. Portrait of a Merchant, painted in the early 1500s by artist Jan Gossaert of the Netherlands, shows one of these wealthy businessmen surrounded by the tools of his trade—pens and paper, coins and scales.
Plate 5
Peasants made up about 90 percent of Europe's population during the Renaissance. They earned their living by growing crops and raising animals on land that usually belonged to other people. Peasant women took part in many of these tasks, including harvesting crops and raising animals, such as sheep and chickens. The painting Summer, by Francesco Bassano, shows farm workers gathering crops and shearing sheep.
Plate 7
During the Renaissance, dividing lines began to emerge between the "high" culture of the upper classes and the popular, or "low," culture of the common people. Nonetheless, popular forms of entertainment provided some "high" artists with subject matter. Jan Mostaert of the Netherlands, for example, painted The Egg Dance in the early 1500s. The peasant in the picture is attempting to dance around the egg on the floor without breaking it.
Plate 9
The Conjuror, by Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, features an entertainer using his skills to cheat his customers. As the magician causes a toad to come out of an audience member's mouth, an assistant spirits away the victim's purse. The piece reflects Bosch's dark, yet humorous, view of human nature.
Plate 11
The Protestant Reformation began in Germany and spread to many parts of western and central Europe. This painting by an anonymous artist shows a Protestant church in the French city of Lyon in 1564. A small-scale service, probably a baptism, is in progress. The minister delivering the sermon has one hand on the Bible and an hourglass beside him to remind him not to preach too long.
Plate 13
Real battles, like the mock battles of the jousting tournament, continued to involve armed knights on horseback. These mounted warriors were supported by foot soldiers armed with pikes (long poles topped by blades) and crossbows. Paolo Uccello's Battle of San Romano, painted around 1455, shows the prominent role of cavalry in Renaissance combat.
Plate 15
Another family grouping appears in Old Man and Boy, painted in the 1480s by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Grandparents and other relatives often played an important role in the emotional life of young children, at least until they reached the age of seven. After that, they often began some sort of formal education outside the home.
