1. What were the essential values of the Renaissance, and how did these differ from the values of the Middle Ages? How did Renaissance thinkers' understanding of and attitude toward the classical world differ from those of medieval thinkers?
2. What was Renaissance humanism? How did it emerge in Florence? Who were the major humanists, and what did they contribute to the development of humanism?
3. What philosophical ideas were encouraged by humanism? Who were the major thinkers, and what did they contribute to the development of philosophy? What was the Florentine Academy, and what role did it play in that development?
4. How did humanism regard history, and how did that attitude evolve? What humanists wrote history, and what did they try to achieve through their work?
5. How did Savonarola rise to power in Florence, and what does his rise suggest about the effect of humanism on Florentine society?
6. What are the basic principles of Machiavelli's political thought, and how did these represent a break with classical and medieval political thought? What, according to Machiavelli, are the hallmarks of a successful ruler, and what values will most effectively lead him to success?
7. What social ideals did Castiglione promote? What relationship do these have to Machiavelli's political ideals? What role do women play in Castiglione's social world?
8. Who were the major theorists of Renaissance art? What concepts did they develop, and what was the importance of those concepts?
9. How did sculpture, architecture, and painting develop during the Early Renaissance? What ideals did these arts try to embody? Who were the major figures in each of these arts, and what did they accomplish?
10. How did art and architecture develop during the High Renaissance? What ideals did these arts try to realize? Who were the major figures in each of these arts, and what did they accomplish? Under what circumstances did Rome and Venice come to rival Florence as centers of artistic innovation?
11. What events occasioned the rise of Mannerism? How did Mannerism break with the values of High Renaissance art? Who were the major Mannerists, and how do their works exemplify Mannerist principles?
12. In what respects did Italian music of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries continue the medieval tradition? What innovations emerged after 1550, and for what important later development did they pave the way?
13. How did Italian Renaissance art and thought mark the beginning of modernity?