Abstract
This paper provides an overall history of the Church Santa Maria della Salute and explores its history and significance. It begins with an explanation why the Church was built following the bubonic plague and describes how it is still a source of inspiration to the citizens of Venice. It discuss unique architectural features of the church and provides a brief biography of the architect Baldassare Longhena.

From the Paper
"Anyone who has ever been to Venice and indeed perhaps even anyone who has merely dreamed of going to Venice will know the huge baroque church of Santa Maria della Salute. It is architecturally one of the most and probably the most important religious building in the city. It s distinctive shape, visible form all over the city, has greeted both visitors and natives since it was erected in the 17th century as an attempt to appease the heavens. This paper examines both the architectural and artistic significance of this building."

Tags:salvation, Mary, Byzantine, construction, Titian, Tintoretto, Palazzo, Pesaro, Grand, Canal, Baroque

Abstract
The Renaissance Challenge to Christian Humility? is an adequate subtitle for Pico Della Mirandola?s Oration upon Human Dignity. However, it must be qualified by the understanding that Mirandola did not mean to challenge Christian humility in the face of God, but rather in that of the Christian establishment

From the Paper
""The Renaissance Challenge to Christian Humility" is an adequate subtitle for Pico Della Mirandola's Oration upon Human Dignity. However, it must be qualified by the understanding that Mirandola did not mean to challenge Christian humility in the face of God, but rather in that of the Christian establishment. Mirandola's Oration does not pose any sort of defiance or affront toward God or the Christian faith; it merely affirms the right of a young individual to have and express opinions on complicated points of theology. As such, the work challenges the existing conventions of the Catholic church, as well as the historical attitude of man toward his place in the universe.

Mirandola's intent is easily misconstrued, because of his apparent arrogance toward God and the angels. In the beginning of the Oration, he asserts that man has the power to choose what he might..."

Abstract
This paper takes the viewpoint of comparing and contrasting two Chigi chapels in Rome. Exploring the themes of Catholicism in common and their due influence on cultural themes the writer discusses how each treats their approach differently. It looks at the art done by the artist, Agostino Chigi and how murals produced in different eras provide a different outlook on how the world and religions were perceived in those era's.

From the Paper
"Architecture cannot be understood outside the context of its time and place. Buildings reflect the tastes and aspirations of their builders, which in turn, reflect the hopes and goals of their societies. Architecture is a part of culture. Culture is a complex set of beliefs, some new, some old. Structures such as the Chigi Chapels in Rome are buildings that conform to a certain type. They are religious edifices that were constructed in Europe and during a period of European history when organized religion played a central role in daily life. The influence of the Roman Catholic Church extended to virtually every sphere of human existence, from the political to the social and artistic. The Chigi Chapel at Santa Maria del Popolo was also built at a time when the Church was under assault. The old unity of Latin Christendom had given way to the conflicting demands and ideals of Catholic and Protestant. In a similar way, the old medieval world was fighting for survival against the onslaught of bold new Renaissance concepts. The Triumph of Galatea much more directly speaks to these new ideals and the notions of building a new world that fused the classical ideal with the Christian present. Galatea is a single painting, set in a villa. It is a proclamation of a new way of thinking that is; however, conceived of as being natural and ancient. But, the ancient is something that must be studied and understood in order to be given new life. The Renaissance was a time of new ideas, yet in very traditional fashion, these Renaissance ideas were themselves purposeful attempts to restore the supposed glories of a past civilization. Artists and churchmen of the period looked to the Classical world as a source of inspiration for modern - that is Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century life. Their varying interpretations combined with contemporary exigencies to produce the arts of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The Chigi Chapel at Santa Maria del Popolo and the Triumph of Galatea are two works commissioned by the same patron and largely the work of a single great artist, but they approach Renaissance ideas from different perspectives. Each reflects one side of a complex equation, a balancing act between classical and modern, pagan and Christian."

Tags:renaissance, architecture, art, chapels, rome

Abstract
This essay discusses the primary significance of Pico Della Mirandola in the Western tradition. It first of all describes the circumstances surrounding the 1486 publication of the 900 theses, along with the 'Oration on the Dignity of Man', and explains what made it such a defining moment. The writer then describes the Neo-Platonist framework proposed by Mirandola, and through which are described the successive stages of man's ascent to higher planes of knowledge. Further, the writer explains in what ways syncretism is the key to Mirandola's thought. After a general overview of his syncretism it is shown how he harmonizes Plato and Aristotle, and how the end product is the celebration of the dignity of man and the investigative spirit that accompanies it.

From the Paper
"Pico Della Mirandola was a key figure of the renaissance. In his writings we discover a key influence that paved the way for the practice of humanism and science. In his own time he was seen more in the light of a mortal threat to Catholic hegemony. His publication of the 900 theses in 1486 is properly seen as a defining moment in the course of European history. The theses, along with its accompanying tract Oration on the Dignity of Man, represented an open challenge to the religious orthodoxy of the time, and at the same time was a trumpet call to the ideal free thought. Many identify this publication as the starting point of a series of events that culminated in the Protestant Reformation of Luther and the eventual downfall of the Catholic Church (Dougherty 141). By the same token the secular and scientific worldview that prevails today can be seen as the eventual outcome of the publication of the theses, even though the worldview of Mirandola remains strange to the modern mindset. God remains at the center of Mirandola's worldview even while he refutes the dogmas of established religion."

Tags:renaissance Italian humanism Neo-Platonism Aristotelianism, Catholic Church, protestant reformation

Abstract
The paper discusses how Renaissance Humanism (RH) is not primarily associated with advances in philosophy-thanks, perhaps, to the movement's focus on the arts and refusal to break completely with the teleological ethos of Scholasticism. The paper asserts that RH should nonetheless be considered an important bridge movement in philosophy, particularly in the realm of epistemology; RH's nuanced challenge of Scholastic epistemology accelerated the arrival of the Enlightenment-and, inevitably, the age of modern and post-modern philosophy. This paper focuses on three key RH figures-Petrarch, Galileo, and Pico della Mirandola-as progenitors of Enlightenment Humanism, particularly in the realm of epistemology.

From the Paper
"Renaissance Humanism (RH) is not primarily associated with advances in philosophy--thanks, perhaps, to the movement's focus on the arts and refusal to break completely with the teleological ethos of Scholasticism. RH should nonetheless be considered an important bridge movement in philosophy, particularly in the realm of epistemology. RH's nuanced challenge of Scholastic epistemology accelerated the arrival of the Enlightenment--and, inevitably, the age of modern and post-modern philosophy. This essay will focus on three key RH figures--Petrarch, Galileo, and Pico della Mirandola--as progenitors of Enlightenment..."

Tags:renaissance, humanism, epistemology

Abstract
This paper examines Giovanni Della Casa's Galateo. A treatise on manners produced in sixteenth century Italy it is a valuable historical source. In discussing social conduct and manners revelations are made of underlying morals, norms and values.

Abstract
This paper examines how Ann Radcliffe's "The Italian" uses the convents of San Stefano and Santa della Pieta to explore themes of seclusion, sanctuary, confinement. In particular, the paper looks at how each place brings the character of Ellena closer to understanding who she is.

From the Paper
"When Bianchi dies, Ellena's situation becomes markedly worse. She has lost (so far as she knows) her only living relative, so she has effectively lost her family name. Up to then, she has been living is relative seclusion in a house "a short distance to the west of the city" (10). She has lost this home where she could live respectably in a "veil of retirement" (9). Finally, she has lost her chaperone, so her virtue and character can be called further into question. She has been thrown into "a new and homeless world" (60)."

Tags:San, Stefano, Ellena, Santa, della, Pieta

Abstract
This paper critically analyzes the text of "Gift of the Magi" and argues that the story is effective because of its use of an omniscient narrator and a human, humorous touch. It also looks at the comparison of Della and Jim to the magi of Christian tradition as an incarnation of the "wise man" archetype.

From the Paper
"At first glance this metaphor comparing Della and Jim to the magi is a bit strange. After all, the archetypal wise man is aged, having learned all he could throughout a long life of study and contemplation, is most often male, reflecting the idea of knowledge as a masculine pursuit in most patriarchal societies, tends to lead a somewhat solitary existence, and whether he is rich or poor (and he is more often the latter), he is still usually well-respected in his community."

Tags:James, Dillingham, Young, pun

Abstract
The paper examines the works of several classicists to determine their viewpoints on the philosophical issues of "Who is Man?" and "What is Man's highest calling?". The paper shows the theories of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola in his "Oration on the Dignity of Man", of Petrarch through his poetry, of Saint Augustine in his "Confessions", of Teresa of Avila through her works, and of Shakespeare's "King Lear", who, although a fictional character, expresses the idea of royal power.

From the Paper
"Saint Augustine in his Confessions asks if being in the world a man can obtain a higher plane of spiritual existence. He uses his own life as an example of his journey to God. Certainly Saint Augustine would agree with the writings of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Augustine lived a baser life for a long time until he came to his own version of spiritual truth. He explored various philosophical thought including skepticism before he embraced the faith of his mother Monica. He didn't come into Catholicism easily but only after the deep internal thought and meditation that Giovanni Pico della Mirandola offers as the way to the higher spiritual plane."

Tags:Divine, Interior, Castle, Jesus, Christ

Abstract
This paper examines both sides of the balance between the individual and the community by analyzing the sources "Funeral Oration" by the great Athenian Orator Pericles, written in 431 B.C. and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola's, "Oration on the Dignity of Man" from the fifteenth century. The paper shows that in Athens the rights of the individual were limited and the community took precedence. It shows how on the opposite side of the spectrum is the Italian belief of the independent individual and boundless man. The paper also applies these theories to the present equilibrium between community and individual in America today.

From the Paper
"Has there ever been a stable balance between the rights and desires of the individual and of the community that have occurred and lasted in history? The essential need of civilization is an equilibrium between the individual and the community. If the rights and desires of an individual are emphasized more than the community a breakdown of society is inevitable. This imbalance places a stress on one idea and the other is abandoned. A basis that is not broad and equal in all importance will fail. An ideal balance is impossible to achieve; however, societies have tried to find a balance that would be most fitting for them and their time and that parallels the ideals they stand for. Their endeavors have been very different. This difference can be detected by analysis of historical documents that were written by people living in their respected time frame."

Tags:Peloponnesian, War, Athens