Instructor Manual: Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081; Chapter 11: 1400-1500
Instructor Manual
Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081;
Chapter 11: 1400-1500
TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Chapter Explores..........................................................................................................2
Figure List.........................................................................................................................2
Chapter Highlights..............................................................................................................2
Chapter Outline.................................................................................................................3
Discussion Questions...........................................................................................................4
Activities and Assignments...................................................................................................4
Additional Resources...........................................................................................................5
Spotify Playlist............................................................................................................................................5
Internet and Media Resources.................................................................................................................. 5
Cengage Supplements.........................................................................................................6
Appendix..........................................................................................................................7
Generic Rubrics.......................................................................................................................................... 7
Standard Writing Rubric.............................................................................................................................7
Standard Discussion Rubric........................................................................................................................8
© 2026 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly 1
accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081; Chapter 11: 1400-1500
THIS CHAPTER EXPLORES
• Crosscurrents: Venice and its encounters with the East
• The Ottoman conquest of Byzantium
• Flanders: The financial capital of northern Europe
• Realism and symbolism in Flemish painting
• Gutenberg’s printing press and the export of humanist learning
• The rebirth of Classicism in “Renaissance” Florence
• The Medici merchant-princes: power, politics, patronage
• The Platonic Academy in Florence
• The place of women in Renaissance Italy
• The visual arts and music in Quattrocento Florence
• Faith and power in Iberia: From convivencia to inquisition
• Crossing the Atlantic: Spanish and Portuguese ventures and discoveries
• Portugal, Africa, and the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade
• Black Africans in 15th-century paintings
• Fifteenth-century empires in the Americas: Aztec and Inka
• Sustaining the sun: ritual blood sacrifice in Aztec belief
• The Aztec codices and the Nahuatl writing system
• The Inka Empire: “Land of Four Quarters” and “Navel-of-the-World”
• Inka material culture: Silver and gold, fiber and cloth
[return to top]
FIGURE LIST
Refer to the Complete List of Figures, located in the Instructor Companion Site. This spreadsheet
contains all the figures in Cultures and Values, 10th edition and is designed for easy searching and
filtering.
[return to top]
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
Refer to the Transition Guide for information about the exciting features in this chapter.
[return to top]
CHAPTER OUTLINE
The following section outlines the chapter content.
© 2026 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly 2
accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081; Chapter 11: 1400-1500
Crosscurrents: Christian Europe and the Ottoman Turks
a. The Bellini Portrait
b. Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire in the 15th Century
The 15th Century in Northern Europe and Italy
I. Secular Painting
a. Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife: A Portrait for and of Its Time
II. Northern Europe
a. Flanders and France: The House of Valois
b. Flemish Art
III. Quattrocento in Italy
a. Florence
b. The Medici Era in Florence
c. The Place of Women in Renaissance Italy
d. Florence after Lorenzo de’ Medici
IV. Renaissance Art in Italy
a. Art in Florence
b. Sculpture
c. Painting
d. Architecture
e. Music in the Medici Era
The Iberian Peninsula
I. Spain
a. The Nasrid Dynasty at the Time of the Reconquest
b. Marker Dates: 1491 and 1492
c. Further Explorations
II. Art and Architecture under the Catholic Monarchs
III. Portugal
The Americas
I. Aztec
a. Tenochtitlán
b. Music and Poetry
II. Inka
a. Cusco
b. Machu Picchu
c. Inka Material Culture
d. Language, Writing, and Record Keeping
[return to top]
© 2026 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly 3
accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081; Chapter 11: 1400-1500
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Regardless of whether your class is taught in-person or virtually, you can assign these questions several
ways: in a discussion forum in your LMS; as content for creating in-class polls using online polling tools
or the MindTap mobile application; as whole-class discussions in person; or as a partner or group activity
in class.
1. What lessons can we learn about artistic and intellectual work in a society by considering the
patronage of the Medici family? Is there anything analogous to the Medici family in the
patronage of arts and research nowadays?
2. Chapter 11 states that, rather than being simply a “rebirth” of Classical ideals, the Renaissance
was actually motivated by a desire for synthesis of Classical antiquity with the needs and goals of
the 15th century. In light of this, “Renaissance” is something of a misnomer. What might be a
more fitting term for the era? Discuss and debate suggestions for a new term.
3. Contrast Pico’s faith with the faith of Dante. How do these differences illustrate the general
differences between the Medieval and Renaissance points of view?
4. How are characteristics of the Renaissance evident in Masaccio’s The Holy Trinity (Fig. 11.16A),
Ghiberti’s “Gates of Paradise” (Fig. 11.11A), and Brunelleschi’s Duomo (Fig. 11.20A)?
5. Contrapposto gives motion to a figure, making it seem more alive and more human. The
textbook notes the use of contrapposto in the David sculptures (Figs. 11-12 and 11-13), but can
you find examples of the contrapposto position in any of the paintings discussed in this chapter?
Does the technique seem different when used in a painting?
6. Listen to a 15th-century frottola, and then a madrigal by Francesco Landini (discussed in Ch. 10).
Discuss whether the shift to the Renaissance is as evident in music as it is in the visual arts.
7. In what ways did the Northern Renaissance combine elements from Medieval culture and the
Italian Renaissance?
[return to top]
ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS
The following are activities and assignments developed by Cengage but not included in the text, PPTs, or
courseware – they are for you to use if you wish.
1. Write a two-page “Oration on the Dignity of Woman.”
2. In the painting Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride, there are many symbols relating to marriage. If
van Eyck were painting a contemporary portrait of a newly married couple, what symbols would
he include? Make a collage representing this portrait.
3. Research one of the small states (Poitou, Berry, Auvergne) shown in Map 11.2. Find out
how/why this state was separate from the kingdom of France, and when it became incorporated
into France. Does that region nowadays bear any remnants of the history of the separate state?
4. Research the early history of the printing press and create a timeline charting the spread of the
technology throughout Europe and the Mediterranean world.
5. Research one of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest (in Brazil). Describe what you
can find out about their culture—their history, religion, social customs, food, family structure,
© 2026 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly 4
accessible website, in whole or in part.
Instructor Manual
Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081;
Chapter 11: 1400-1500
TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Chapter Explores..........................................................................................................2
Figure List.........................................................................................................................2
Chapter Highlights..............................................................................................................2
Chapter Outline.................................................................................................................3
Discussion Questions...........................................................................................................4
Activities and Assignments...................................................................................................4
Additional Resources...........................................................................................................5
Spotify Playlist............................................................................................................................................5
Internet and Media Resources.................................................................................................................. 5
Cengage Supplements.........................................................................................................6
Appendix..........................................................................................................................7
Generic Rubrics.......................................................................................................................................... 7
Standard Writing Rubric.............................................................................................................................7
Standard Discussion Rubric........................................................................................................................8
© 2026 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly 1
accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081; Chapter 11: 1400-1500
THIS CHAPTER EXPLORES
• Crosscurrents: Venice and its encounters with the East
• The Ottoman conquest of Byzantium
• Flanders: The financial capital of northern Europe
• Realism and symbolism in Flemish painting
• Gutenberg’s printing press and the export of humanist learning
• The rebirth of Classicism in “Renaissance” Florence
• The Medici merchant-princes: power, politics, patronage
• The Platonic Academy in Florence
• The place of women in Renaissance Italy
• The visual arts and music in Quattrocento Florence
• Faith and power in Iberia: From convivencia to inquisition
• Crossing the Atlantic: Spanish and Portuguese ventures and discoveries
• Portugal, Africa, and the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade
• Black Africans in 15th-century paintings
• Fifteenth-century empires in the Americas: Aztec and Inka
• Sustaining the sun: ritual blood sacrifice in Aztec belief
• The Aztec codices and the Nahuatl writing system
• The Inka Empire: “Land of Four Quarters” and “Navel-of-the-World”
• Inka material culture: Silver and gold, fiber and cloth
[return to top]
FIGURE LIST
Refer to the Complete List of Figures, located in the Instructor Companion Site. This spreadsheet
contains all the figures in Cultures and Values, 10th edition and is designed for easy searching and
filtering.
[return to top]
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
Refer to the Transition Guide for information about the exciting features in this chapter.
[return to top]
CHAPTER OUTLINE
The following section outlines the chapter content.
© 2026 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly 2
accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081; Chapter 11: 1400-1500
Crosscurrents: Christian Europe and the Ottoman Turks
a. The Bellini Portrait
b. Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire in the 15th Century
The 15th Century in Northern Europe and Italy
I. Secular Painting
a. Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife: A Portrait for and of Its Time
II. Northern Europe
a. Flanders and France: The House of Valois
b. Flemish Art
III. Quattrocento in Italy
a. Florence
b. The Medici Era in Florence
c. The Place of Women in Renaissance Italy
d. Florence after Lorenzo de’ Medici
IV. Renaissance Art in Italy
a. Art in Florence
b. Sculpture
c. Painting
d. Architecture
e. Music in the Medici Era
The Iberian Peninsula
I. Spain
a. The Nasrid Dynasty at the Time of the Reconquest
b. Marker Dates: 1491 and 1492
c. Further Explorations
II. Art and Architecture under the Catholic Monarchs
III. Portugal
The Americas
I. Aztec
a. Tenochtitlán
b. Music and Poetry
II. Inka
a. Cusco
b. Machu Picchu
c. Inka Material Culture
d. Language, Writing, and Record Keeping
[return to top]
© 2026 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly 3
accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Fichner-Rathus, Cultures and Values: A Global View of the Humanities, 10e, 9780357640081; Chapter 11: 1400-1500
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Regardless of whether your class is taught in-person or virtually, you can assign these questions several
ways: in a discussion forum in your LMS; as content for creating in-class polls using online polling tools
or the MindTap mobile application; as whole-class discussions in person; or as a partner or group activity
in class.
1. What lessons can we learn about artistic and intellectual work in a society by considering the
patronage of the Medici family? Is there anything analogous to the Medici family in the
patronage of arts and research nowadays?
2. Chapter 11 states that, rather than being simply a “rebirth” of Classical ideals, the Renaissance
was actually motivated by a desire for synthesis of Classical antiquity with the needs and goals of
the 15th century. In light of this, “Renaissance” is something of a misnomer. What might be a
more fitting term for the era? Discuss and debate suggestions for a new term.
3. Contrast Pico’s faith with the faith of Dante. How do these differences illustrate the general
differences between the Medieval and Renaissance points of view?
4. How are characteristics of the Renaissance evident in Masaccio’s The Holy Trinity (Fig. 11.16A),
Ghiberti’s “Gates of Paradise” (Fig. 11.11A), and Brunelleschi’s Duomo (Fig. 11.20A)?
5. Contrapposto gives motion to a figure, making it seem more alive and more human. The
textbook notes the use of contrapposto in the David sculptures (Figs. 11-12 and 11-13), but can
you find examples of the contrapposto position in any of the paintings discussed in this chapter?
Does the technique seem different when used in a painting?
6. Listen to a 15th-century frottola, and then a madrigal by Francesco Landini (discussed in Ch. 10).
Discuss whether the shift to the Renaissance is as evident in music as it is in the visual arts.
7. In what ways did the Northern Renaissance combine elements from Medieval culture and the
Italian Renaissance?
[return to top]
ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS
The following are activities and assignments developed by Cengage but not included in the text, PPTs, or
courseware – they are for you to use if you wish.
1. Write a two-page “Oration on the Dignity of Woman.”
2. In the painting Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride, there are many symbols relating to marriage. If
van Eyck were painting a contemporary portrait of a newly married couple, what symbols would
he include? Make a collage representing this portrait.
3. Research one of the small states (Poitou, Berry, Auvergne) shown in Map 11.2. Find out
how/why this state was separate from the kingdom of France, and when it became incorporated
into France. Does that region nowadays bear any remnants of the history of the separate state?
4. Research the early history of the printing press and create a timeline charting the spread of the
technology throughout Europe and the Mediterranean world.
5. Research one of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest (in Brazil). Describe what you
can find out about their culture—their history, religion, social customs, food, family structure,
© 2026 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly 4
accessible website, in whole or in part.
