Renaissance is the french word for

The Renaissance ( rin-AY-sənss, REN-ə-sahnss)^[1][a] is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas and achievements of classical antiquity. It occurred after the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages and was associated with great social change. In addition to the standard periodization, proponents of a «long Renaissance» may put its beginning in the 14th century and its end in the 17th century.^[3]

The traditional view focuses more on the early modern aspects of the Renaissance and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it was an extension of the Middle Ages.^[4][5] However, the beginnings of the period – the early Renaissance of the 15th century and the Italian Proto-Renaissance from around 1250 or 1300 – overlap considerably with the Late Middle Ages, conventionally dated to c. 1250–1500, and the Middle Ages themselves were a long period filled with gradual changes, like the modern age; and as a transitional period between both, the Renaissance has close similarities to both, especially the late and early sub-periods of either.^[b]

The intellectual basis of the Renaissance was its version of humanism, derived from the concept of Roman humanitas and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras, who said that «man is the measure of all things». This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, and literature. Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the revived knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of metal movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century, the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe: the first traces appear in Italy as early as the late 13th century, in particular with the writings of Dante and the paintings of Giotto.

As a cultural movement, the Renaissance encompassed innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literatures, beginning with the 14th-century resurgence of learning based on classical sources, which contemporaries credited to Petrarch; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering a more natural reality in painting; and gradual but widespread educational reform. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, and in science to an increased reliance on observation and inductive reasoning. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual and social scientific pursuits, as well as the introduction of modern banking and the field of accounting,^[6] it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term «Renaissance man».^[7][8]

The Renaissance began in Florence, one of the many states of Italy.^[9] Various theories have been proposed to account for its origins and characteristics, focusing on a variety of factors including the social and civic peculiarities of Florence at the time: its political structure, the patronage of its dominant family, the Medici,^[10][11] and the migration of Greek scholars and their texts to Italy following the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks.^[12][13][14] Other major centers were Venice, Genoa, Milan, Rome during the Renaissance Papacy, and Naples. From Italy, the Renaissance spread throughout Europe in Flanders, France, Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Hungary (with Beatrice of Naples), and elsewhere.

The Renaissance has a long and complex historiography, and in line with general scepticism of discrete periodizations, there has been much debate among historians reacting to the 19th-century glorification of the «Renaissance» and individual cultural heroes as «Renaissance men», questioning the usefulness of Renaissance as a term and as a historical delineation.^[15] Some observers have called into question whether the Renaissance was a cultural «advance» from the Middle Ages, instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and nostalgia for classical antiquity,^[16] while social and economic historians, especially of the longue durée, have instead focused on the continuity between the two eras,^[17] which are linked, as Panofsky observed, «by a thousand ties».^[18]

The term rinascita (‘rebirth’) first appeared in Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists (c. 1550), anglicized as the Renaissance in the 1830s.^[19] The word has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance (8th and 9th centuries), Ottonian Renaissance (10th and 11th century), and the Renaissance of the 12th century.^[20]

Overview

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence was felt in art, architecture, philosophy, literature, music, science, technology, politics, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art.^[21]

Renaissance humanists such as Poggio Bracciolini sought out in Europe’s monastic libraries the Latin literary, historical, and oratorical texts of antiquity, while the Fall of Constantinople (1453) generated a wave of émigré Greek scholars bringing precious manuscripts in ancient Greek, many of which had fallen into obscurity in the West. It is in their new focus on literary and historical texts that Renaissance scholars differed so markedly from the medieval scholars of the Renaissance of the 12th century, who had focused on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural sciences, philosophy, and mathematics, rather than on such cultural texts.

In the revival of neoplatonism Renaissance humanists did not reject Christianity; quite the contrary, many of the greatest works of the Renaissance were devoted to it, and the Church patronized many works of Renaissance art. However, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life.^[22] In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were brought back from Byzantium to Western Europe and engaged Western scholars for the first time since late antiquity. This new engagement with Greek Christian works, and particularly the return to the original Greek of the New Testament promoted by humanists Lorenzo Valla and Erasmus, would help pave the way for the Reformation.

Well after the first artistic return to classicism had been exemplified in the sculpture of Nicola Pisano, Florentine painters led by Masaccio strove to portray the human form realistically, developing techniques to render perspective and light more naturally. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe political life as it really was, that is to understand it rationally. A critical contribution to Italian Renaissance humanism, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola wrote the famous text De hominis dignitate (Oration on the Dignity of Man, 1486), which consists of a series of theses on philosophy, natural thought, faith, and magic defended against any opponent on the grounds of reason. In addition to studying classical Latin and Greek, Renaissance authors also began increasingly to use vernacular languages; combined with the introduction of the printing press, this would allow many more people access to books, especially the Bible.^[23]

In all, the Renaissance could be viewed as an attempt by intellectuals to study and improve the secular and worldly, both through the revival of ideas from antiquity, and through novel approaches to thought. Some scholars, such as Rodney Stark,^[24] play down the Renaissance in favor of the earlier innovations of the Italian city-states in the High Middle Ages, which married responsive government, Christianity and the birth of capitalism. This analysis argues that, whereas the great European states (France and Spain) were absolute monarchies, and others were under direct Church control, the independent city-republics of Italy took over the principles of capitalism invented on monastic estates and set off a vast unprecedented Commercial Revolution that preceded and financed the Renaissance.

Origins

Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in Florence at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, in particular with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the paintings of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337). Some writers date the Renaissance quite precisely; one proposed starting point is 1401, when the rival geniuses Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi competed for the contract to build the bronze doors for the Baptistery of the Florence Cathedral (Ghiberti then won).^[25] Others see more general competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, and why it began when it did. Accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins.

During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand. Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia and Europe. Silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Muslim world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa and Venice.^[26]

Jules Michelet defined the 16th-century Renaissance in France as a period in Europe’s cultural history that represented a break from the Middle Ages, creating a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world.^[27]

Latin and Greek phases of Renaissance humanism

In stark contrast to the High Middle Ages, when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics,^[c] Renaissance scholars were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical texts. Broadly speaking, this began in the 14th century with a Latin phase, when Renaissance scholars such as Petrarch, Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406), Niccolò de’ Niccoli (1364–1437), and Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459) scoured the libraries of Europe in search of works by such Latin authors as Cicero, Lucretius, Livy, and Seneca.^{[28][full citation needed]} By the early 15th century, the bulk of the surviving such Latin literature had been recovered; the Greek phase of Renaissance humanism was under way, as Western European scholars turned to recovering ancient Greek literary, historical, oratorical and theological texts.^{[29][full citation needed]}

Unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. Ancient Greek works on science, mathematics, and philosophy had been studied since the High Middle Ages in Western Europe and in the Islamic Golden Age (normally in translation), but Greek literary, oratorical and historical works (such as Homer, the Greek dramatists, Demosthenes and Thucydides) were not studied in either the Latin or medieval Islamic worlds; in the Middle Ages these sorts of texts were only studied by Byzantine scholars. Some argue that the Timurid Renaissance in Samarkand and Herat, whose magnificence toned with Florence as the center of a cultural rebirth,^[30][31] were linked to the Ottoman Empire, whose conquests led to the migration of Greek scholars to Italian cities.^{[32][full citation needed][33][full citation needed][12][34]} One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity.

Muslim logicians, most notably Avicenna and Averroes, had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Iberia and Sicily, which became important centers for this transmission of ideas. From the 11th to the 13th century, many schools dedicated to the translation of philosophical and scientific works from Classical Arabic to Medieval Latin were established in Iberia, most notably the Toledo School of Translators. This work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history.^[35]

The movement to reintegrate the regular study of Greek literary, historical, oratorical and theological texts back into the Western European curriculum is usually dated to the 1396 invitation from Coluccio Salutati to the Byzantine diplomat and scholar Manuel Chrysoloras (c. 1355–1415) to teach Greek in Florence.^{[36][full citation needed]} This legacy was continued by a number of expatriate Greek scholars, from Basilios Bessarion to Leo Allatius.

Social and political structures in Italy

The unique political structures of Italy during the Late Middle Ages have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy did not exist as a political entity in the early modern period. Instead, it was divided into smaller city-states and territories: the Kingdom of Naples controlled the south, the Republic of Florence and the Papal States at the center, the Milanese and the Genoese to the north and west respectively, and the Venetians to the east. Fifteenth-century Italy was one of the most urbanized areas in Europe.^[37] Many of its cities stood among the ruins of ancient Roman buildings; it seems likely that the classical nature of the Renaissance was linked to its origin in the Roman Empire’s heartland.^[38]

Historian and political philosopher Quentin Skinner points out that Otto of Freising (c. 1114–1158), a German bishop visiting north Italy during the 12th century, noticed a widespread new form of political and social organization, observing that Italy appeared to have exited from feudalism so that its society was based on merchants and commerce. Linked to this was anti-monarchical thinking, represented in the famous early Renaissance fresco cycle The Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (painted 1338–1340), whose strong message is about the virtues of fairness, justice, republicanism and good administration. Holding both Church and Empire at bay, these city republics were devoted to notions of liberty. Skinner reports that there were many defences of liberty such as the Matteo Palmieri (1406–1475) celebration of Florentine genius not only in art, sculpture and architecture, but «the remarkable efflorescence of moral, social and political philosophy that occurred in Florence at the same time».^[39]

Even cities and states beyond central Italy, such as the Republic of Florence at this time, were also notable for their merchant republics, especially the Republic of Venice. Although in practice these were oligarchical, and bore little resemblance to a modern democracy, they did have democratic features and were responsive states, with forms of participation in governance and belief in liberty.^[39][40][41] The relative political freedom they afforded was conducive to academic and artistic advancement.^[42] Likewise, the position of Italian cities such as Venice as great trading centres made them intellectual crossroads. Merchants brought with them ideas from far corners of the globe, particularly the Levant. Venice was Europe’s gateway to trade with the East, and a producer of fine glass, while Florence was a capital of textiles. The wealth such business brought to Italy meant large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned and individuals had more leisure time for study.^[42]

Black Death

One theory that has been advanced is that the devastation in Florence caused by the Black Death, which hit Europe between 1348 and 1350, resulted in a shift in the world view of people in 14th century Italy. Italy was particularly badly hit by the plague, and it has been speculated that the resulting familiarity with death caused thinkers to dwell more on their lives on Earth, rather than on spirituality and the afterlife.^[43] It has also been argued that the Black Death prompted a new wave of piety, manifested in the sponsorship of religious works of art.^[44] However, this does not fully explain why the Renaissance occurred specifically in Italy in the 14th century. The Black Death was a pandemic that affected all of Europe in the ways described, not only Italy. The Renaissance’s emergence in Italy was most likely the result of the complex interaction of the above factors.^[15]

The plague was carried by fleas on sailing vessels returning from the ports of Asia, spreading quickly due to lack of proper sanitation: the population of England, then about 4.2 million, lost 1.4 million people to the bubonic plague. Florence’s population was nearly halved in the year 1347. As a result of the decimation in the populace the value of the working class increased, and commoners came to enjoy more freedom. To answer the increased need for labor, workers traveled in search of the most favorable position economically.^[45]

The demographic decline due to the plague had economic consequences: the prices of food dropped and land values declined by 30–40% in most parts of Europe between 1350 and 1400.^[46] Landholders faced a great loss, but for ordinary men and women it was a windfall. The survivors of the plague found not only that the prices of food were cheaper but also that lands were more abundant, and many of them inherited property from their dead relatives.

The spread of disease was significantly more rampant in areas of poverty. Epidemics ravaged cities, particularly children. Plagues were easily spread by lice, unsanitary drinking water, armies, or by poor sanitation. Children were hit the hardest because many diseases, such as typhus and congenital syphilis, target the immune system, leaving young children without a fighting chance. Children in city dwellings were more affected by the spread of disease than the children of the wealthy.^[47]

The Black Death caused greater upheaval to Florence’s social and political structure than later epidemics. Despite a significant number of deaths among members of the ruling classes, the government of Florence continued to function during this period. Formal meetings of elected representatives were suspended during the height of the epidemic due to the chaotic conditions in the city, but a small group of officials was appointed to conduct the affairs of the city, which ensured continuity of government.^[48]

Cultural conditions in Florence

It has long been a matter of debate why the Renaissance began in Florence, and not elsewhere in Italy. Scholars have noted several features unique to Florentine cultural life that may have caused such a cultural movement. Many have emphasized the role played by the Medici, a banking family and later ducal ruling house, in patronizing and stimulating the arts. Lorenzo de’ Medici (1449–1492) was the catalyst for an enormous amount of arts patronage, encouraging his countrymen to commission works from the leading artists of Florence, including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti.^[10] Works by Neri di Bicci, Botticelli, da Vinci, and Filippino Lippi had been commissioned additionally by the Convent of San Donato in Scopeto in Florence.^[49]

The Renaissance was certainly underway before Lorenzo de’ Medici came to power – indeed, before the Medici family itself achieved hegemony in Florentine society. Some historians have postulated that Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance as a result of luck, i.e., because «Great Men» were born there by chance:^[50] Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo were all born in Tuscany. Arguing that such chance seems improbable, other historians have contended that these «Great Men» were only able to rise to prominence because of the prevailing cultural conditions at the time.^[51]

Characteristics

Humanism

In some ways, Renaissance humanism was not a philosophy but a method of learning. In contrast to the medieval scholastic mode, which focused on resolving contradictions between authors, Renaissance humanists would study ancient texts in the original and appraise them through a combination of reasoning and empirical evidence. Humanist education was based on the programme of Studia Humanitatis, the study of five humanities: poetry, grammar, history, moral philosophy, and rhetoric. Although historians have sometimes struggled to define humanism precisely, most have settled on «a middle of the road definition… the movement to recover, interpret, and assimilate the language, literature, learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome».^[52] Above all, humanists asserted «the genius of man … the unique and extraordinary ability of the human mind».^[53]

Humanist scholars shaped the intellectual landscape throughout the early modern period. Political philosophers such as Niccolò Machiavelli and Thomas More revived the ideas of Greek and Roman thinkers and applied them in critiques of contemporary government, following the Islamic steps of Ibn Khaldun.^[55][56] Pico della Mirandola wrote the «manifesto» of the Renaissance, the Oration on the Dignity of Man, a vibrant defence of thinking. Matteo Palmieri (1406–1475), another humanist, is most known for his work Della vita civile («On Civic Life»; printed 1528), which advocated civic humanism, and for his influence in refining the Tuscan vernacular to the same level as Latin. Palmieri drew on Roman philosophers and theorists, especially Cicero, who, like Palmieri, lived an active public life as a citizen and official, as well as a theorist and philosopher and also Quintilian. Perhaps the most succinct expression of his perspective on humanism is in a 1465 poetic work La città di vita, but an earlier work, Della vita civile, is more wide-ranging. Composed as a series of dialogues set in a country house in the Mugello countryside outside Florence during the plague of 1430, Palmieri expounds on the qualities of the ideal citizen. The dialogues include ideas about how children develop mentally and physically, how citizens can conduct themselves morally, how citizens and states can ensure probity in public life, and an important debate on the difference between that which is pragmatically useful and that which is honest.

The humanists believed that it is important to transcend to the afterlife with a perfect mind and body, which could be attained with education. The purpose of humanism was to create a universal man whose person combined intellectual and physical excellence and who was capable of functioning honorably in virtually any situation.^[57] This ideology was referred to as the uomo universale, an ancient Greco-Roman ideal. Education during the Renaissance was mainly composed of ancient literature and history as it was thought that the classics provided moral instruction and an intensive understanding of human behavior.

Humanism and libraries

A unique characteristic of some Renaissance libraries is that they were open to the public. These libraries were places where ideas were exchanged and where scholarship and reading were considered both pleasurable and beneficial to the mind and soul. As freethinking was a hallmark of the age, many libraries contained a wide range of writers. Classical texts could be found alongside humanist writings. These informal associations of intellectuals profoundly influenced Renaissance culture. Some of the richest «bibliophiles» built libraries as temples to books and knowledge. A number of libraries appeared as manifestations of immense wealth joined with a love of books. In some cases, cultivated library builders were also committed to offering others the opportunity to use their collections. Prominent aristocrats and princes of the Church created great libraries for the use of their courts, called «court libraries», and were housed in lavishly designed monumental buildings decorated with ornate woodwork, and the walls adorned with frescoes (Murray, Stuart A.P.).

Art

Renaissance art marks a cultural rebirth at the close of the Middle Ages and rise of the Modern world. One of the distinguishing features of Renaissance art was its development of highly realistic linear perspective. Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337) is credited with first treating a painting as a window into space, but it was not until the demonstrations of architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) and the subsequent writings of Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) that perspective was formalized as an artistic technique.^[58]

The development of perspective was part of a wider trend towards realism in the arts.^[59] Painters developed other techniques, studying light, shadow, and, famously in the case of Leonardo da Vinci, human anatomy. Underlying these changes in artistic method was a renewed desire to depict the beauty of nature and to unravel the axioms of aesthetics, with the works of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael representing artistic pinnacles that were much imitated by other artists.^[60] Other notable artists include Sandro Botticelli, working for the Medici in Florence, Donatello, another Florentine, and Titian in Venice, among others.

In the Netherlands, a particularly vibrant artistic culture developed. The work of Hugo van der Goes and Jan van Eyck was particularly influential on the development of painting in Italy, both technically with the introduction of oil paint and canvas, and stylistically in terms of naturalism in representation. Later, the work of Pieter Brueghel the Elder would inspire artists to depict themes of everyday life.^[61]

In architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi was foremost in studying the remains of ancient classical buildings. With rediscovered knowledge from the 1st-century writer Vitruvius and the flourishing discipline of mathematics, Brunelleschi formulated the Renaissance style that emulated and improved on classical forms. His major feat of engineering was building the dome of the Florence Cathedral.^[62] Another building demonstrating this style is the church of St. Andrew in Mantua, built by Alberti. The outstanding architectural work of the High Renaissance was the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica, combining the skills of Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Sangallo and Maderno.

During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, pilasters, and entablatures as an integrated system. The Roman orders types of columns are used: Tuscan and Composite. These can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or purely decorative, set against a wall in the form of pilasters. One of the first buildings to use pilasters as an integrated system was in the Old Sacristy (1421–1440) by Brunelleschi.^[63] Arches, semi-circular or (in the Mannerist style) segmental, are often used in arcades, supported on piers or columns with capitals. There may be a section of entablature between the capital and the springing of the arch. Alberti was one of the first to use the arch on a monumental. Renaissance vaults do not have ribs; they are semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan, unlike the Gothic vault, which is frequently rectangular.

Renaissance artists were not pagans, although they admired antiquity and kept some ideas and symbols of the medieval past. Nicola Pisano (c. 1220 – c. 1278) imitated classical forms by portraying scenes from the Bible. His Annunciation, from the Baptistry at Pisa, demonstrates that classical models influenced Italian art before the Renaissance took root as a literary movement.^[64]

Science

Applied innovation extended to commerce. At the end of the 15th century, Luca Pacioli published the first work on bookkeeping, making him the founder of accounting.^[6]

The rediscovery of ancient texts and the invention of the printing press in about 1440 democratized learning and allowed a faster propagation of more widely distributed ideas. In the first period of the Italian Renaissance, humanists favored the study of humanities over natural philosophy or applied mathematics, and their reverence for classical sources further enshrined the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic views of the universe. Writing around 1450, Nicholas Cusanus anticipated the heliocentric worldview of Copernicus, but in a philosophical fashion.

Science and art were intermingled in the early Renaissance, with polymath artists such as Leonardo da Vinci making observational drawings of anatomy and nature. Leonardo set up controlled experiments in water flow, medical dissection, and systematic study of movement and aerodynamics, and he devised principles of research method that led Fritjof Capra to classify him as the «father of modern science».^[66] Other examples of Da Vinci’s contribution during this period include machines designed to saw marbles and lift monoliths, and new discoveries in acoustics, botany, geology, anatomy, and mechanics.^[67]

A suitable environment had developed to question classical scientific doctrine. The discovery in 1492 of the New World by Christopher Columbus challenged the classical worldview. The works of Ptolemy (in geography) and Galen (in medicine) were found to not always match everyday observations. As the Reformation and Counter-Reformation clashed, the Northern Renaissance showed a decisive shift in focus from Aristotelean natural philosophy to chemistry and the biological sciences (botany, anatomy, and medicine).^[68] The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements.

Some view this as a «scientific revolution», heralding the beginning of the modern age,^[69] others as an acceleration of a continuous process stretching from the ancient world to the present day.^[70] Significant scientific advances were made during this time by Galileo Galilei, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler.^[71] Copernicus, in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), posited that the Earth moved around the Sun. De humani corporis fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body) by Andreas Vesalius, gave a new confidence to the role of dissection, observation, and the mechanistic view of anatomy.^[72]

Another important development was in the process for discovery, the scientific method,^[72] focusing on empirical evidence and the importance of mathematics, while discarding much of Aristotelian science. Early and influential proponents of these ideas included Copernicus, Galileo, and Francis Bacon.^[73][74] The new scientific method led to great contributions in the fields of astronomy, physics, biology, and anatomy.^[e][75]

Navigation and geography

During the Renaissance, extending from 1450 to 1650,^[76] every continent was visited and mostly mapped by Europeans, except the south polar continent now known as Antarctica. This development is depicted in the large world map Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula made by the Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in 1648 to commemorate the Peace of Westphalia.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain seeking a direct route to India of the Delhi Sultanate. He accidentally stumbled upon the Americas, but believed he had reached the East Indies.

In 1606, the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon sailed from the East Indies in the VOC ship Duyfken and landed in Australia. He charted about 300 km of the west coast of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. More than thirty Dutch expeditions followed, mapping sections of the north, west, and south coasts. In 1642–1643, Abel Tasman circumnavigated the continent, proving that it was not joined to the imagined south polar continent.

By 1650, Dutch cartographers had mapped most of the coastline of the continent, which they named New Holland, except the east coast which was charted in 1770 by James Cook.

The long-imagined south polar continent was eventually sighted in 1820. Throughout the Renaissance it had been known as Terra Australis, or ‘Australia’ for short. However, after that name was transferred to New Holland in the nineteenth century, the new name of ‘Antarctica’ was bestowed on the south polar continent.^[77]

Music

From this changing society emerged a common, unifying musical language, in particular the polyphonic style of the Franco-Flemish school. The development of printing made distribution of music possible on a wide scale. Demand for music as entertainment and as an activity for educated amateurs increased with the emergence of a bourgeois class. Dissemination of chansons, motets, and masses throughout Europe coincided with the unification of polyphonic practice into the fluid style that culminated in the second half of the sixteenth century in the work of composers such as Palestrina, Lassus, Victoria, and William Byrd.

Religion

The new ideals of humanism, although more secular in some aspects, developed against a Christian backdrop, especially in the Northern Renaissance. Much, if not most, of the new art was commissioned by or in dedication to the Church.^[22] However, the Renaissance had a profound effect on contemporary theology, particularly in the way people perceived the relationship between man and God.^[22] Many of the period’s foremost theologians were followers of the humanist method, including Erasmus, Zwingli, Thomas More, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.

The Renaissance began in times of religious turmoil. The late Middle Ages was a period of political intrigue surrounding the Papacy, culminating in the Western Schism, in which three men simultaneously claimed to be true Bishop of Rome.^[78] While the schism was resolved by the Council of Constance (1414), a resulting reform movement known as Conciliarism sought to limit the power of the pope. Although the papacy eventually emerged supreme in ecclesiastical matters by the Fifth Council of the Lateran (1511), it was dogged by continued accusations of corruption, most famously in the person of Pope Alexander VI, who was accused variously of simony, nepotism, and fathering children (most of whom were married off, presumably for the consolidation of power) while a cardinal.^[79]

Churchmen such as Erasmus and Luther proposed reform to the Church, often based on humanist textual criticism of the New Testament.^[22] In October 1517 Luther published the Ninety-five Theses, challenging papal authority and criticizing its perceived corruption, particularly with regard to instances of sold indulgences.^[f] The 95 Theses led to the Reformation, a break with the Roman Catholic Church that previously claimed hegemony in Western Europe. Humanism and the Renaissance therefore played a direct role in sparking the Reformation, as well as in many other contemporaneous religious debates and conflicts.

Pope Paul III came to the papal throne (1534–1549) after the sack of Rome in 1527, with uncertainties prevalent in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation. Nicolaus Copernicus dedicated De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) to Paul III, who became the grandfather of Alessandro Farnese, who had paintings by Titian, Michelangelo, and Raphael, as well as an important collection of drawings, and who commissioned the masterpiece of Giulio Clovio, arguably the last major illuminated manuscript, the Farnese Hours.

Self-awareness

By the 15th century, writers, artists, and architects in Italy were well aware of the transformations that were taking place and were using phrases such as modi antichi (in the antique manner) or alle romana et alla antica (in the manner of the Romans and the ancients) to describe their work. In the 1330s Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua (ancient) and to the Christian period as nova (new).^[80] From Petrarch’s Italian perspective, this new period (which included his own time) was an age of national eclipse.^[80]
Leonardo Bruni was the first to use tripartite periodization in his History of the Florentine People (1442).^[81] Bruni’s first two periods were based on those of Petrarch, but he added a third period because he believed that Italy was no longer in a state of decline. Flavio Biondo used a similar framework in Decades of History from the Deterioration of the Roman Empire (1439–1453).

Humanist historians argued that contemporary scholarship restored direct links to the classical period, thus bypassing the Medieval period, which they then named for the first time the «Middle Ages». The term first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas (middle times).^[82] The term rinascita (rebirth) first appeared, however, in its broad sense in Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists, 1550, revised 1568.^[83][84] Vasari divides the age into three phases: the first phase contains Cimabue, Giotto, and Arnolfo di Cambio; the second phase contains Masaccio, Brunelleschi, and Donatello; the third centers on Leonardo da Vinci and culminates with Michelangelo. It was not just the growing awareness of classical antiquity that drove this development, according to Vasari, but also the growing desire to study and imitate nature.^[85]

Spread

In the 15th century, the Renaissance spread rapidly from its birthplace in Florence to the rest of Italy and soon to the rest of Europe. The invention of the printing press by German printer Johannes Gutenberg allowed the rapid transmission of these new ideas. As it spread, its ideas diversified and changed, being adapted to local culture. In the 20th century, scholars began to break the Renaissance into regional and national movements.

England

In England, the 16th century marked the beginning of the English Renaissance with the work of writers William Shakespeare (1564 –1616), Christopher Marlowe (1564 – 1593), Edmund Spenser (1552/1553 – 1599), Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535), Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626), Sir Philip Sidney (1554 – 1586), architects (such as Inigo Jones (1573 – 1652), who introduced Italianate architecture to England), and composers such as Thomas Tallis (1505 – 1585), John Taverner (c. 1490 – 1545), and William Byrd (c.1539/40 or 1543 – 1623).

France

The word «Renaissance» is borrowed from the French language, where it means «re-birth». It was first used in the eighteenth century and was later popularized by French historian Jules Michelet (1798–1874) in his 1855 work, Histoire de France (History of France).^[86][87]

In 1495 the Italian Renaissance arrived in France, imported by King Charles VIII after his invasion of Italy. A factor that promoted the spread of secularism was the inability of the Church to offer assistance against the Black Death. Francis I imported Italian art and artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, and built ornate palaces at great expense. Writers such as François Rabelais, Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay, and Michel de Montaigne, painters such as Jean Clouet, and musicians such as Jean Mouton also borrowed from the spirit of the Renaissance.

In 1533, a fourteen-year-old Caterina de’ Medici (1519–1589), born in Florence to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino and Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne, married Henry II of France, second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude. Though she became famous and infamous for her role in France’s religious wars, she made a direct contribution in bringing arts, sciences, and music (including the origins of ballet) to the French court from her native Florence.

Germany

In the second half of the 15th century, the Renaissance spirit spread to Germany and the Low Countries, where the development of the printing press (ca. 1450) and Renaissance artists such as Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) predated the influence from Italy. In the early Protestant areas of the country humanism became closely linked to the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation, and the art and writing of the German Renaissance frequently reflected this dispute.^[88] However, the Gothic style and medieval scholastic philosophy remained exclusively until the turn of the 16th century. Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg (ruling 1493–1519) was the first truly Renaissance monarch of the Holy Roman Empire.

Hungary

After Italy, Hungary was the first European country where the Renaissance appeared.^[89] The Renaissance style came directly from Italy during the Quattrocento to Hungary first in the Central European region, thanks to the development of early Hungarian-Italian relationships—not only in dynastic connections, but also in cultural, humanistic and commercial relations—growing in strength from the 14th century. The relationship between Hungarian and Italian Gothic styles was a second reason—exaggerated breakthrough of walls is avoided, preferring clean and light structures. Large-scale building schemes provided ample and long term work for the artists, for example, the building of the Friss (New) Castle in Buda, the castles of Visegrád, Tata, and Várpalota. In Sigismund’s court there were patrons such as Pipo Spano, a descendant of the Scolari family of Florence, who invited Manetto Ammanatini and Masolino da Pannicale to Hungary.^[90]

The new Italian trend combined with existing national traditions to create a particular local Renaissance art. Acceptance of Renaissance art was furthered by the continuous arrival of humanist thought in the country. Many young Hungarians studying at Italian universities came closer to the Florentine humanist center, so a direct connection with Florence evolved. The growing number of Italian traders moving to Hungary, specially to Buda, helped this process. New thoughts were carried by the humanist prelates, among them Vitéz János, archbishop of Esztergom, one of the founders of Hungarian humanism.^[91] During the long reign of emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg the Royal Castle of Buda became probably the largest Gothic palace of the late Middle Ages. King Matthias Corvinus (r. 1458–1490) rebuilt the palace in early Renaissance style and further expanded it.^[92][93]

After the marriage in 1476 of King Matthias to Beatrice of Naples, Buda became one of the most important artistic centers of the Renaissance north of the Alps.^[94] The most important humanists living in Matthias’ court were Antonio Bonfini and the famous Hungarian poet Janus Pannonius.^[94] András Hess set up a printing press in Buda in 1472. Matthias Corvinus’s library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe’s greatest collections of secular books: historical chronicles, philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century. His library was second only in size to the Vatican Library. (However, the Vatican Library mainly contained Bibles and religious materials.)^[95] In 1489, Bartolomeo della Fonte of Florence wrote that Lorenzo de’ Medici founded his own Greek-Latin library encouraged by the example of the Hungarian king. Corvinus’s library is part of UNESCO World Heritage.^[96]

Matthias started at least two major building projects.^[97] The works in Buda and Visegrád began in about 1479.^[98] Two new wings and a hanging garden were built at the royal castle of Buda, and the palace at Visegrád was rebuilt in Renaissance style.^[98][99] Matthias appointed the Italian Chimenti Camicia and the Dalmatian Giovanni Dalmata to direct these projects. ^[98] Matthias commissioned the leading Italian artists of his age to embellish his palaces: for instance, the sculptor Benedetto da Majano and the painters Filippino Lippi and Andrea Mantegna worked for him.^[100] A copy of Mantegna’s portrait of Matthias survived.^[101] Matthias also hired the Italian military engineer Aristotele Fioravanti to direct the rebuilding of the forts along the southern frontier.^[102] He had new monasteries built in Late Gothic style for the Franciscans in Kolozsvár, Szeged and Hunyad, and for the Paulines in Fejéregyháza.^[103][104] In the spring of 1485, Leonardo da Vinci travelled to Hungary on behalf of Sforza to meet king Matthias Corvinus, and was commissioned by him to paint a Madonna.^[105]

Matthias enjoyed the company of Humanists and had lively discussions on various topics with them.^[106] The fame of his magnanimity encouraged many scholars—mostly Italian—to settle in Buda.^[107] Antonio Bonfini, Pietro Ranzano, Bartolomeo Fonzio, and Francesco Bandini spent many years in Matthias’s court.^[108][106] This circle of educated men introduced the ideas of Neoplatonism to Hungary.^[109][110] Like all intellectuals of his age, Matthias was convinced that the movements and combinations of the stars and planets exercised influence on individuals’ life and on the history of nations.^[111] Galeotto Marzio described him as «king and astrologer», and Antonio Bonfini said Matthias «never did anything without consulting the stars».^[112] Upon his request, the famous astronomers of the age, Johannes Regiomontanus and Marcin Bylica, set up an observatory in Buda and installed it with astrolabes and celestial globes.^[113] Regiomontanus dedicated his book on navigation that was used by Christopher Columbus to Matthias.^[107]

Other important figures of Hungarian Renaissance include Bálint Balassi (poet), Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos (poet), Bálint Bakfark (composer and lutenist), and Master MS (fresco painter).

Renaissance in the Low Countries

Culture in the Netherlands at the end of the 15th century was influenced by the Italian Renaissance through trade via Bruges, which made Flanders wealthy. Its nobles commissioned artists who became known across Europe.^[114] In science, the anatomist Andreas Vesalius led the way; in cartography, Gerardus Mercator’s map assisted explorers and navigators. In art, Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting ranged from the strange work of Hieronymus Bosch^[115] to the everyday life depictions of Pieter Brueghel the Elder.^[114]

Northern Europe

The Renaissance in Northern Europe has been termed the «Northern Renaissance». While Renaissance ideas were moving north from Italy, there was a simultaneous southward spread of some areas of innovation, particularly in music.^[116] The music of the 15th-century Burgundian School defined the beginning of the Renaissance in music, and the polyphony of the Netherlanders, as it moved with the musicians themselves into Italy, formed the core of the first true international style in music since the standardization of Gregorian Chant in the 9th century.^[116] The culmination of the Netherlandish school was in the music of the Italian composer Palestrina. At the end of the 16th century Italy again became a center of musical innovation, with the development of the polychoral style of the Venetian School, which spread northward into Germany around 1600.

The paintings of the Italian Renaissance differed from those of the Northern Renaissance. Italian Renaissance artists were among the first to paint secular scenes, breaking away from the purely religious art of medieval painters. Northern Renaissance artists initially remained focused on religious subjects, such as the contemporary religious upheaval portrayed by Albrecht Dürer. Later, the works of Pieter Bruegel influenced artists to paint scenes of daily life rather than religious or classical themes. It was also during the Northern Renaissance that Flemish brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck perfected the oil painting technique, which enabled artists to produce strong colors on a hard surface that could survive for centuries.^[117] A feature of the Northern Renaissance was its use of the vernacular in place of Latin or Greek, which allowed greater freedom of expression. This movement had started in Italy with the decisive influence of Dante Alighieri on the development of vernacular languages; in fact the focus on writing in Italian has neglected a major source of Florentine ideas expressed in Latin.^[118] The spread of the printing press technology boosted the Renaissance in Northern Europe as elsewhere, with Venice becoming a world center of printing.

Poland

An early Italian humanist who came to Poland in the mid-15th century was Filippo Buonaccorsi. Many Italian artists came to Poland with Bona Sforza of Milan, when she married King Sigismund I in 1518.^[119] This was supported by temporarily strengthened monarchies in both areas, as well as by newly established universities.^[120] The Polish Renaissance lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and was the Golden Age of Polish culture. Ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty, the Kingdom of Poland (from 1569 known as the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) actively participated in the broad European Renaissance. The multi-national Polish state experienced a substantial period of cultural growth thanks in part to a century without major wars – aside from conflicts in the sparsely populated eastern and southern borderlands. The Reformation spread peacefully throughout the country (giving rise to the Polish Brethren), while living conditions improved, cities grew, and exports of agricultural products enriched the population, especially the nobility (szlachta) who gained dominance in the new political system of Golden Liberty. The Polish Renaissance architecture has three periods of development.

The greatest monument of this style in the territory of the former Duchy of Pomerania is the Ducal Castle in Szczecin.

Portugal

Although Italian Renaissance had a modest impact in Portuguese arts, Portugal was influential in broadening the European worldview,^[121] stimulating humanist inquiry. Renaissance arrived through the influence of wealthy Italian and Flemish merchants who invested in the profitable commerce overseas. As the pioneer headquarters of European exploration, Lisbon flourished in the late 15th century, attracting experts who made several breakthroughs in mathematics, astronomy and naval technology, including Pedro Nunes, João de Castro, Abraham Zacuto and Martin Behaim. Cartographers Pedro Reinel, Lopo Homem, Estêvão Gomes and Diogo Ribeiro made crucial advances in mapping the world. Apothecary Tomé Pires and physicians Garcia de Orta and Cristóvão da Costa collected and published works on plants and medicines, soon translated by Flemish pioneer botanist Carolus Clusius.

In architecture, the huge profits of the spice trade financed a sumptuous composite style in the first decades of the 16th century, the Manueline, incorporating maritime elements.^[122] The primary painters were Nuno Gonçalves, Gregório Lopes and Vasco Fernandes. In music, Pedro de Escobar and Duarte Lobo produced four songbooks, including the Cancioneiro de Elvas. In literature, Sá de Miranda introduced Italian forms of verse. Bernardim Ribeiro developed pastoral romance, plays by Gil Vicente fused it with popular culture, reporting the changing times, and Luís de Camões inscribed the Portuguese feats overseas in the epic poem Os Lusíadas. Travel literature especially flourished: João de Barros, Castanheda, António Galvão, Gaspar Correia, Duarte Barbosa, and Fernão Mendes Pinto, among others, described new lands and were translated and spread with the new printing press.^[121] After joining the Portuguese exploration of Brazil in 1500, Amerigo Vespucci coined the term New World,^[123] in his letters to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici.

The intense international exchange produced several cosmopolitan humanist scholars, including Francisco de Holanda, André de Resende and Damião de Góis, a friend of Erasmus who wrote with rare independence on the reign of King Manuel I. Diogo and André de Gouveia made relevant teaching reforms via France. Foreign news and products in the Portuguese factory in Antwerp attracted the interest of Thomas More^[124] and Albrecht Dürer to the wider world.^[125] There, profits and know-how helped nurture the Dutch Renaissance and Golden Age, especially after the arrival of the wealthy cultured Jewish community expelled from Portugal.

Russia

There was no Renaissance in Russia in the original sense of the term.^[126]

Renaissance trends from Italy and Central Europe influenced Russia in many ways. Their influence was rather limited, however, due to the large distances between Russia and the main European cultural centers and the strong adherence of Russians to their Orthodox traditions and Byzantine legacy.

Prince Ivan III introduced Renaissance architecture to Russia by inviting a number of architects from Italy, who brought new construction techniques and some Renaissance style elements with them, while in general following the traditional designs of Russian architecture. In 1475 the Bolognese architect Aristotele Fioravanti came to rebuild the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlin, which had been damaged in an earthquake. Fioravanti was given the 12th-century Vladimir Cathedral as a model, and he produced a design combining traditional Russian style with a Renaissance sense of spaciousness, proportion and symmetry.

In 1485 Ivan III commissioned the building of the royal residence, Terem Palace, within the Kremlin, with Aloisio da Milano as the architect of the first three floors. He and other Italian architects also contributed to the construction of the Kremlin walls and towers. The small banquet hall of the Russian Tsars, called the Palace of Facets because of its facetted upper story, is the work of two Italians, Marco Ruffo and Pietro Solario, and shows a more Italian style. In 1505, an Italian known in Russia as Aleviz Novyi or Aleviz Fryazin arrived in Moscow. He may have been the Venetian sculptor, Alevisio Lamberti da Montagne. He built twelve churches for Ivan III, including the Cathedral of the Archangel, a building remarkable for the successful blending of Russian tradition, Orthodox requirements and Renaissance style. It is believed that the Cathedral of the Metropolitan Peter in Vysokopetrovsky Monastery, another work of Aleviz Novyi, later served as an inspiration for the so-called octagon-on-tetragon architectural form in the Moscow Baroque of the late 17th century.

Between the early 16th and the late 17th centuries, an original tradition of stone tented roof architecture developed in Russia. It was quite unique and different from the contemporary Renaissance architecture elsewhere in Europe, though some research terms the style ‘Russian Gothic’ and compares it with the European Gothic architecture of the earlier period. The Italians, with their advanced technology, may have influenced the invention of the stone tented roof (the wooden tents were known in Russia and Europe long before). According to one hypothesis, an Italian architect called Petrok Maly may have been an author of the Ascension Church in Kolomenskoye, one of the earliest and most prominent tented roof churches.^[127]

By the 17th century the influence of Renaissance painting resulted in Russian icons becoming slightly more realistic, while still following most of the old icon painting canons, as seen in the works of Bogdan Saltanov, Simon Ushakov, Gury Nikitin, Karp Zolotaryov, and other Russian artists of the era. Gradually the new type of secular portrait painting appeared, called parsúna (from «persona» – person), which was transitional style between abstract iconographics and real paintings.

In the mid 16th-century Russians adopted printing from Central Europe, with Ivan Fyodorov being the first known Russian printer. In the 17th century printing became widespread, and woodcuts became especially popular. That led to the development of a special form of folk art known as lubok printing, which persisted in Russia well into the 19th century.

A number of technologies from the European Renaissance period were adopted by Russia rather early and subsequently perfected to become a part of a strong domestic tradition. Mostly these were military technologies, such as cannon casting adopted by at least the 15th century. The Tsar Cannon, which is the world’s largest bombard by caliber, is a masterpiece of Russian cannon making. It was cast in 1586 by Andrey Chokhov and is notable for its rich, decorative relief. Another technology, that according to one hypothesis originally was brought from Europe by the Italians, resulted in the development of vodka, the national beverage of Russia. As early as 1386 Genoese ambassadors brought the first aqua vitae («water of life») to Moscow and presented it to Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy. The Genoese likely developed this beverage with the help of the alchemists of Provence, who used an Arab-invented distillation apparatus to convert grape must into alcohol. A Moscovite monk called Isidore used this technology to produce the first original Russian vodka c. 1430.^[128]

Spain

The Renaissance arrived in the Iberian peninsula through the Mediterranean possessions of the Aragonese Crown and the city of Valencia. Many early Spanish Renaissance writers come from the Kingdom of Aragon, including Ausiàs March and Joanot Martorell. In the Kingdom of Castile, the early Renaissance was heavily influenced by the Italian humanism, starting with writers and poets such as the Marquis of Santillana, who introduced the new Italian poetry to Spain in the early 15th century. Other writers, such as Jorge Manrique, Fernando de Rojas, Juan del Encina, Juan Boscán Almogáver, and Garcilaso de la Vega, kept a close resemblance to the Italian canon. Miguel de Cervantes’s masterpiece Don Quixote is credited as the first Western novel. Renaissance humanism flourished in the early 16th century, with influential writers such as philosopher Juan Luis Vives, grammarian Antonio de Nebrija and natural historian Pedro de Mexía.

Later Spanish Renaissance tended towards religious themes and mysticism, with poets such as Luis de León, Teresa of Ávila, and John of the Cross, and treated issues related to the exploration of the New World, with chroniclers and writers such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Bartolomé de las Casas, giving rise to a body of work, now known as Spanish Renaissance literature. The late Renaissance in Spain produced artists such as El Greco and composers such as Tomás Luis de Victoria and Antonio de Cabezón.

Further countries

• Renaissance in Croatia
• Renaissance in Scotland

Historiography

Conception

The Italian artist and critic Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) first used the term rinascita in his book The Lives of the Artists (published 1550). In the book Vasari attempted to define what he described as a break with the barbarities of Gothic art: the arts (he held) had fallen into decay with the collapse of the Roman Empire and only the Tuscan artists, beginning with Cimabue (1240–1301) and Giotto (1267–1337) began to reverse this decline in the arts. Vasari saw ancient art as central to the rebirth of Italian art.^[129]

However, only in the 19th century did the French word renaissance achieve popularity in describing the self-conscious cultural movement based on revival of Roman models that began in the late 13th century. French historian Jules Michelet (1798–1874) defined «The Renaissance» in his 1855 work Histoire de France as an entire historical period, whereas previously it had been used in a more limited sense.^[20] For Michelet, the Renaissance was more a development in science than in art and culture. He asserted that it spanned the period from Columbus to Copernicus to Galileo; that is, from the end of the 15th century to the middle of the 17th century.^[86] Moreover, Michelet distinguished between what he called, «the bizarre and monstrous» quality of the Middle Ages and the democratic values that he, as a vocal Republican, chose to see in its character.^[15] A French nationalist, Michelet also sought to claim the Renaissance as a French movement.^[15]

The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) in his The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), by contrast, defined the Renaissance as the period between Giotto and Michelangelo in Italy, that is, the 14th to mid-16th centuries. He saw in the Renaissance the emergence of the modern spirit of individuality, which the Middle Ages had stifled.^[130] His book was widely read and became influential in the development of the modern interpretation of the Italian Renaissance.^[131] However, Buckhardt has been accused^{[by whom?]} of setting forth a linear Whiggish view of history in seeing the Renaissance as the origin of the modern world.^[17]

More recently, some historians have been much less keen to define the Renaissance as a historical age, or even as a coherent cultural movement. The historian Randolph Starn, of the University of California Berkeley, stated in 1998:

Rather than a period with definitive beginnings and endings and consistent content in between, the Renaissance can be (and occasionally has been) seen as a movement of practices and ideas to which specific groups and identifiable persons variously responded in different times and places. It would be in this sense a network of diverse, sometimes converging, sometimes conflicting cultures, not a single, time-bound culture.^[17]

Debates about progress

There is debate about the extent to which the Renaissance improved on the culture of the Middle Ages. Both Michelet and Burckhardt were keen to describe the progress made in the Renaissance towards the modern age. Burckhardt likened the change to a veil being removed from man’s eyes, allowing him to see clearly.^[50]

In the Middle Ages both sides of human consciousness – that which was turned within as that which was turned without – lay dreaming or half awake beneath a common veil. The veil was woven of faith, illusion, and childish prepossession, through which the world and history were seen clad in strange hues.^[132]

— Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy

On the other hand, many historians now point out that most of the negative social factors popularly associated with the medieval period—poverty, warfare, religious and political persecution, for example—seem to have worsened in this era, which saw the rise of Machiavellian politics, the Wars of Religion, the corrupt Borgia Popes, and the intensified witch hunts of the 16th century. Many people who lived during the Renaissance did not view it as the «golden age» imagined by certain 19th-century authors, but were concerned by these social maladies.^[133] Significantly, though, the artists, writers, and patrons involved in the cultural movements in question believed they were living in a new era that was a clean break from the Middle Ages.^[83] Some Marxist historians prefer to describe the Renaissance in material terms, holding the view that the changes in art, literature, and philosophy were part of a general economic trend from feudalism towards capitalism, resulting in a bourgeois class with leisure time to devote to the arts.^[134]

Johan Huizinga (1872–1945) acknowledged the existence of the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change. In his book The Autumn of the Middle Ages, he argued that the Renaissance was a period of decline from the High Middle Ages, destroying much that was important.^[16] The Latin language, for instance, had evolved greatly from the classical period and was still a living language used in the church and elsewhere. The Renaissance obsession with classical purity halted its further evolution and saw Latin revert to its classical form. Robert S. Lopez has contended that it was a period of deep economic recession.^[135] Meanwhile, George Sarton and Lynn Thorndike have both argued that scientific progress was perhaps less original than has traditionally been supposed.^[136] Finally, Joan Kelly argued that the Renaissance led to greater gender dichotomy, lessening the agency women had had during the Middle Ages.^[137]

Some historians have begun to consider the word Renaissance to be unnecessarily loaded, implying an unambiguously positive rebirth from the supposedly more primitive «Dark Ages», the Middle Ages. Most historians now prefer to use the term «early modern» for this period, a more neutral designation that highlights the period as a transitional one between the Middle Ages and the modern era.^[138] Others such as Roger Osborne have come to consider the Italian Renaissance as a repository of the myths and ideals of western history in general, and instead of rebirth of ancient ideas as a period of great innovation.^[139]

The art historian Erwin Panofsky observed of this resistance to the concept of «Renaissance»:

It is perhaps no accident that the factuality of the Italian Renaissance has been most vigorously questioned by those who are not obliged to take a professional interest in the aesthetic aspects of civilization – historians of economic and social developments, political and religious situations, and, most particularly, natural science – but only exceptionally by students of literature and hardly ever by historians of Art.^[140]

Other Renaissances

The term Renaissance has also been used to define periods outside of the 15th and 16th centuries. Charles H. Haskins (1870–1937), for example, made a case for a Renaissance of the 12th century.^[141] Other historians have argued for a Carolingian Renaissance in the 8th and 9th centuries, Ottonian Renaissance in the 10th century and for the Timurid Renaissance of the 14th century. The Islamic Golden Age has been also sometimes termed with the Islamic Renaissance.^[142]

Other periods of cultural rebirth have also been termed «renaissances», such as the Bengal Renaissance, Tamil Renaissance, Nepal Bhasa renaissance, al-Nahda or the Harlem Renaissance. The term can also be used in cinema. In animation, the Disney Renaissance is a period that spanned the years from 1989 to 1999 which saw the studio return to the level of quality not witnessed since their Golden Age of Animation. The San Francisco Renaissance was a vibrant period of exploratory poetry and fiction writing in that city in the mid-20th century.

See also

• Index of Renaissance articles
• Outline of the Renaissance
• List of Renaissance figures
• List of Renaissance structures
• Roman Renaissance
• Venetian Renaissance

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

General sources

Further reading

Historiography

Primary sources

External links

• «The Renaissance» In Our Time, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Francis Ames-Lewis, Peter Burke and Evelyn Welch (June 8, 2000).
• Notable Medieval and Renaissance Women Archived April 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
• Renaissance Style Guide
• Symonds, John Addington (1911). «Renaissance, The» . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). pp. 83–93.
• Renaissance Philosophy entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Interactive resources

• Florence: 3D Panoramas of Florentine Renaissance Sites(English/Italian)
• Interactive Glossary of Terms Relating to the Renaissance
• Multimedia Exploration of the Renaissance Archived March 12, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
• RSS News Feed: Get an entry from Leonardo’s Journal delivered each day
• Virtual Journey to Renaissance Florence
• Exhibits Collection – Renaissance

Lectures and galleries

• Leonardo da Vinci, Gallery of Paintings and Drawings
• The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum
• Renaissance in the «History of Art»
• The Society for Renaissance Studies
• Inquiring Eye: European Renaissance Art

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Renaissance is a period in European history that followed the Middle Ages and ended in the 17th century. “Renaissance” is a French word for “cultural rebirth.” During this period, there was a “rebirth” of classical learning. People started relearning the teachings of scholars from Ancient Greece, Rome, and other ancient societies. The Renaissance is often said to be the start of the «modern age»

During the Renaissance, there were many advances in art, literature, the sciences, mathematics, and culture. Many famous artists, writers, philosophers, and scientists lived during this period. A person who is clever at a great number of things is sometimes called a «Renaissance man». The most famous Renaissance man is Leonardo da Vinci, who was a painter, a scientist, a musician and a philosopher.

The Renaissance started in Italy, but soon spread across the whole of Europe. In Italy, the period is divided into three parts:

• the Early Renaissance
• the High Renaissance
• the Late Renaissance Archived 2016-04-20 at the Wayback Machine ^[1] (also called the Mannerist period)

Following the Mannerist period was the Baroque period, which also spread across Europe starting around 1600. Outside Italy, it can be hard to tell where the Renaissance period ends and the Baroque begins.

Causes of the Renaissance[change | change source]

Reading and printing[change | change source]

In the Middle Ages, most artistic, legal, and historical production took place in and around books. Monasteries, churches, universities, and people who could afford them produced and owned books. Books were produced entirely by hand, which is why they were called manuscripts; illuminated manuscripts include hand-colored, drawn, and gilded pictures.

Most books at that time were written in Latin, Greek, and Roman, which was used in the Catholic Church. Only priests and well-educated people read Latin then. People were forbidden by law from translating the Bible into Italian, English, German, French, or other «local» languages.

Around 1440 the first printed books were made in Europe. The printing press made it possible to print copies of large books like the Bible and sell them cheaply. It took 300 calf skins or 100 pig skins to print the Bible. Printers soon began to print everything that they thought was interesting: Ancient Greek and Roman writings, poetry, and plays; stories about the lives of the saints; mathematics textbooks; medical textbooks; Christian stories; erotic stories; books about animals and monsters; maps of the world; and advice to princes about how to rule their people.

Before the invention of the printing press, knowledge had belonged to priests, monasteries and universities. Suddenly many thousands of people, even merchants, could learn far more than they ever could before.

Ancient Roman things[change | change source]

From about 400 B.C. to about 400 AD, Europe experienced a Golden Age. In Ancient Greece and Rome, there were many philosophers, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and mathematicians. Things were beautiful, well-organized and well-run.

However, by the year 1400, the city of Rome was in ruins. Inside the broken walls that had been smashed in 410 AD were the remains of huge temples, sports arenas, public baths, apartment blocks and palaces. Nearly all of them were half-buried and ruined, so they could not be used. Many were pulled down to use as building stone.

Among the ruins of this once-great city, the people of Rome lived in cottages. They still went to church in the huge churches (basilicas) built by the first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, in the 4th century. They still held market day in the Ancient Roman market place of Campo dei Fiori («Field of Flowers»).

In 1402, Filippo Brunelleschi and a teenage Donatello came to Rome. They were probably the world’s first archaeologists. They were fascinated by everything that they saw. They measured ancient ruined buildings, drew things, and dug around for weeks looking for bits of broken statues and painted pottery that they could put back together. By the time they went back home to Florence, they knew more about Ancient Roman architecture and sculpture than anyone had known for about a thousand years. Brunelleschi became a very famous architect and Donatello became a very famous sculptor.

Cash and politics[change | change source]

The Renaissance really began in the city of Florence. In those days, Italy was not one single country. It was made of many little states, all governed in different ways. These states were constantly making alliances and fighting with each other.

Rome was politically powerful, because Rome had the Pope, the person in control of the Roman Catholic Church. Because of his very great importance as a spiritual leader, most people and most cities did not want to argue with any pope. After a pope died, a new pope was elected. Everyone who was rich and powerful hoped a member of their family would be chosen. It was always a good idea to have several young men in the family trained as priests, just in case. It also helped to be good friends with other rich families. One way to do this was to have lots of daughters and get them to marry rich powerful men from different cities. This was the way that politics worked.

There were other powerful cities in Italy too. Venice had a large and powerful navy. Milan controlled trade with Northern Europe and was very rich. Genoa was also very rich, because it controlled trade with France and Spain. Florence, where many people say the Renaissance started, was another important city.

Florence’s strength did not come from a strong army, a strong fortress, or control over trade. It came from banking. The Medicis were an important banking family. They helped to make Florence a powerful city and the centre of Renaissance learning.

Capture of Constantinople

List of important events of the Renaissance[change | change source]

In art[change | change source]

• 1401: Lorenzo Ghiberti wins a competition to create the Florence Baptistry Doors. Over the next 21 years, he creates two famous bronze doors with relief sculptures showing religious scenes.
• 1420s: Masaccio and Masolino paint the Brancacci Chapel in Florence.
• 1440s: Donatello makes the statue of Gattamelata on Horseback in Padua.
• 1470s: Botticelli paints the Birth of Venus in Florence.
• 1490s: Leonardo da Vinci paints The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa in Milan.
• 1508-1512: Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel Ceiling in Rome.

In architecture[change | change source]

• 1420: Workers begin to build The Dome of Florence Cathedral, using Brunelleschi’s design.
• 1420s: Brunelleschi designs the church of Church of San Lorenzo in Florence.
• 1444: Michelozzo designs the Medici-Riccardi Palace for Cosimo de’ Medici.
• 1471: Alberti designs the Church of Sant’ Andrea in Mantua.
• 1506: Work begins on the new St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
• 1550: Palladio designs the Villa Rotunda near Vicenza.

In science and technology[change | change source]

• Early 1300s: The first guns are made.
• 1455: Johannes Gutenberg uses the printing press he invented to create the first printed book in Europe.
• Late 1400s: The quadrant was developed to help sailors find their way at sea.
• 1480s: Leonardo da Vinci studies human anatomy.
• 1550s: Peter Henlein of Nuremberg makes the first watches.
• 1608: Hans Lippershey of Holland makes the first telescope.
• 1618, William Harvey discovered that the heart pumps blood.

In thinking[change | change source]

(See illustration above: Raphael’s «School of Athens»)

• Early 1300s: Petrarch publishes writings based on the works of St. Augustine and other classical writers.
• Mid 1400s: The Humanist Academy is created to discuss ancient writings and modern ideas. The Medici family supports the academy financially.
• 1511: Desiderius Erasmus publishes In Praise of Folly, which satirizes the traditions of the Catholic Church.
• 1532: Machiavelli publishes The Prince by Machiavelli, which says that people who wish to have political power often do wicked things to get it.

In religion[change | change source]

• 1382: John Wycliffe first translates the Bible from Latin into English. This begins a movement to translate the Bible into many other European languages.
• 1454-1455: Johannes Gutenberg prints his famous Bible. The mass production of Bibles begins.
• 1517: On the door of Wittenberg Castle, Martin Luther posts The Ninety-Five Theses (his ideas about problems in the Church). This is an important event in the Reformation.
• 1534: Henry VIII splits the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church
• 1545: Pope Paul III calls the Council of Trent so that Catholic leaders can meet and discuss the problems that the Reformation has caused for to the Catholic Church. This is the beginning of the Counter Reformation.
• 1559: John Calvin starts the Geneva Theological Academy to teach people new (Reformation) ideas about Christian faith.

In writing[change | change source]

• Early 1300s: Dante Alighieri writes The Divine Comedy in Italy.
• 1348: Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian, starts writing a collection of stories called The Decameron.
• 1477: William Caxton publishes The Canterbury Tales, which was written in the 1300s by Geoffrey Chaucer. This is the first important book written in the English language.
• 1532 and 1534: Francois Rabelais writes Pantagruel and Gargantua in France.
• 1550: Giorgio Vasari, an Italian, publishes «Lives of the Great Architects, Painters and Sculptors of Italy».
• 1590-1612: William Shakespeare writes his 37 plays in England.
• 1605 and 1616: Miguel de Cervantes publishes the tale of Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha in Spain.

In exploration[change | change source]

• 1487-1488: Bartholomeu Dias sails down the coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope.
• 1492: Christopher Columbus sails from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies.
• 1497-1499: Vasco da Gama sails from Portugal to India by going around Africa.
• 1519-1522: Ferdinand Magellan leads an expedition to sail around the world. The expedition is completed under the command of Juan Sabastian del Cano.
• 1577-1580: Sir Francis Drake completes the second voyage around the world.

[change | change source]

• Renaissance music
• List of Renaissance artists
• Medical Renaissance
• Duecento
• Trecento

References[change | change source]

• Ilan Rachum, The Renaissance: an Illustrated Encyclopedia, Octopus, ISBN 0-7064-0857-8
• Edmond Wright, Ed., The Medieval and Renaissance World, Chartwell Books, Inc. ISBN 0-89009-264-8
• Margaret Aston, The Fifteenth Century, Tames And Hudson, ISBN 0-500-33009-3
• Denys Hay and John Law, Italy in the Age of the Renaissance, Longman, ISBN 0-582-48358-1
• John T. Paoletti and Gary M. Radke, Art in Renaissance Italy, Laurence King Publishing, (2005), ISBN 1-85669-439-9

Other websites[change | change source]

• Links for Middle School students from the Courtenay Middle School Library Collection

The Renaissance was possibly the most important period of development that has ever occurred in European history. Known primarily for its impact on the art world, the Renaissance emerged as a movement that influenced literature, philosophy, music, science, and even technology. With the impacts of the Renaissance still felt in society today, it unquestionably remains one of the most spoken-about and celebrated movements in both the artistic and general community.

An Introduction to the Renaissance

Most strongly associated with the Italian city of Florence specifically, the Renaissance describes the period of time between the 14^th and 17^th centuries. Thought of as the bridge that connected the Middle Ages with Modern history, the Renaissance initially began as a cultural movement during the Late Medieval period in Italy. However, it quickly dispersed all over Europe. Due to this, most other European countries experienced their own version of the Renaissance in terms of their styles and ideas.

Seen primarily as a painting, sculptural, and decorative arts period, the Renaissance emerged as a distinctive style within art alongside other important cultural developments which were occurring in those days.

Grand staircase ceiling of Kunsthistorischen Museum in Vienna, with Apotheosis of the Renaissance (1888) fresco made by Mihály Munkácsy; Kunsthistorisches Museum, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

As the movement affected political and economic spheres in addition to culture and art, those who upheld the concepts of the Renaissance were thought to do so with much passion. The Renaissance used the art of Classical antiquity as its base and slowly began to build upon the ideologies of that style as the movement advanced.

As there is so much information out there on the Renaissance, it is still easy to become confused and wonder: what was the Renaissance? Essentially, it can be described as a noble style of art that rapidly developed under the growing contemporary scientific and cultural knowledge that existed.

Thus, the Renaissance is recognized for initiating the change into the modern-day civilization that we know today, with many of history’s greatest thinkers, authors, philosophers, scientists, and artists coming from this era. 

Interesting Facts About the Renaissance

When looking at the overall Renaissance history, the movement proved to be a very interesting one in addition to its being so celebrated. Below, we will be taking a look at some of the more fascinating and amusing Renaissance facts from the most noteworthy artistic period in time.

The Renaissance Began in the 14^th Century

Emerging around 1350 A.D., the Renaissance period began roughly 720 years ago when people in Europe began taking a renewed interest in the ancient Roman and Greek civilizations and cultures. The Renaissance movement looked to restore the ideas, art styles, and learning of these two cultures and aptly viewed the period to be a restoration of these concepts.

Thus, the movement was given the name “the Renaissance”, which is the French word for “rebirth”.

Lasting for over 250 years, scholars were encouraged by wealthy families in Italy to focus their studies on ancient Greek and Roman cultures specifically. As the affluent class were so overwhelmed and amazed by the ideals of these old cultures, they began to finance the creation of magnificent palaces that were filled with paintings, sculptures, and literature that upheld these values. The city of Florence proved to be one of the most important regions during the Italian Renaissance, as most celebrated artworks originated from this region.

The Renaissance period quickly spread to other parts of the world, most notably to other countries in Europe.

Map of Italian and Northern Renaissance cities; Bljc5f, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

After the King of France, Charles VIII, stormed Italy and saw the truly breathtaking artworks that had been created, he invited several Italian artists to France to spread their ideas and to produce equally beautiful works for the country.

Other countries like Poland and Hungary also welcomed the Renaissance style after Italian scholars and artists went to live there.

As the Renaissance expanded across different countries, the movement went on to alter some aspects of religion and art through the values it brought over. Certain countries that the Renaissance wave proved to have an influential impact on included Germany, Spain, Portugal, England, Scandinavia, and Central Europe.

The Renaissance Period Transformed Society from Darkness to Light

Over the course of the Middle Ages in Europe, which occurred between the collapse of ancient Rome in 476 A.D. and the start of the 14^th century, not much advancement happened in science and art. Due to this lack of progress, this period in time was literally dubbed “the Dark Ages”, which spoke to the gloomy atmosphere that had settled over Europe.

As this era was marked as a time of war, other issues such as ignorance, famine, and the Black Death pandemic added to the period’s dreary title.

Miniature by Pierart dou Tielt illustrating the people of Tournai burying victims of the Black Death, c. 1353; Pierart dou Tielt (fl. 1340-1360), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As the Dark Ages proved to be a dismal time in history, many have wondered: how did the Renaissance start amongst these treacherous conditions? Accurately described as a move that genuinely went “from darkness to light”, the Renaissance reintroduced elements of ancient cultures that were able to help start the transition into the classical and modern period.

In addition to being seen as one of the most significant periods in world history, the Renaissance is also regarded as one of the first influential turning points that occurred.

However, some historians have argued that the Middle Ages were not nearly as grim as what they were made out to be, as it was suggested that most of the period was very exaggerated. Despite this difference in opinion, many have agreed that relatively limited attention was paid towards ancient Greek and Roman philosophies and learning in those days, no matter the true circumstances that surrounded the Dark Ages. This was because society had much greater problems to focus on, with the aspects of art and science not seeming as important yet.

Military and religious life in the Middle Ages and at the period of the Renaissance (1870), Fig 42: “After the Battle of Hastings (14th October 1066), the relatives of the vanquished came to carry away their dead.”; Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Humanism Was the Main Philosophy

The spirit of the Renaissance was initially expressed by a cultural and philosophical movement called humanism, which developed during the 14^th century. Quickly gaining momentum, humanism referred to a method of education and mode of inquiry that began in Northern Italy before spreading to the rest of Europe. Humanism encompassed all teachers and students who belonged to the humanities school of thought that included grammar, rhetoric, poetry, philosophy, and history.

Humanism centered around its emphasis on an individual’s social potential and agency. This way of thinking viewed human beings as a worthwhile foundation for significant moral and philosophical investigation.

Diagram of Humanist Cosmography, 1585; Gerard de Jode, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As academics felt that humanism should allow people to speak their minds independently, this encouraged others to break away from religious conformity. Humanism emphasized the idea that man was central in his own universe, meaning that all human accomplishments in art, literature, and science should be embraced wholeheartedly.

As humanism challenged Europeans to question their own role within society, the role of the Roman Catholic church was also questioned.

Instead of depending on the will of God, humanists encouraged people to act according to their own capabilities in a variety of areas. With the Renaissance developing, many more people had learned how to read, write, and therefore interpret ideas. This gave individuals a chance to have their own voice heard, as it led to them closely examining and critiquing religion as they knew it.

Six Tuscan Poets (1659) by Giorgio Vasari, featuring Humanists (from left to right) Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Petrarch, Cino da Pistoia, Guittone d’Arezzo, and Guido Cavalcanti; Giorgio Vasari, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Something that helped in the development of humanism was the creation of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450. The introduction of a mobile printing press went on to transform communication and publication in Europe, as it allowed ideas to be spread at a rapid rate.

As a result, texts like the Bible were easily generated and distributed amongst society, which marked the first time that most individuals read the Bible themselves.

The Medici Family Were Major Patrons of the Movement

One of the richest and most important families to come from Florence during the Renaissance period was the Medici family. Rising to power as the movement began, they were ardent supporters of the Renaissance and funded the majority of the art and architecture that prospered under their rule. Through the Medici’s commission of The Portinari Altarpiece by Hugo van der Goes in 1475, they helped introduce oil painting to Italy, which went on to become the norm in subsequent Renaissance paintings that were produced.

The Portinari Altarpiece (c. 1475) by Hugo van der Goes, commissioned by the Medici family; Hugo van der Goes, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As the Medici family governed Florence for over 60 years, their involvement within the Renaissance was truly remarkable. Famously backing the artistic style, they encouraged many outstanding Italian writers, politicians, artists, and other creatives to participate in a movement they branded as an “intellectual and artistic revolution”, the likes of which they did not experience during the Dark Ages.

The Height of the Renaissance Was Called the “High Renaissance”

The term “High Renaissance” was used to denote the period that was considered to be the height of the entire Renaissance movement, as it produced the most notable artworks during this time. Some of the most iconic artists to come from the whole Renaissance period were said to have emerged from the High Renaissance era specifically.

These great artists included Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, who were known as the holy trinity of Renaissance painters.

Three of the most well-known and celebrated paintings and sculptures in history were produced by these three artists during the High Renaissance, namely: Statue of David (1501 – 1504) by Michelangelo, Mona Lisa (1503) by da Vinci, and The School of Athens (1509 – 1511) by Raphael. Known to be a time of exceptional artistic production, the High Renaissance lasted for about 35 years between the early 1490s to 1527.

The School of Athens (1509-1511) by Raphael, fresco at the Raphael Rooms, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City; Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Paintings, Drawings, and Sculptures Were the Main Art Forms That Emerged

When looking at the kind of art that was created, Renaissance artists typically chose to draw, paint, and sculpt extraordinarily realistic and three-dimensional figures. This was because artists often studied the human body in considerable detail and were able to accurately reflect their knowledge in their artworks.

It was a well-known fact that da Vinci and Michelangelo used to frequently dissect cadaver bodies before creating their remarkable artworks.

This was done so that they were able to learn how to better sculpt and draw human bodies and muscles precisely. However, it was illegal at the time for anyone who was not a physician to dissect bodies, which begs the question as to how they were allowed to do so. Despite this morally gray area, these two artists proved to be the only ones who could sculpt and draw people so beautifully.

An anatomical study by Leonardo da Vinci, from Historical memoirs on the life, studies, and works of Leonardo da Vinci, 1804; Carlo Amoretti, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Leonardo da Vinci Was Viewed as the Ultimate “Renaissance Man”

Possibly the most important artist and polymath to come from the Renaissance period was Leonardo da Vinci. While he is mainly known for producing the Mona Lisa (1503), which is widely regarded as the most famous oil painting of all time, da Vinci was dubbed as the quintessential “Renaissance man” during his lifetime.

Supposed self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1512; Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The title of “Renaissance man” was given to da Vinci as he was said to display an avid curiosity in all areas of advancement within the Renaissance. His wide range of interests included painting, sculpture, drawing, architecture, human anatomy, engineering, and science. While his reputation as a painter and draftsman was only based on certain notable works like the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper (1498), and Vitruvian Man (c. 1490), he also created many important inventions that went on to revolutionize history.

Some of the most celebrated inventions by da Vinci that forever changed history included: the parachute, the diving suit, the armored tank, the flying machine, the machine gun, and the robotic knight.

The Renaissance Lasted for Four Centuries

By the end of the 15^th century, several wars had aggravated the Italian peninsula, with many invaders competing for territory. These included Spanish, French, and German intruders who all battled for the Italian district, which led to much turmoil and volatility within the region. Trade routes had also changed after Columbus’ discovery of the Americas, which led to an interval of economic downturn that severely restricted the finances that wealthy sponsors had available to spend on the arts.

By 1527, Rome was attacked by the Spanish army under the reign of King Philip II, who went on to later rule the country. Italy remained threatened by other countries, such as Germany and France, and because of this, the Renaissance began to quickly lose momentum.

The High Renaissance period also came to an end by 1527 after more than 35 years of popularity, which marked the true conclusion of the Renaissance as a unified historical period.

The different periods of the Italian Renaissance, 1906; Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

As a result of the Reformation that had emerged in Germany, which disputed the values of the Catholic church, these churches faced a real problem in Italy. In response to this predicament, the Catholic church initiated the Counter-Reformation which worked to censor artists and writers following the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic church set up Inquisition and arrested every individual who dared challenge their doctrines.

Guilty people included Italian academics, artists, and scientists. Many Renaissance thinkers were afraid of being too outspoken, which ended up suppressing their creativity. However, their fear was valid, as their contestation was suddenly seen as an act punishable by death under the Catholic church. This led to the majority of artists discontinuing their Renaissance ideas and artworks.

By the 17th century, the movement had completely died out and had been replaced by the Age of Enlightenment.

The Term “Renaissance” Was French

When looking at the interesting Renaissance history, it is clear to see that the movement encompassed a resurgence of the ideas and values of classic antiquity. In all essence, the Renaissance era signaled the end of the Middle Ages and went ahead in introducing a completely different way of thinking and doing things.

However, when wondering the question, “what does Renaissance mean?”, it can simply be understood by looking at its name. Taken from the French language, the word “renaissance” directly translates to “rebirth”, which was only seen in the English language around the 1850s.

Definitions from Oxford Languages

A rebirth is exactly what happened in terms of the restoration that occurred of ancient Greek and Roman scholarship and values. Those credited with launching the Renaissance movement were trying to accurately recreate classical models from these two cultures.

Despite this being the only acceptable term that has ever been used for the movement, some scholars have stated that the word “Renaissance” was too vague to encapsulate all that occurred.

Additionally, the term “Renaissance years” was also believed to not be knowledgeable and enlightened enough to adequately capture all that was discovered and developed during the movement. Those with opposing views of the movement have said that the Renaissance was more correctly a part of a “Longue Durée” of European history.

The Renaissance Is Regarded as the Most Important Art Movement to Occur

The Renaissance proved to be a period of revolutionary explorations in a variety of disciplines. Certain discoveries afforded the movement much popularity, with artists and other creatives going on to produce truly incredible works that are still spoken about today. When asking yourself, “why is the Renaissance important?”, the answer to this question is fairly simple.

This movement proved to be one of the most significant periods ever because of the great strides that were made in art and science at the time.

Four Renaissance illustrations showing mathematic calculations and their problems; See page for author, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The spread of the Renaissance also happened relatively quickly, which demonstrated the movement’s importance. Expanding to other Italian cities at first, like Venice, Milan, Rome, Bologna, and Ferrara, the Renaissance soon influenced neighboring countries across Northern Europe by the time the 15^th century appeared. Although other countries would have encountered the Renaissance later than Italy, the impacts and advancements that happened in these countries were still groundbreaking.

Art, Architecture, and Science That Developed

One of the main reasons that the Renaissance developed out of Italy and not any other European country was because Italy was extremely wealthy at the time. After the Black Death, where many individuals died, a big gap was left in society.

This allowed survivors with relatively more wealth and ability to begin climbing the social ladder, which in turn made these individuals more willing to spend their money on things like art and music.

As the Renaissance had wealthy backers to finance individuals in the creation of art, literature, music, and scientific inventions, the movement grew rapidly. Science, in particular, took giant strides in terms of its advancement, as the Renaissance era embraced chemistry and biology in place of Aristotle’s natural philosophy.

18th-century engraving of the personification of Astronomy and Natural Philosophy; See page for author, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The aspects of art, architecture, and science were very closely connected during the Renaissance, as it was a rare time in history where all of these different fields of study were able to join together quite easily. Leonardo da Vinci exists as the perfect example of all of these genres coming together.

He was known to boldly incorporate various scientific principles, such as his study of anatomy, into his artworks so that he could paint and draw with absolute precision.

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (c. 1503) by Leonardo da Vinci; Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Standard subject matters seen in Renaissance art were religious images of the Virgin Mary and ecclesiastical rituals. Artists were usually commissioned to depict these spiritual scenes in churches and cathedrals. An important development to occur in art was the technique of drawing accurately from human life.

Made popular by Giotto di Bondone, who broke away from the Byzantine style to introduce a new technique of presenting human bodies in frescoes, he is viewed as the first great artist who contributed to Renaissance history.

The Renaissance Geniuses Included Art History’s Most Famous Artists

As a period of rapid development, the Renaissance was home to some of the most renowned and revolutionary artists, writers, scientists, and intellectuals. Amongst others, the most notable examples of Renaissance artists were Donatello (1386 – 1466), Sandro Botticelli (1445 – 1510), Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519), Michelangelo (1475 – 1564), and Raphael (1483 – 1520).

Other Renaissance prodigies included philosopher Dante (1265 – 1321), author Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400), playwright William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), astronomer Galileo (1564 – 1642), philosopher René Descartes (1596 – 1650), and poet John Milton (1608 – 1674).

Five Famous Men of the Florentine Renaissance (c. 1450) by Paolo Uccello, featuring (from left to right) Giotto, Paolo Uccello, Donatello, Antonio Manetti, and Filippo Brunelleschi; Paolo Uccello, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Most Famous Paintings Are Still Viewed Today

A handful of the most famous artists who ever lived came from the Renaissance period, as well as their still-revered artworks. These include Mona Lisa (1503) and The Last Supper (1495 – 1498) by Leonardo da Vinci, Statue of David (1501 – 1504) and The Creation of Adam (c. 1512) by Michelangelo, as well as The Birth of Venus (1485 – 1486) by Sandro Botticelli.

Some Have Stated that the Renaissance Did Not Even Happen

While the majority have viewed the Renaissance to be an extraordinary and impressive time in European history, some scholars have claimed that the period was actually not that different from the Middle Ages. If we look at the dates, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance overlapped much more than traditional accounts would have you believe, as a lot of middle ground existed between the two eras.

While the precise timing and general impact of the Renaissance are sometimes contested, there is little argument about the impact of the events of the period. Ultimately, the Renaissance led to developments that altered the way people comprehended and deciphered the world around them.

Some controversy still exists on whether the entire Renaissance period really existed or not.

A decorative drawing representing the Renaissance; Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Some critics have pointed out that most of Europe’s population did not undergo any big changes in their lifestyles or experience any intellectual and cultural upheaval during the Renaissance. This suggested that the period could not have been that important, as nothing made that big of an impact on their lives.

The majority of society continued to live their ordinary lives on farms, as the refined art and learning from the cities did not reach them.

If we choose to take the side of the cynics, answering the question “when did the Renaissance end?” becomes much easier as it possibly never existed in the first place. As many unfavorable social factors were associated with the Medieval period, such as war, poverty, and religious persecutions, most of society was more concerned about those pressing issues than that of the Renaissance.

Linear Perspective Was the Most Important Invention of the Movement

One of the most significant progressions in Renaissance art was the introduction of linear perspective. Developed around 1415 by Florentine architect and engineer Filippo Brunelleschi, linear perspective made use of mathematical principles to realistically depict space and depth in art. Brunelleschi accompanied sculptor Donatello on a trip to Rome to study ancient Roman ruins, which was something that no one had tried to do in such detail until then.

Linear perspective eventually led to realism, which was the core feature seen within all Renaissance artworks.

The Church Financed Great Renaissance Artworks

Since the church regularly gave out huge commissions for artwork, Rome almost went bankrupt! As the church proved to be one of the biggest financial supporters of most of the artworks made throughout the Renaissance, they went on to tax Christians throughout Europe.

This was done so that they could raise funds for the large commissions. These payments directly financed some iconic masterpieces that people travel from all over the world to see today, such as Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings at the Sistine Chapel.

A section of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1512; Fabio Poggi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Great Rivalry Existed Between Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci

Two of the Renaissance’s greatest artists, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, were in fact great rivals throughout their careers. Despite being highly respected and admired in their own right, they were fiercely competitive with one another and heavily criticized each other’s work.

This feud between them began in the early 16th century when both da Vinci and Michelangelo were employed to paint immense battle scenes on the same wall of the Council Hall in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

At the time of the commission in 1503, da Vinci was in his early 50s and was already greatly revered all over Europe. However, as Michelangelo was considered to be a prodigy, he was commissioned to paint the same wall just a year later, at the tender age of 29.

This commission came after Michelangelo’s iconic statue David was revealed and despite da Vinci’s own fame and talent, he suddenly found a rival in the art world. Michelangelo was also known to have made fun of da Vinci once for his failure to complete a sculpture of a horse.

David (1501-1504) by Michelangelo; Michelangelo, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Renaissance Was Not Always as Wonderful as History Suggests

The Renaissance was not always the “Golden Era” of advancement and progress that historians have made it out to be. The majority of people who were alive during the Renaissance did not even view it to be something exceptional. At the time, the period still endured very crucial issues such as religious wars, political corruption, inequality, and even witch-hunts, which took focus over the developments that were happening in the arts and sciences.

Surviving for over three centuries, there is no denying just how significant the Renaissance period was in terms of its revolutionary developments and advancements in both world and art history. Many of the most prolific artists and artworks to ever be made come from the Renaissance, whose impact upon the art world is still discussed today. If you have enjoyed reading up about these Renaissance facts, we encourage you to take a look at our other Renaissance art pieces as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Most Valuable Painting From the Renaissance?

Many people will agree that the most valuable painting to come from the Renaissance period is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, which he painted in 1503. Mona Lisa is actually thought to be the most important painting ever made, with over 10 million people traveling to view the artwork in the Louvre Museum in Paris each year.

What Is the Most Valuable Sculpture From the Renaissance?

The greatest sculptor to come from the Renaissance period was made by Michelangelo Buonarroti, the greatest sculptor to ever live. It makes sense that one of his artworks is viewed as the most valuable sculpture from the movement. David, which was carved between 1501 and 1504, is without question the most famous sculpture in existence. Located at the Galleria dell ’Accademia in Florence, Rome, David attracts more than eight million visitors a year.