Explore Renaissance

“Renaissance” is a French word meaning “rebirth,” used to describe a period in Europe between 1400 and 1600 when art and culture revived an interest in classical wisdom and style. The Renaissance began in Italy when artistic styles shifted from abstract decorations and forms used in the medieval period to more naturalistic representations of people and space. The period was also marked by the rising status of both the artist and individual patron.

Renaissance themes drew on classical religion and aesthetics of ancient Italy (Rome) and Greece (Athens), which spread quickly to other European countries. The High Renaissance (1500-1530) was a brief period during which the most exceptional work was produced in Italy, primarily in Rome, Florence, and the Papal States. Notable Italian Renaissance figures include Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and Marietta Tintoretto.

In other parts of Europe, similar artistic trends emerged in Spain and in what art historians call the Northern Renaissance because it occurred in nations north of the Alps. This movement encompasses the Low Countries—French Flanders and modern-day Belgium and The Netherlands—German, English, French, Polish Renaissances. Notable artists from these regions include Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch, Peter Paul Rubens, Pieter and Jan Breughel the Elder, and Hans Holbein.