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Introduction

Leonardo Da Vinci

Raphael

Late fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Europe saw a flowering of culture as the art, literature, and philosophy of the Greco-Roman world were rediscovered. The people of the time felt that they were witnessing a rebirth of antiquity that characterized a new age. Thus the period became known as the Renaissance, which is French for “rebirth.” Artists, scholars, philosophers, and theologians studied ancient texts, finding within them a philosophical outlook that emphasized human reason and the evidence of the senses in the search for truth. Artists strove for perspective and realism in their paintings, while theologians and politicians such as Erasmus, Thomas More, and Machiavelli sought to improve the human condition. Their efforts marked the beginning of the modern age.

Essential Facts

1. Michelangelo’s famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel took four years to complete and consists of over 300 figures. Contrary to popular belief, Michelangelo completed most of the painting in a standing position painfully looking up at the ceiling, not lying down on a scaffold.
2. Considered the quintessential “Renaissance Man,” Leonardo Da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, mathematician, engineer, and anatomist.
3. One of the foremost families of the Renaissance, the Medicis produced three popes and several rulers of Florence. The family was also a strong patron of the arts and sciences: Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Galileo all benefited from Medici patronage.
4. During the Renaissance, Italy consisted of 250 separate states, most of which were ruled by a city. The smallest of these city-states had a population of less than 5,000 people; the largest, such as Venice and Milan, had 100,000 people. Italy did not become a unified nation until the nineteenth century.
5. In many ways, the innovations of the Renaissance were Europeans’ way of recovering from the calamities of the fourteenth century, which included famines, The Hundred Years War, and the Black Plague. Historians estimate that one-third to two-thirds of Europe’s population died during this period.