Renaissance

The Renaissance transformed European art from roughly 1400 to 1600, centered first in Florence and later spreading to Rome, Venice, and beyond. Artists rediscovered classical Greek and Roman principles, developing new techniques like linear perspective and anatomical accuracy. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael became the movement's towering figures.

Florence's Medici family bankrolled much of this explosion. Wealthy patrons competed for the best artists, who became celebrities for the first time in Western history. Botticelli's graceful mythological scenes, Titian's rich Venetian colors, and Leonardo's sfumato technique (soft, smoky transitions between tones) defined the era. Oil painting, imported from Northern Europe, allowed for luminous glazes impossible with tempera.

The Renaissance wasn't just about technique. Humanism placed mankind at the center of inquiry, and portraits flourished alongside religious subjects. Artists investigated anatomy by dissecting corpses, studied mathematics for perspective, and viewed painting as an intellectual pursuit rather than mere craft. Works from this period hang in the Uffizi Gallery, the Louvre, and the Vatican Museums.