Renaissance
The Renaissance, a vibrant period of European cultural, artistic, political and scientific “rebirth” after the Middle Ages, was led by people including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Machiavelli and the Medici family.
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The chapel's famous ceiling stands as one of the masterworks of the Italian Renaissance—and of world art.
As interest in cultural, intellectual and scientific exploration flourished, support for an all-powerful church diminished.
The Medici family was a powerful dynasty that ruled Florence, Italy, and soon spread their artistic and economic influence throughout Renaissance Europe.
In the 15th century, an innovation enabled people to share knowledge more quickly and widely. Civilization never looked back.
3 Masters of Renaissance Art
Raphael (1483-1520)
A leading figure of Italian High Renaissance classicism, Raphael is best known for his "Madonnas," including the Sistine Madonna, and for his large figure compositions in the Palace of the Vatican in Rome.
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A plan to divert the Arno River brought two of the Renaissance’s most famous minds into the same wartime effort against Pisa.
Niccolo Machiavelli was a diplomat, politician and writer in Renaissance Italy whose most infamous quotes come from his books The Prince and The Art of War.
Over the years, scholars have debated the true inspiration behind the most famous half-smile in history—and possibly even the world’s most recognizable face. Proposed sitters for the “Mona Lisa” have included da Vinci’s mother Caterina, Princess Isabella of Naples, a Spanish noblewoman named Costanza d’Avalos and an unnamed courtesan, among others. Some of the more […]
Hidden beneath a Florentine church, the chamber might have been Michelangelo’s refuge from a death sentence. What was left behind?
Nine surprising facts about the Renaissance artist often called “the Divine One.”
Michelangelo was a sculptor, painter and architect widely considered to be one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. His works include the Sistine Chapel.
The Medici family was a powerful dynasty that ruled Florence, Italy, and soon spread their artistic and economic influence throughout Renaissance Europe.
The Italian Renaissance in Context Fifteenth-century Italy was unlike any other place in Europe. It was divided into independent city-states, each with a different form of government. Florence, where the Italian Renaissance began, was an independent rep...
The Renaissance advanced culture, arts, politics and commerce.
There was nothing supernatural about tarot cards when they first appeared.
Leonardo da Vinci—architect, inventor, scientist and painter of the 'Mona Lisa' and 'The Last Supper'—was a major figure of the Italian Renaissance.
Petrarch's 1336 account of his ascent of Mont Ventoux became a touchstone for those who love to climb peaks.
The chapel's famous ceiling stands as one of the masterworks of the Italian Renaissance—and of world art.
Known as the Renaissance, the period immediately following the Middle Ages in Europe saw a great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. Its style and characteristics emerged in Italy in the late 14th century and persisted through the early16th century.
