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  1. Home
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  3. Renaissance
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Renaissance - Topics

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.

The Creation Of Adam (Sistine Chapel Ceiling In The Vatican)The Creation of Adam (Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican), 1508-1512. Found in the collection of The Sistine Chapel, Vatican. Artist Buonarroti, Michelangelo (1475-1564). (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images).

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages.

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Portrait of Niccolo Machiavelli after a Painting by Santi di Tito (Original Caption) Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). Italian statesman and political philosopher. Portrait by Santi di Tito (1538-1603). Ca. 16th century.

Machiavelli

The Prince As leaders rapidly rose and fell, Machiavelli observed traits that, he believed, bolstered power and influence. In 1513, after being expelled from political service with the takeover of Florence by the Medici family, Machiavelli penned his outline of what makes an effective leader in The Prince. Unlike the noble princes portrayed in fairy […]

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The Creation Of Adam (Sistine Chapel Ceiling In The Vatican)The Creation of Adam (Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican), 1508-1512. Found in the collection of The Sistine Chapel, Vatican. Artist Buonarroti, Michelangelo (1475-1564). (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images).

Michelangelo

Early Life and Training Michelangelo Buonarroti (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni) was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy. His father worked for the Florentine government, and shortly after his birth his family returned to Florence, the city Michelangelo would always consider his true home. Did you know? Michelangelo received the commission to paint […]

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Detail of 'The Birth of Venus,' c. 1485, by Sandro Botticelli, an Italian painter of the early Renaissance in Florence.

Italian Renaissance

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 republic. It was also a banking and commercial capital and, after London and Constantinople, the third-largest city in Europe. […]

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'The Last Supper', 1494-1498. Artist: Leonardo Da Vinci.'The Last Supper', 1494-1498. The mural painting was for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan and was commissioned as part of a scheme of renovations to the church and its convent buildings by Da Vinci's patron Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. The painting represents the scene of The Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, as it is told in the Gospel of John, 13:21. From World Famous Paintings edited by J Grieg Pirie [W.& G. Foyle Ltd., London, 1938.] (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Renaissance Art

Origins of Renaissance Art The origins of Renaissance art can be traced to Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. During this so-called “proto-Renaissance” period (1280-1400), Italian scholars and artists saw themselves as reawakening to the ideals and achievements of classical Roman culture. Writers such as Petrarch (1304-1374) and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) looked […]

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Self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci

When Was Leonardo da Vinci Born? Da Vinci was born in Anchiano, Tuscany (now Italy), in 1452, close to the town of Vinci that provided the surname we associate with him today. In his own time he was known just as Leonardo or as “Il Florentine,” since he lived near Florence—and was famed as an […]

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Portrait of members of the Medici Family.

The Medici Family

The Medici family was a powerful dynasty that ruled Florence, Italy, and soon spread their artistic and economic influence throughout Renaissance Europe.

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