Renaissance
The Renaissance was a major cultural and artistic movement that began in Italy during the 14th century and spread across Europe. Meaning rebirth, it marked a revival of interest in the classical art, literature, and ideas of ancient Greece and Rome. Moving away from the flat, symbolic art of the Middle Ages, Renaissance painters focused on realism, human anatomy, and accurate proportions. They developed revolutionary techniques like linear perspective to create the illusion of three-dimensional depth on a flat canvas, and used the delicate blending of light and shadow to make figures look solid and lifelike. This era celebrated humanism and the beauty of the natural world. Famous artists from this period include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Sandro Botticelli, who created some of the most iconic masterpieces in Western art.