Renaissance

The School of Athens by Raphael. This Renaissance painting shows an imaginary scene from Ancient Greece, with Greek philosophers, writers, artists, and mathematicians. Raphael used the faces of people from his own time. Leonardo da Vinci was his model for Plato, the philosopher with the white beard in the center.

The Renaissance is a period in European history that followed the Middle Ages and ended in the 17th century. “Renaissance” is a French word for “cultural rebirth.” During this period, there was a “rebirth” of classical learning. People started relearning the teachings of scholars from Ancient Greece, Rome, and other ancient societies. The Renaissance is often said to be the start of the "modern age"

During the Renaissance, there were many advances in art, literature, the sciences, mathematics, and culture. Many famous artists, writers, philosophers, and scientists lived during this period. A person who is clever at a great number of things is sometimes called a "Renaissance man". The most famous Renaissance man is Leonardo da Vinci, who was a painter, a scientist, a musician and a philosopher.

The Renaissance started in Italy, but soon spread across the whole of Europe. In Italy, the period is divided into three parts:

Following the Mannerist period was the Baroque period, which also spread across Europe starting around 1600. Outside Italy, it can be hard to tell where the Renaissance period ends and the Baroque begins.

  1. "A beginner's guide to Mannerism | Mannerism | Khan Academy". Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-07-26.

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