Early Renaissance

 

The beginning of the 15th century brought a rejuvenation of classical art and architecture in Italy. Forgoing the Gothic styles that were largely predominant, artists rediscovered the beauties and mysteries of ancient Greek and Roman art. The Italian poet Petrarch first introduced this notion in the 14th century: he divided history at 300 A.D., when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, and asserted that the era before was one of cultural, intellectual and linguistic superiority; that the Middle Ages that followed were simply inferior. By the 1400s, scholars across Europe had found a fresh source of enlightenment in the obscure classical arts. The ensuing era, a period of vibrant change and revolution, was named the ‘Renaissance’, or the rebirth.