The term "Renaissance" means " Re-birth". The Renaissance age is a rebirth of
art and philosophy that brought about a great change in the society in the sixteenth
century.
The center for Renaissance was Italy, more specifically the cities of Rome and Venice where art flourished.
During the Middle
ages in Europe which was before the 14th century, Christianity dominated the life and
culture of the people, the philosophies and legends of the ancient cultures such as the Greek and Roman which existed prior to christianity were considered pagan. All Pagan customs and ideas were forbidden in Christian Europe during the Middle ages.
With the birth of Renaissance the suppressed idealogies of the Greek and Roman cultures were realized and manifested in and through art forms of painting, sculpture, architecture and writings. The introduction of the change in the
form of painting and sculpture took place over a period of time culminating in the
works of the three masters of Renaissance Micheal Angelo, Leonaro Da Vinci and Rapael.
The famous works of Micheal Angelo are the paintings of the Sistine chappel, the sculptures ''The Pieta" and "David", Rapael''s contribution were his many paintings of the "Madonna" depicting Mary with her son Jesus. Leonardo Da Vinci''s famous works are " Mona Lisa" and "Last supper".
A search for realism of form has come a long way from the iconography of the Middle ages, the depiction of space and perspective on canvas was another important break through in the Renaissance art. Proportion of form and space which has been worked upon here has been borrowed the ancient Greek dictum of "Man as the measure for all things". As the many
changes had been reflected in art so also changes were brought about in other spheres of life and culture of the people during the sixteenth century. This rebirth gave impetus to further changes in the later ages and was itself a Golden age for art and culture.
More summaries about the Renaissance- An introduction