Europe Travel Blog

For anyone contemplating travel in Europe and visiting its most famous sights, sooner or later you are going to come face-to-face with the Renaissance, particularly in the form of the great works of art, and architecture, that date from that period. However, the Renaissance was not just a movement in art, but was an intellectual movement that also encompassed advancements in science, as the Renaissance dates back to an era when scholars were not so severely divided into artists on the one hand, and scientists on the other, as tends to be the case in modern times. So it is worth giving some consideration to what the Renaissance actually was.

The term renaissance means rebirth in French, and gave its name to the cultural movement in Europe from the 14th to the 17th centuries, which most likely started in Florence, Italy, towards the end of the Middle Ages, and then spread throughout Europe. The famous and influential Medici family encouraged and gave patronage to this new movement.

Famous names of the Renaissance include Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who both had broad ranging interests which encompassed science and technology as well as art.

The Renaissance represented a renewed interest in learning and scholarship, and in particular, a revival of ideas from the classical times of Ancient Greece, as well as an interest in the teachings of other ancient cultures. There was a renewed interest in the study of Greek, Latin and Arabic texts that had been stored away in old monasteries and libraries, and not been looked at for years.

The Renaissance influenced philosophy, literature, art, science, politics and religion, and one of its underlying themes was a desire to improve knowledge and the understanding of the world around us.

In art there was a drive to represent things more realistically, particularly the human form, and this led to more work being done on perspective, and they way in which light falls on objects.

One of the best places in which to see Renaissance works is in the museums and streets of Florence, but all the major European cities show the influence of the Renaissance.

Filed under: Architecture, Ancient historic sites, Culture, Art, Italy