Renaissance: Did you mean...?

In which John Green teaches you about the European Renaissance. European learning changed the world in the 15th and 16th century, but was it a cultural revolution, or an evolution? We'd argue that any cultural shift that occurs over a couple...

Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance, exhibition installation view, photo by Emanuele Rambaldi. San Domenico Museum, Forlì, Italy.

Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance, exhibition installation view, photo by Emanuele Rambaldi. San Domenico Museum, Forlì, Italy.

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was an Italian poet and politician most famous for his Divine Comedy (c. 1319) where he descends through Hell, climbs Purgatory, and arrives at the illumination of Paradise. Dante meets many historical characters...

Donato Bramante (c. 1444-1514 CE) was an Italian Renaissance architect whose most famous project was the design for a new Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, even if this work remained unfinished at his death. Bramante had also designed the influential...

The European Renaissance may have started in Florence, but it pretty quickly moved out of Italy and spread the art, architecture, literature, and humanism across Europe to places like France, Spain, England, and the Low Countries. SOURCES...

Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431-1506 CE) was an Italian Renaissance artist most famous for his use of foreshortening and other perspective techniques in engravings, paintings, and frescoes. Another common feature of Mantegna's work is his frequent...

Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516 CE) was an Italian Renaissance artist best known for his innovative use of colour, interest in light, and emphasis on brushwork. Today, Giovanni is recognised as the most innovative and influential of the Bellini...

Dig into the history of the elite mercenaries known as condottieri, who were soldiers for hire for Italy's rich and powerful. During the 14th and 15th centuries, mercenaries known as condottieri dominated Italian warfare, profiting from—...

Donatello (c. 1386-1466 CE), full name Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, was an Italian Renaissance artist best known for his sculptures such as the striking bronze figure of David now in the Bargello museum of his native Florence. Donatello...