I
(French; " rebirth ")
Late medieval cultural movement in Europe that brought renewed interest in Classical learning and values.
The Renaissance began in Italy during the late 13th century and spread throughout Europe in the 15th century, ending finally in the 16th and early 17th century. Inspired by the works of ancient Greece and Rome, Renaissance artists produced painting and sculpture based on the observation of the visible world and practiced according to mathematical principles of balance, harmony, and perspective. The new aesthetic tenets found expression in the works of such Italian artists as Leonardo da Vinci , Raphael , Titian , and Michelangelo , and the city of Florence became the centre of Renaissance art. In the world of letters, humanist s such as Desiderius Erasmus rejected religious orthodoxy in favour of the study of human nature, and such writers as Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio in Italy, François Rabelais in France, and William Shakespeare in England produced works that emphasized the intricacies of human character. The term has also been applied to cultural revivals in England in the 8th century, the Frankish kingdoms in the 9th century, and Europe in the 12th century. See also Renaissance architecture .
II
[c mediumvioletred] (as used in expressions)
American Renaissance
New England Renaissance
Arabic literary renaissance
Chicago literary renaissance
Harlem Renaissance
Irish literary renaissance
Renaissance Party
{{link=Renaissance architecture">Renaissance architecture
Welsh literary renaissance