Renaissance Essay Examples

Renaissance is a French word meaning “rebirth.” It refers to a period in European civilization that was marked by a revival of Classical learning and wisdom. The Renaissance saw many contributions to different fields, including new scientific laws, new forms of art and architecture, and new religious and political ideas.

Prominent figures of the Renaissance included philosopher and statesman Niccolò Machiavelli; Francis Bacon, a statesman and philosopher; the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus; the poets Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio; William Shakespeare, considered the greatest dramatist of all time; astronomer and mathematician Galileo; and the explorers Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Hernán Cortés.

The spirit of the Renaissance was first expressed by the movement called humanism. Through humanism secular scholars and others broke free of religious orthodoxy, engaged in free inquiry and criticism, and gained confidence in the potentials of human thought and creations.

The High Renaissance flourished from the early 1490s to 1527. The three most well-known figures from this time are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Donato Bramante created the High Renaissance architecture with its Classical columns and domes. His masterpiece, the Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio, and sections of the massive St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome remain the best examples of his work.

The sack of Rome in 1527 by the armies of the Holy Roman emperor Charles V marked the end of the Renaissance as a unified historical period. In a matter of days, thousands of churches, palaces, and houses in Rome were pillaged and destroyed. The artistic style known as Mannerism later predominated in Italy.

The idea of a Renaissance man developed in Italy and derived from Leon Battista Alberti’s notion that “a man can do all things if he will.” The ideal embodied the basic tenets of Renaissance humanism, which considered man the centre of the universe and led to the belief that people should try to embrace all knowledge and develop their own abilities as fully as possible. Leonardo da Vinci is a leading example of a Renaissance man.