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Petrarch
Petrarch (1304-1374 CE), full name Francesco Petrarca, was an Italian scholar and poet who is credited as one of the founders of the Renaissance movement in art, thought, and literature. Petrarch actively searched for 'lost' ancient manuscripts...
Definition
Renaissance Humanism
Renaissance Humanism was an intellectual movement typified by a revived interest in the classical world and studies which focussed not on religion but on what it is to be human. Its origins went back to 14th-century Italy and such authors...
Definition
Renaissance Architecture
Renaissance architecture originated in Italy and superseded the Gothic style over a period generally defined as 1400 to 1600. Features of Renaissance buildings include the use of the classical orders and mathematically precise ratios of height...
Definition
Renaissance Art
The art of the Renaissance period in Europe (1400-1600 CE) includes some of the most recognisable and best-loved paintings and sculptures in the world. Masters were often skilled in both painting and sculpture, and by studying the art of...
Definition
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was an Italian poet, writer, and scholar. His most famous and influential work is the Decameron, completed by 1353, in which his ten characters present 100 tales of everyday life. The book covers all manner...
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Copies & Fakes in Art during the Renaissance
The Renaissance period witnessed a great renewed interest in the art of antiquity. There was an appreciation of the technical skill required to produce such objects as a Roman marble figure of Venus and an admiration for the form and beauty...
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Life in a Renaissance Artist's Workshop
The majority of great Renaissance works of art were produced in large and busy workshops run by a successful master artist and his team of assistants and apprentices. Here, too, more mundane art was produced in larger quantities to meet the...
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Colour & Technique in Renaissance Painting
There were three principal painting techniques during the Renaissance: fresco, tempera, and oils. In all of these techniques, colour was an important part of the painter's armoury, allowing them to create images that would strike a chord...
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The Printing Revolution in Renaissance Europe
The arrival in Europe of the printing press with moveable metal type in the 1450s CE was an event which had enormous and long-lasting consequences. The German printer Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1398-1468 CE) is widely credited with the innovation...
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Patrons & Artists in Renaissance Italy
During the Renaissance, most works of fine art were commissioned and paid for by rulers, religious and civic institutions, and the wealthy. Producing statues, frescoes, altarpieces, and portraits were just some of the ways artists made a...