Click here for the Renaissance art worksheet.

The Renaissance began in Italy about the year 1450 and lasted until about 1600. Europe had been stuck in the Middle Ages, often referred to the Dark Ages, in which the arts, literature, and science all stumbled in their advances. The word Renaissance can be translated as "re-birth," and it is an appropriate name because Europe began to thrive where it had lacked in the decades and centuries beforehand. People began to once again value cultural achievements for their own sake. (Click here for a quick quiz of your knowledge of European geography) For more on the cultural shift from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance click here.

One of the most famous artists of the Renaissance is Leonardo da Vinci. In the sense that an ideal 'Renaissance man' was one who was very talented in many different fields, da Vinci was perfect. He was a superb sculptor and painter, but he was also a great scholar of architecture, engineering, medicine, philosophy, and the natural sciences. Some of his studies today on anatomy and metallurgy are still relevant today. Da Vinci was born in 1452 and lived until 1519. Other famous Renaissance painters include Raphael and Michelangelo, who painted the Sistine Chapel. Click here for a picture of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel and here for information on its restoration.