Renaissance, meaning rinascita in Italian or rebirth, describes the various changes that occurred in Europe altering its culture between the 14th and 16th century. As its name suggests, it was a period of rebirth of interest in Classical antiquity, which marked the end of Medieval times when the Church exerted a powerful influence over society. The concept of humanism was born during this epoch which portrayed the man as the central and most significant out of all God's creatures rather than the god-centred view of the centuries before. The most prominent feature of the Renaissance was the evolution of the arts and painters such as Giotto and other artists experimented with innovative techniques to portray a better perspective. Leonardo da …show more content…
The most powerful city-states were Florence, the Papal States (centred in Rome), Venice and Milan. Florence is considered the birth place of this movement due to the leadership of the Medici family, who played an important role in the political development of the city-state and were generous patrons of the arts by providing artists with the funds, residences, and other necessities to focus on using their talents to create artworks. One of the main reasons the this movement began in Italy is linked to geography since the major city-states were a hub of trade and commerce. Secondly, after the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, Italy became an area of refuge for intellectuals of Constantinople who brought with them great works of ancient Greece and Rome. Thirdly, there was a concentration of wealth, power and intellect in the Church which controlled these factors so much that it gathered most of the intelligent minds, wealthiest bodies and powerful leaders into one place at one time or another. Furthermore, Italians saw themselves as descendants of the Roman Empire and its achievements therefore it was natural that they should renew the Roman culture with a return to philosophy, literature, and