The Renaissance: Cultural Bridge Between The Middle Ages

The Renaissance is a period in Europe, from the 14th to the 17th century, known as the cultural bridge between the middle ages and modern history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the late medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe, marking the beginning of the Early Modern Age. The ways of thinking in the Renaissance was its own version of humanism, which came from the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras, who said that “Man is the measure of all things.” This new way of thinking started showing up in art, architecture, politics, science and literature. An early example in art was the development of perspective oil paintings. A lot of things were made out of concrete again

It was painted as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The School of Athens is the second painting to be finished there, after La Disputa, on the opposite wall. The picture has been referred to a lot as "Raphael's masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the High Renaissance." Another great painter of this time was Michelangelo. He painted what we know today as the Sistine Chapel. The painting is a prime example of High Renaissance art. The ceiling is part of the large Papal Chapel built within the Vatican. The ceiling's many different painted aspects form part of a larger scheme of decoration within the Chapel, which includes the large fresco The Last Judgment on the sanctuary wall, which was also painted by

Leonardo da Vinci created this fine piece of art for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice d'Este. It represents the scene of The Last Supper from the final days of Jesus as it is told in the Gospel of John 13:21, when Jesus announces that one of his Twelve Apostles would betray him. Due to the methods used, and several different environmental factors, as well as intentional damage, very little of the original painting remains today, despite numerous restoration attempts, and the last time they tried to restore it was in 1999. Two early copies of The Last Supper are known to exist; we can guess that it is to be work by Leonardo's assistants. The copies are almost the size of the original, and have survived with a wealth of original detail still intact.] One accurate copy, by Giampietrino, is in the collection of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and the other, with some changes to the background design, by Cesare da Sesto, is installed at the Church of St. Ambrogio in Ponte Capriasca, Switzerland. A third copy oil on canvas is painted by Andrea Solari and is to this day on display in the Leonardo da Vinci Museum which is in Abbey,