Rinascimento

Rinascimento, literally “rebirth” in Italian, refers to a cultural and intellectual movement that spread across Europe from roughly the 14th to the 17th century, with its core in Italy. It signifies a revival of interest in classical antiquity and a shift toward humanist scholarship, arts, and new ways of thinking about knowledge and life.

The movement began in the Italian city-states, especially Florence, Venice, and Rome, and spread to other parts of Europe. Its emergence was aided by the recovery of ancient Latin and Greek texts, the patronage of wealthy elites such as the Medici, urban economies that supported learning and art, and the rapid diffusion of printed books that expanded access to ideas. These conditions fostered a reexamination of philosophy, literature, history, and science.

Key features include humanism, which emphasized classical learning, ethical reflection, and civic engagement; innovations in art such as the development of perspective in painting; and advances in science that stressed observation and inquiry. The period also saw changes in education, architecture that revived classical orders, and a shift in literary language toward vernacular works in addition to Latin.

Notable figures and contributions span the visual and literary arts, science, and political thought. Artists such as Masaccio, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael advanced technique and representation; writers like Petrarch and Boccaccio helped shape vernacular and humanist literature; Machiavelli contributed to political theory; scientists including Copernicus, Vesalius, and Galileo broadened empirical understanding. The Rinascimento laid groundwork for modern Western thought and eventually interfaces with the Reformation and the scientific revolution.