Renaissance

Leonardo da Vinci, The Mona Lisa

The Renaissance was a period of cultural "rebirth", as it translates in Italian. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Botticelli flourished in this era. Great works of art like the Birth of Venus, The Mona Lisa (above), and the various paintings of the Sistine Chapel such as Creation of Adam (below) were created. Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is his most famous, despite the fact that he wasn’t happy to paint it. Art, however, wasn't the only forte of the Renaissance. It was a time of knowledge and discoveries in all subjects--architecture, dance, literature, music, philosophy, and science to name a few. This was seen in da Vinci as the ultimate Renaissance man. He was not only a master painter, but also a skilled mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer. His most famous work, the Mona Lisa, is a very mysterious piece because she has no eyebrows.

Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam