Renaissance Europe
The term Renaissance (re-birth) was coined by scholars and
artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to claim that they
were heirs of the classical world. This process of rebirth and
re-evaluation of the classical inheritance began in Italy
during the early fourteenth century and spread across Europe. This
period was also a great age of geographical exploration and
scientific discovery.
The major political power was the Holy Roman Empire, which
stretched from the Netherlands to Hungary. Its rival was the more
centralised French monarchy. The struggle between them was fought
in Italy, then a patchwork of different states. Renaissance popes
were also active participants and in 1527 Rome was sacked by
imperial forces.
Renaissance rulers used their patronage of arts and scholarship
to promote their power and legitimacy. In Italy, Renaissance art
reached a pinnacle of achievement in the work of Leonardo
(1452-1519) Raphael (1483-1520) and Michelangelo (1475–1564). The
invention of a printing press in about 1450 in Nuremberg introduced
the idea of mass production. This ensured that the anti-papal
ideas of the German monk, Martin Luther (1483-1546) circulated
widely. The resulting Reformation by the mid-sixteenth century
ended a unified Christendom. The sophisticated prints of
Luther’s countryman, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) made him the first
artist with a truly international reputation.
Renaissance drawings and prints can be consulted in the
Department of Prints and Drawings. Renaissance scientific
instruments, and artefacts including maiolica, gems, medals,
glass, painted enamels and goldsmiths’ work, are displayed in
Galleries 45, 46 and in the Enlightenment Gallery.
Image caption: The Phoenix Jewel
England, about AD 1570-80