Overview

Overview

The cultural movement that flourished in Italy during the 1400's is now known as the Renaissance. It began in Italy during the early 1300's, and then spread to England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and other countries in the late 1400's. The Renaissance ended about 1600.

The word Renaissance comes from the Latin word rinascere and refers to the act of being reborn. During the Renaissance, many European scholars and artists, especially in Italy, studied the learning and art of ancient Greece and Rome. They wanted to recapture the spirit of the Greek and Roman cultures in their own artistic, literary, and philosophic works. The cultures of ancient Greece and Rome are often called classical antiquity. The Renaissance thus represented a rebirth of these cultures and is therefore also known as the revival of antiquity or the revival of learning.