Question

Which region first rose to wealth and prominence during the early part (e.g. 15th c.) of this era and what factors enabled their rise? Name at least two cities that are iconic in this regard.

Answer 1

During the two hundred years between 1400 and 1600, Europe witnessed an astonishing revival of drawing, fine art painting, sculpture and architecture focus on Italy, which we now refer to as the Renaissance.

From the early 14th century, in their search for a new set of artistic values and a response to the courtly International Gothic style, Italian artists and thinkers became inspired by the ideas and forms of ancient Greece and Rome. This was perfectly in tune with their desire to create a universal, even noble, form of art which could express the new and more confident mood of the times.

In Italy, Venice and Genoa had grown rich on trade with the Orient, while Florence was a place of wool, silk and jewellery art, and was home to the fabulous wealth of the cultured and art-conscious Medici family.

Prosperity was also coming to Northern Europe, as evidenced by the establishment in Germany of the Hanseatic League of cities. This increasing wealth provided the financial support for a growing number of commissions of large public and private art projects, while the trade routes upon which it was based greatly assisted the spread of ideas and thus contributed to the growth of the movement across the Continent.