Renaissance means rebirth, and the innovations of Renaissance artists and architects, inspired by the standards of Classical antiquity, changed the course of Western art. However, a fresh spirit of scientific naturalism as well as a humanism that admired the antique and celebrated human potential characterized Italian Renaissance art. The humanists considered Gothic art as barbaric and Classical art as pure, wanting to fuse the Classical and Christian traditions. As a result, the religious painting and sculpture of the Italian Renaissance reflect a tendency to humanize the sacred and to celebrate life in this world. The desire to synthesize the Classical and Christian found its most profound form in the art of Michelangelo.

Inspired by humanism, Renaissance art celebrated the individual, while serving the aristocratic and mercantile elite’s pursuit of fame, power, virtue and beauty. Portraiture commemorated individuals in an unprecedented manner. Artists also began to find recognition as educated individuals whom patrons valued not only for their craft, but also for the inventiveness of their minds.

Renaissance exploration and enjoyment of the physical world also inspired a surge of interest in depicting landscape--both scientifically and poetically--as well as a revival of country villa culture and landscape gardening. Inside the city, humanistic ideals prompted the desire to harmonize public space by imposing order, symmetry, and uniformity. This, together with innovations in palace and church design, inspired by Classical precedent, transformed the look of Western cities.

The self-confidant, adventurous spirit of the Renaissance also led to unprecedented contact with other cultures, like sub-Saharan Africa. While at first this had little impact on Western art, these contacts mark the first stirrings of inter-cultural exchange that has become such a dominant feature of modern life.