The Renaissance covered the period between 1400 and 1600, although some disagree on exact dates. The word renaissance literally means 'rebirth' and is the French translation of the Italian rinascita. The two principal components of Renaissance style are the following: a revival of the classical forms originally developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and an interest in humanism and assertion of the importance of the individual. The Renaissance period in art history corresponds to the beginning of the great Western age of discovery and exploration, when a general desire developed to examine all aspects of nature and the world.
Masaccio was the first painter to employ both linear and aerial perspective in his frescoes (Saint Peter for the Brancacci Chapel in Florence's Church of Santa Maria del Carmine).…
