The term Renaissance comes from the French word "rebirth." The Renaissance was a period of European history, considered by modern scholars that occurred between 1300 and 1600. Many dramatic changes happened during the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a period of new inventions and beliefs. This period of time was drastically different from the Middle Ages.
During the Middle Ages the church had most of the power and its economy was based primarily on agriculture. Exploration and learning was almost put to a stop. During the Renaissance days, society was transformed into a society which became more and more dominated by central political institutions with an urban commercial attitude. Also, people's curiosity overcame their fear and many people started to venture out and explore the new world. New schools and colleges became more and more common. The Renaissance was started by many rich Italian cities, such as Florence, Ferrara, Milan, and Venice.
Because these cities were very wealthy, many merchants started to spend money on different things, such as painting, learning, new banking techniques, and new systems of government. These things gave rise to a new type of scholar, the humanist. Humanism was a subject concerned with humankind and culture. They studied various things such as Latin, Greek language, literature and philosophy. Music and mathematics were also studied as well.
The Renaissance gave way to new forms of painting, art and sculpture. During the Renaissance, artists were no longer treated as mere artisans, as they had been to the medieval past, but for the first time emerged as independent personalities and were treated with respect and were even compared to poets and writers. Many artisans merged mathematics with art, in order to become more precise in their measurements and to make sure an object was supported both rationally and proportionally.
As a result painters tried and often succeeded into making their