Renaissance

The Renaissance is a period of art history whose core period is in the 15th century (Quattrocento) and 16th century (Cinquecento). However, there were already first tendencies, which can be regarded as precursors of the epoch, as in Trecento and Duecento. An essential feature of the Renaissance is the overcoming of the Middle Ages, which is particularly evident in a revival of the cultural achievements of both Roman and Greek antiquities. Thus one looked back on the achievements of antiquity, which decisively influenced painting, literature, philosophy and architecture of the Renaissance. This recollection of one-time achievements, in turn, caused numerous discoveries and inventions in the Renaissance, which was due above all to the revival of ancient mathematics. The origins of the epoch are in Northern Italy, which is why many Italian artists are mentioned in connection with the Kunstepoche, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello and Titian, although German artists, such as Albrecht Dürer, were also very pioneering. In the literature it was above all Dante Alighieri or William Shakespeare, whereby also names such as Erasmus of Rotterdam, Martin Luther or Hans Sachs must fall in connection with the epoch. The Renaissance was replaced by the Baroque in the 17th century.

Term
The term is derived from the French noun renaissance and can be translated with rebirth. Consequently, the very name of the epoch refers to the fundamental principle: namely, a rebirth (of antiquity), which means that many achievements as well as cultural achievements of antiquity were revived and, consequently, reborn and carried on in the Renaissance. The term was, however, only shaped in retrospect, namely in the 19th century.

However, the term was first used in 1550 by the Italian artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari as Rinascimento. Vasari meant that the art of the Middle Ages was overcome and distinguished three different ages from the point of view of art: (1) a glorious age, which characterized Greek and Roman antiquity, (2) the decay of cultural achievements, what the Middle Ages meant and (3) the revival or the rebirth of the arts, whereby ancient ideas and, in addition, the ancient spirit resurrected, which can be observed approximately from 1250 onwards.

Vasari, therefore, locates the origins of the epoch much, much earlier than is customary nowadays. He points out that in the second half of the 13th century, even in the darkest age, the path was paved for the rebirth, which ultimately led to the perfection of art, painting and architecture. These first steps are commonly referred to as the Protorenaissance and are conceived under the terms of Duecento and Trecento, which ultimately initiated the Renaissance.

The term, as we now use it, was then taken from Italian to French at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and transferred from French to German in about 1840. The term was first used in German by the Swiss cultural historian Jacob Burckhardt, who introduced him in his work of The Renaissance of Italy in Italy in 1860. The work describes the modern, individual man who overcomes the Middle Ages.Epochen der Literatur als Zeitstrahl

Characteristics of the Renaissance
It is hardly possible to elucidate the characteristics of this epoch with a few key points, since the rediscovery of the ancient achievements in painting, literature and architecture had a very different effect and, in addition, were interpreted differently in different regions. For this reason, the overview only concentrates the essential characteristics of different artistic directions.

Overview: Prerequisites and Generalities of the Renaissance
The Renaissance is an epoch of art history that marks the transition from the medieval age to the modern age. The epoch can be located between the 15th and 16th century. In the history of the history of the region between the Early Renaissance (Italy: ca. 1420 to 1500; German-speaking region: 1520 to 1555), High Renaissance (Italy: ca. 1500 to 1530; German speaking region: 1555 to 1590) and Late Renaissance , German-speaking area: 1560 to 1610) separated. The boundaries are fluid.
The cultural epoch is marked by a return to antiquity and the revival of cultural achievements of Roman and Greek antiquities. This was favored by an appropriation of Arabic and Greek knowledge. Numerous ideas which had already existed in antiquity had fallen into oblivion in the Middle Ages. However, scientists such as Niccolo Niccoli and Pogg have now begun to grow