Italy & Spain, 14th century

1300–1400 (Late Gothic)

• Beginner's guide
• View all content

A new naturalism appears in the art of this period. Figures begin to express emotion and to exist in earthly settings.

Italy
15th century

1400–1500 (Early Renaissance)

• Beginner's guide
• View all content

Early Renaissance artists were interested in depicting the observable world and the art of ancient Greece and Rome.

Italy
16th century

1500–1600 (High Renaissance and Mannerism)

• View all content

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian — no wonder this period is often called the "High" Renaissance.

Northern Europe
15th century

1400–1500 (Northern Renaissance)

• Beginner's guide
• View all content

A new visual realism, down to the finest details, characterizes the art of the Northern Renaissance.

Northern Europe
16th century

1500–1600 (Northern Renaissance)

• View all content

The art of this period includes the visions of Bosch, the peasants of Bruegel, and the prints of Dürer.

Spain and Portugal
15–16th century

1400–1600 (Renaissance)

• View all content
• Fifteenth-century Spanish painting, an introduction

The global confluence of cultures we see today began in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Reformation and Counter-Reformation

1517–1600

• View all content

Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation, which challenged the power of the Pope and inspired the founding of many Protestant denominations.

Baroque
17th century

1600–1700

• Beginner's guide
• View all content

While the Protestants harshly criticized the cult of images, the Catholic Church ardently embraced the religious power of art.

18th century

1700–1800

The 18th century is time of tremendous upheaval in nearly all areas of life—political, economic, and religious.