The term "renaissance" means revival or rebirth. During the latter middle ages popular attention shifted from the spiritual world to a humanistic interest in the physical world. The rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, science and literature inspired a new era of exploration and inquiry. Educated people began to study classical methods of learning information and to apply reason and ration to their studies. Like many aspects of society, art was also influenced by classical methods.
The Early Renaissance emerged in Florence around the beginning of the 14th century. The Web Museum describes the paintings of the Early Renaissance period as endeavoring to accurately represent the natural world. They also indicate that these paintings were generally more idealistic than realistic. Some of the leading artists of this time period were Giotto, Masaccio and della Francesca.
The High Renaissance spanned the years from approximately 1495 to 1520, according to the Web Museum, and the leading cities were Florence and Rome. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael were several of the artists who created masterpieces during this time. The Web Museum describes High Renaissance art as being characterized by artistic balance and advanced compositional skills.
In the 1520s several major events occurred that disrupted the momentum of the Renaissance. First, Raphael died in 1520. Next, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V, invaded and sacked Rome in 1527, according to Olga's Gallery. The World Wide Art Resources website indicates that many artists left Rome and moved to other areas of the country.
Between 1520 and 1600 a growing dissatisfaction with classical techniques and styles led artists towards developing a new movement later called Mannerism. The Art Movements Directory explains that Mannerism is characterized by distorted physical features and the elongation of bodies, as well as clashing colors and ambiguous space. The Mannerist technique is focused more upon the representation of emotions than than about the idealistic representation of physical objects. The Mannerist movement represents the last dying gasp of the Italian Renaissance. Titan, Tintoretto and del Sarto were important Mannerist painters.