## TL;DR

Renaissance art (14th-16th centuries, Italy) revolutionized Western art through: linear perspective (Brunelleschi, ~1415), anatomical accuracy, chiaroscuro (light/shadow), sfumato (smoky blending, da Vinci), and humanistic themes. Patronage shifted from church to wealthy merchants (Medici).

## Core Explanation

Key works: Botticelli's Birth of Venus (1485), da Vinci's Last Supper (1498) and Mona Lisa (1503-19), Michelangelo's David (1504) and Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508-12), Raphael's School of Athens (1511). Northern Renaissance: Van Eyck (oil painting innovations), Dürer, Bruegel. Humanism: art focused on human experience and classical antiquity, not just religious themes.

## Further Reading

- [The Story of Art (E.H. Gombrich)](https://www.phaidon.com/store/art/the-story-of-art-pocket-edition-9780714872216/)