Woman Renaissance Clothing

The Italian Renaissance of the 15th century represented a re-connection of the west with classical antiquity, the absorption of knowledge (particularly mathematics), a focus on the importance of living well in the present (Renaissance humanism), and an explosion of the dissemination of knowledge brought on by the advent of printing. In addition, the creation of new techniques in art, poetry, music, and architecture led in turn to a radical change in the style and substance of the arts and letters. The Italian Renaissance was often labeled as the beginning of the Modern Age, or the Early Modern.

Present day historians are skeptical about excessive claims for the modernity of the period and the common assumption that previous centuries were in some way "darker", viewing the Renaissance as a cultural program or movement based on humanism, arts, classics, and Christianity rather than an entire historical age.