Renaissance Arts and Science

The Renaissance was an era of unparalleled innovation and creativity in painting, sculpture, and architecture, especially in Italy, which was the home of Renaissance art. Inspired by humanist concepts, many artists perfected their talents in several areas, personifying the ideal of the "Renaissance man." One of the most famous multitalented figures was the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. He not only produced masterpieces in painting and sculpture but also worked as an engineer and inventor. In fact, for Leonardo art and science were closely related. Throughout his career he kept notebooks in which he wrote down his ideas on a wide range of subjects, including theories of painting, ideas for remarkably modern inventions, and plans for houses and towns.

At the height of the Renaissance a scientific revolution was initiated by astronomers who introduced new ways of understanding their world in relation to the heavens. Rejecting the traditional theory of an Earth-centered universe, these scientists set out to test the theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun. One of the most important developments was the invention of the telescope, which enabled astronomers to gain a closer view of the orbits of planets and the positions of stars. The seventeenth-century Italian scientist Galileo Galilei was the first to use the telescope to observe the Moon, planets, and groups of stars. He reported his findings in The Starry Messenger, in which he described how he made his telescope and gave details of his radically new observations of the surface of the Moon.