We start this topic in Italy, more specifically the "proto-Renaissance" took place during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. During this starting period of Renaissance art, Italian artists would set off explore their styles and revive aspects of the classical Roman culture. In the literature side of art some writers such as Petrarch or Boccaccio would be ones to go back to Roman and Greek languages, values, and cultures that could then be revived and used in their new type of arts. Some of the most recognizable artists that would influence this period would be people like Leonardo Da Vinci, also referred to as "The Renaissance Man" and Giotto who was considered the most famous artist during proto-Renaissance. These two were known for their inclusion of extreme realisticness, which would then make up the rest of the Renaissance art time period.

Background Picture: Giotto. Lamenation (The Mourning of Christ). 1306, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy