Renaissance Timeline by Randall Clark

1305: Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:16:39 UTC

Giotto's completion of frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel was a huge step to reach a realistic and emotional style in painting.

1341: Petrarch named Poet Laureate

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:20:17 UTC

Francesco Petrarch, called the Father of humanism, was crowned in Rome.

1419: Brunelleschi's Dome for Florence Cathedral

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:21:22 UTC

Filippo Brunelleschi started designing the dome for the Florence Cathedral.

1434: Medici family rise to power in Florence

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:22:35 UTC

The Medici family was important in Florence, making a cultural and artistic way for the Italian Renaissance.

1450: Gutenberg invents the Printing Press

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:24:20 UTC

Gutenbergs invention changed communication, starting the mass production of books and speeding up the spread of ideas throughout Europe.

1453: Fall of Constantinople

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:30:48 UTC

The Ottoman Empire's conquest of Constantinople brought back teachings of classic learning and the development of humanism.

1485: Botticelli completes The Birth of Venus

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:33:01 UTC

The painting, The Birth of Venus, is a masterpiece reflecting the brought back interest in classical mythology and human life during the Renaissance.

1492: Columbus Discovers America

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:37:19 UTC

Columbus and the trip he made was meant to be to Asia, but instead found America, leading to a legacy of exploration and colonization.

1495: Leonardo da Vinci paints The Last Supper

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:45:08 UTC

Leonardo da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper, was a masterpiece painted in Milan and showed the connection between art, science, and ultimately religious beliefs as well.

1501: Michelangelo begins work on David

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:48:28 UTC

Michelangelo's sculpture of the biblical figure David, which was commissioned by Florence, shows the influence in Renaissance art and how serious religion was at this time.

1508: Michelangelo begins painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 17:54:47 UTC

Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling for Pope Julius II shows artistic achievement with its powerful depiction of popular figures.

1517: Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 18:05:36 UTC

Martin Luther's 95 Theses shows his opinions on corruption in the catholic church, and significantly changed the way the catholic church was perceived in the Renaissance.

1532: Machiavelli writes The Prince

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 22:55:43 UTC

The Prince, a political treatise diving into the nature of power and government became an influencing work of political philosophy during the Renaissance.

1543: Copernicus publishes on heliocentric theory

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 22:57:12 UTC

On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, presented a model of the solar system, replacing the geocentric view and helping to make the way for a scientific revolution.

1605: Shakespeare writes Hamlet

randallc1157 — 2025-08-20 23:00:23 UTC

Hamlet is a masterpiece in the late Renaissance in England, discussing the artistic knowledge and diving into the human themes characteristic of the era's literature.