Renaissance art involved an artist.
Lorenzo Ghiberti ( [ loˈrɛntso ɡiˈbɛrti ] ; 1378 -- 1 December 1455 ) , born Lorenzo di Bartolo , was a Florentine Italian artist of the Early Renaissance best known as the creator of the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery , called by Michelangelo the Gates of Paradise . Trained as a goldsmith and sculptor , he established an important workshop for sculpture in metal . His book of Commentari contains important writing on art , as well as what may be the earliest surviving autobiography by any artist . Masaccio ( [ maˈzattʃo ] ; December 21 , 1401 -- summer 1428 ) , born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone , was the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance . Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi ( 1396 -- 1472 ) was an Italian architect and sculptor . Piero della Francesca ( [ ˈpjɛːro della franˈtʃeska ] ; c. 1415 -- 12 October 1492 ) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance . Renaissance art . The serendipitous presence within the region of Florence in the early 15th century of certain individuals of artistic genius , most notably Masaccio , Brunelleschi , Ghiberti , Piero della Francesca , Donatello and Michelozzo formed an ethos out of which sprang the great masters of the High Renaissance , as well as supporting and encouraging many lesser artists to achieve work of extraordinary quality .