The Renaissance is not known for its artistic developments.
Renaissance . As a cultural movement , the Renaissance encompassed innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literatures , beginning with the 14th-century resurgence of learning based on classical sources , which contemporaries credited to Petrarch ; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering a more natural reality in painting ; and gradual but widespread educational reform . Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits , as well as social and political upheaval , it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo , who inspired the term `` Renaissance man '' . 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 .