The Renaissance is known for its cultural developments.
Renaissance . It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe , marking the beginning of the Early Modern Age . 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 '' . Some observers have called into question whether the Renaissance was a cultural `` advance '' from the Middle Ages , instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and nostalgia for classical antiquity , while social and economic historians , especially of the longue durée , have instead focused on the continuity between the two eras , which are linked , as Panofsky observed , `` by a thousand ties '' .