In this fascinating book, author Phyllis G. Jestice takes you on a stunning journey through the Renaissance world, exploring the lives of the great artists, the birth of new ideas and the politics that made such radical change possible.

In the 15th century, a new movement brought an unprecedented flowering of creativity throughout Europe - the Renaissance. Intellectuals re-examined the works of ancient Greece and Rome to reshape their own thinking, artists developed new styles and composers brought about a revolution in music. Equally important were the people who made such changes possible - the patrons who sponsored such individuals, the clerics who commissioned new works to glorify religion in a time of immense upheaval, and the increasingly powerful monarchs who championed a new breed of 'geniuses' for their own purposes.

Exploring everything from the role of famous patrons like Cosimo de' Medici in promoting new types of art and music to the new power and grandeur of Rome and the fascination with the classical past, The Renaissance provides a stunning window into one of the most important periods of European history. With examples ranging from Dutch painters to Italian sculptors and English and French composers, it spans the continent and shows how this movement of rebirth took its own unique forms in different places.