The Renaissance

Using examples from Renaissance art, literature and natural science to
explain how“The Renaissance is a period of challenging tradition.” 

"The Renaissance" 

Background 
The Renaissance period is one of the most interesting in history. From the French, the word "Renaissance" means re-birth. Which is a good description of the period. The general consensus is that it started around 1260 and ended around 1600.

Principal & Sources 
Humanism and its study of the classical writing of the past had an indirect impact on the changes during the Renaissance. We know that Nicholas Copernicus was influenced by studying the writing of antiquity.

The Science in the Renaissance 
Most of the scientific advances during the Renaissance were made by scholastic thinkers and not humanists. The humanists, and their inherent dislike for ordered, logical thought may actually have slowed the advance of science. Humanists believed that scholastic thinkers were not addressing the real needs of humanity.
Scholastic thinking was used to break the long held belief that the entire physical universe was centered on humankind. For example, gravity was believed to be the desire for all objects to be at the center of the earth. 

Arts in the Renaissance The Renaissance is best known for its achievements in art, literature and music. The Renaissance artists broke from medieval traditions in painting, sculpture and architecture.
The use of mathematics and geometry to achieve perspective and proportions became common. Surviving classical Roman sculptures provided inspirations for the new Renaissance artists.

Literature in the RenaissanceThe humanists and their reverence for the classics in Greek and Rome, had the effect of stifling the growth in creative literature. Their extreme reverence had the effect of encouraging the close imitation and copying of classical authors.  Some artists were achieving a degree of fame and the writers wanted the same. Writers felt the need to be recognized and this encouraged them to try new and innovative things.