Curated atlas · Culture

The Renaissance

The cultural explosion that bridged the medieval and modern worlds — from Brunelleschi's dome to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, the printing press, and the Scientific Revolution's first sparks.

161 years

161 blocks

30 events

7 stages

1 block = 1 year · 1 row = 25 years161y · 161 blocks

1400

1450

1500

1550

Stages

Timeline ledger

Chronicle

30 events · 7 stages

Early Renaissance

79y

1400 → 1479

Brunelleschi demonstrates linear perspective

1413

Brunelleschi begins Florence Cathedral dome

1420

Masaccio paints the Brancacci Chapel

1425

Northern Renaissance

130y

1430 → 1560

Medici dominance in Florence

60y

1434 → 1494

Council of Florence

1439

Donatello's bronze David

1440

Alberti publishes De re aedificatoria

1452

Fall of Constantinople

1453

Age of print

105y

1455 → 1560

Gutenberg Bible printed

1455

Wars of the Roses begin

1455

Lorenzo de' Medici takes power

1469

High Renaissance

47y

1480 → 1527

Botticelli paints The Birth of Venus

1485

Columbus reaches the Americas

1492

Leonardo paints The Last Supper

1498

Leonardo paints the Mona Lisa

1503

Michelangelo completes David

1504

Bramante begins new St. Peter's Basilica

1506

Raphael paints The School of Athens

1511

Michelangelo completes the Sistine Chapel ceiling

1512

Machiavelli writes The Prince

1513

The Reformation

43y

1517 → 1560

Luther posts the 95 Theses

1517

Titian completes The Assumption of the Virgin

1518

Cortés conquers the Aztec Empire

1521

Sack of Rome

1527

Castiglione publishes The Book of the Courtier

1528

Henry VIII breaks with Rome

1534

Seeds of the Scientific Revolution

20y

1540 → 1560

Copernicus publishes heliocentric theory

1543

Vesalius publishes De humani corporis fabrica

1543

Council of Trent opens

1545

Vasari publishes Lives of the Artists

1550

Michelangelo dies

1564

Want to build your own?

Create a personal atlas to lay out a life, trace a project, or keep any long span visible.

Create an atlas