Period

Art between the 15th and 21st centuries encompasses an impressive variety of styles, movements and innovations that have significantly shaped the development of art history. During this period, there was a continuous evolution in artistic expression that was influenced by social, political, economic and technological changes.

The Renaissance was an era of the rebirth of the ancient arts and sciences and laid the foundation for the development of modern art. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael created masterpieces of painting, sculpture and architecture that revived the ideals of beauty, harmony and proportion of antiquity. The Renaissance was characterized by a new emphasis on the human figure, perspective and realism and laid the foundation for the development of illusionistic realism and the classical art canon.

Baroque was an elaborate and opulent style that developed in Europe in the 17th century and was characterized by dramatic movements, dynamic compositions and rich decoration. Baroque artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Rembrandt van Rijn created works that were often inspired by religious and mythological themes and had an intense emotional impact. The Baroque was a reaction to the uncertainty and instability of the time and emphasized the power and splendour of the church and the monarch.

Classicism was an artistic movement that developed in the 18th century and revived the values of antiquity and the Renaissance. Classicist artists such as Jacques-Louis David and Angelica Kauffman strove for simplicity, harmony and ideality in their works and turned against the overloaded decadence of the Baroque. Classicism was closely linked to the ideals of the Enlightenment, which emphasized reason, tolerance and progress, and emphasized moral education and aesthetic training.

Romanticism was an artistic movement that developed in the 19th century and emphasized imagination, emotion and nature as its main themes. Romantic artists such as Caspar David Friedrich, William Turner and Eugène Delacroix created works that were often inspired by landscapes, historical events and mythological themes and had an intense emotional impact. Romanticism opposed the rationality and order of the Enlightenment and Classicism and instead emphasized the joy of life and the freedom of personal development.

Modern and contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries encompasses a wide range of styles, techniques and themes that reflect the complexity of the modern world. From the revolutionary experiments of Cubism and Dadaism to the avant-garde approaches of Conceptual Art and New Media Art, 20th and 21st century art has experienced great diversity and complexity. Despite the diversity of approaches and forms of expression, there is a common search for beauty, meaning and significance that makes art across these time periods a rich and fascinating era in the history of art.