classical humanism and Renaissance art
The Fifteenth Century was a period of import in art, philosophy, political thought, and literature as the Renaissance developed power and altered the way man was viewed against the backdrop of the universe. ... Humanism and the Renaissance involved similar revivals of classical learning, an elevation of the individual, and a belief in the worth of human thought over authority, whether the latter be the authority of a political body or a church. The essence of humanism is found in the works produced during the Renaissance by writers, artists, and sculptors as they structured their works with humanistic values in mind. The development of humanism in the Renaissance involved a shift in how people thought, and this occurred at the same time that the horizons of the West were expanding, be they geographical, mental, social, economic, or political. ... The republican form of government was developed during the era of the Roman Republic and then revived during the Italian Renaissance in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. In the broadest sense, humanism was an educational movement, and for the humanists the classical writings were unique instruments for extending the consciousness of human beings. The humanists placed their emphasis on the human being as that individual would be revealed in the written records of classical remains. Humanism was a secular movement, and as such it inherently questioned the authority of religious doctrine in social, literary, and political thought.