The Renaissance began at the end of the 14th century in Italy and by the second half of the 16th century has extended across the whole of Europe. The rediscovery of the splendour of ancient Greece and Rome marked the beginning of the rebirth of the arts following the break-down of the dogmatic certitude of the Middle Ages. A number of artists began to innovate in the domains of painting, as well as sculpture and architecture. Depicting the ideal and the actual, the sacred and the profane, the movement provided a frame of reference which influenced European art over the next four centuries.
