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Rick Steves' Art of Europe
The Renaissance
Season 1
Episode 104
Around 1400, Europe rediscovered the aesthetics of ancient Greece and Rome. This rebirth of classical culture showed itself in the statues, paintings, and architecture of Florence, then spread to Spain, Holland, Germany, and beyond. The Renaissance—from art-loving popes to Leonardo’s Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s David—celebrated humanism and revolutionized how we think about our world.
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55:35
Artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, and Dalí express the complexity of our modern world.
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55:16
The art of "divine" kings and popes tells the story of a Europe in transition.
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55:35
Europe spent 1000 years in its Middle Ages after Rome fell and rebounded Around A.D. 1000.
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55:16
The Romans gave Europe its first taste of a common culture—and awe-inspiring art.
55:16
As the Ice Age glaciers melted, European civilization was born—and with it, so was art.