The Renaissance was a period in European cultural history that followed the Middle Ages. It started in Italy in the fourteenth century and spread throughout most of Europe in the following centuries.
Renaissance architecture emerged around 1400 and passed into Baroque around 1600. It is a period in which master builders gained prestige and confidence and saw themselves no longer as craftsmen, but as scholars.
Ancient Greek and Roman architecture was rediscovered and admired. Proportion and harmony were very important, just like in classical times. However, where the proportions in antiquity were taken from music theory, Renaissance architects often used the human body as a starting point. A distinctive characteristic of this period is the use of pilasters in the facades and pediments above window and door openings.
