The third of the many new developments during the Renaissance was the Protestant Reformation in western Europe. Western Europe had been unified by one Church during the Middle Ages, which was controlled in the ancient city of Rome. Hoping to reform the Catholic Church and purge it of its corruption, a monk, named Martin Luther, tacked a list of objections to a German cathedral door in 1517. Alternatively, his actions sparked the start of a new religious movement, offering many contradictory ideas about Christianity. These three marked advancements affected the evolution of art. .
As previously mentioned, art and learning during the Middle Ages were centered on the church and religion. By the beginning of the 14th century, people became less interested in thoughts of God and saints and more concerned with thinking of themselves and their everyday lives. A basic change from the medieval methods of representing the visible world occurred in Italy during the Renaissance. Scholars began to turn away from the study of religion, medicine and the law, and began to concentrate on science, biology, astronomy and the natural world. People began to study mathematics, engineering and architecture. Artists, writers, musicians and composers began creating work outside the church. Sculptors began to give the human figure a greater sense of physical presence. They also worked toward a more realistic depiction of space. These values and ideas became known as 'Humanism', where emphasis was placed on the study, practice and views of the individual values and concerns rather than the divine or supernatural matters (Janson, 197) (Tansey, 620, 627).
Art mimicked this humanistic focus. Attention was no longer on the spiritual dominion as was exclusively exhibited in medieval times. Now private citizens funded artwork, in addition to the Church. These individuals also purchased and collected artwork in a culture where the economy was much better than during the Middle Ages.
