Essay on the Renaissance The 14th, 15th and part of the 16th centuries were a glorious period for Europe, it was the reform of many old ideas and the formation of many new ones, this was called the Renaissance. The Renaissance brought many changes to Europe, the economy was greatly strengthened by all the new explorations. The thriving economy helped inspire new developments in art and literature. And from this many new beliefs were formed. The European economy flourished during the Renaissance thanks to many factors. There was a large income coming from the exploration of the seas. Only Spain received additional revenue from Christopher Columbus and when he came across North America while looking for a shorter route to the Indies. Exploration along the African coast also brought in a lot of extra income. This income came from the exploitation of Africans by kidnapping them and selling them into slavery. Income also came from establishing colonies in Africa and establishing mines for gold and other necessary metals. With all this extra income coming into European countries, they had more money to help fund the arts. During the Renaissance there were many drastic changes in the style of art. Giotto was a very influential painter at the beginning of the Renaissance. In Giotto's work he used three-dimensional images, this was a drastic change from classical art where depth was not used. His paintings were very realistic and realistic, unlike t...