Renaissance & Reformation Figures

Vocabulary flashcards covering key figures, thinkers, patrons, and inventions from the Renaissance and Reformation period.

Giotto

Early painter, known for showing realistic emotions.

Albrecht Dürer

German artist, famous for woodcuts and engravings.

Leonardo da Vinci

Painter of Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

Michelangelo

Sculptor of David and painter of the Sistine Chapel.

Raphael

Painter of School of Athens.

Donatello

Sculptor, created the bronze David.

Jan van Eyck

Pioneer of oil painting, known for detail and realism.

Pieter Bruegel

Painter known for depicting peasants and everyday life.

Filippo Brunelleschi

Architect of the dome of Florence's cathedral.

Sir Thomas More

Writer of Utopia, describing an ideal society.

Francesco Petrarch

Considered the “Father of Humanism.”

Giovanni Boccaccio

Author of Decameron, a collection of plague stories.

François Rabelais

Writer known for satire and humor, criticized society.

Niccolò Machiavelli

Author of The Prince, a treatise on power politics.

Miguel de Cervantes

Author of Don Quixote, which mocked chivalric knights.

William Shakespeare

Playwright famous for plays like Romeo and Juliet.

Lorenzo Valla

Scholar who exposed fake Church documents.

Desiderius Erasmus

Humanist scholar, author of In Praise of Folly, called for Church reform.

Giovanni di Medici

Powerful banker and important patron who supported the arts.

Isabella d’Este

A prominent Renaissance woman and patron of the arts.

Johann Gutenberg

Inventor of the printing press, which rapidly spread ideas.