Renaissance man | Definition, Characteristics, & Examples

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Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). </div> <div class="type-menu"> <label for="feedback-type" class="label mb-10">Feedback Type</label> <select id="feedback-type" class="form-select mb-30" name="feedbackTypeId" required> <option value="" selected="selected">Select a type (Required)</option> <option value="1">Factual Correction</option> <option value="2">Spelling/Grammar Correction</option> <option value="3">Link Correction</option> <option value="4">Additional Information</option> <option value="5">Other</option> </select> </div> <label for="feedback" class="label mb-10">Your Feedback</label> <textarea id="feedback" class="form-control mb-30" name="feedback" maxlength="3000" rows="7" required></textarea> <button class="btn btn-blue" type="submit">Submit Feedback</button> </form> <div class="success-messaging d-none mt-30"> <div class="title">Thank you for your feedback</div> <p>Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-websites-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif pb-15 border-bottom font-weight-bold"> External Websites </div> <div class="pb-20"> <ul class="list-unstyled mt-20 lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.191223" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Internet Archive - The Renaissance Philosophy Of Man</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://historyworld.net/history/Painting/130?section=TheHighRenaissance&heading=renaissanceman" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">HistoryWorld - Renaissance man: 15th - 16th century AD</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="toc-header-marker"></div> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 js-header-ai-ask-button d-none btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> <div class="caption alternate-titles">Also known as: Homo universalis, Universal man, Uomo universale</div> <div class="md-byline module-spacing "> <div class="font-serif font-12"> <span class="written-by text-gray-700"> Written and fact-checked by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Renaissance-man/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Also called: </dt> <dd>Universal Man</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Italian: </dt> <dd>Uomo Universale</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/humanism" topicid="275932">humanism</a></dd> <dd><a href="/event/Renaissance" topicid="497731">Renaissance</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Renaissance-man"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref205119"></span>Renaissance man</strong>, an ideal that developed in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Renaissance</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Italy</a> from the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="notion" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/notion" data-type="EB">notion</a> expressed by one of its most-accomplished representatives, <span id="ref205120"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leon-Battista-Alberti" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Leon Battista Alberti</a> (1404–72), that “a man can do all things if he will.” The ideal embodied the basic tenets of Renaissance <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/humanism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">humanism</a>, which considered man the centre of the universe, limitless in his capacities for development, and led to the notion that men should try to embrace all knowledge and develop their own capacities as fully as possible.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies multiple medialist slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100" data-type="other"><div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex"><div class="rw-track d-flex align-items-center"><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="195695" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/75/115475-050-9F9B00CE/Self-portrait-drawing-Leonardo-da-Vinci-Royal-Library.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/497891/195695"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/75/115475-050-9F9B00CE/Self-portrait-drawing-Leonardo-da-Vinci-Royal-Library.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/75/115475-050-9F9B00CE/Self-portrait-drawing-Leonardo-da-Vinci-Royal-Library.jpg?w=300" alt="Leonardo da Vinci: self-portrait" data-width="1011" data-height="1600" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">1 of 3</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/75/115475-050-9F9B00CE/Self-portrait-drawing-Leonardo-da-Vinci-Royal-Library.jpg" data-href="/media/1/497891/195695">Leonardo da Vinci: self-portrait</a><span>Self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci in red chalk, <em>c.</em> 1512–15.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="191842" data-asm-type="video"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="video" video-id="179717"><a data-id="179717" class="gtm-assembly-link d-flex justify-content-center" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9" href="/video/Overview-Leonardo-da-Vinci/-191842"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/17/179717-138-A9AD6AAA/Overview-Leonardo-da-Vinci.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop" alt="Leonardo da Vinci: More than just an artist" loading="lazy"><script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/FxBylUx1.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/17/179717-138-A9AD6AAA/Overview-Leonardo-da-Vinci.jpg" ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/PIfwpSLk", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/A5UU2Rrv.m3u8" } </script><div class="btn btn-xl btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%)"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_arrow"></em></div><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">2 of 3</div></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><span class="md-assembly-title font-weight-bold mr-5 d-inline font-sans-serif md-video-caption" video-control="179717">Leonardo da Vinci: More than just an artist</span><span>Overview of Leonardo da Vinci.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><a class="font-14 mt-10 d-inline-block" href="/topic/Renaissance-man/images-videos">See all videos for this article</a></figcaption></figure></div><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="144292" data-asm-type="video"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="video" video-id="81353"><a data-id="81353" class="gtm-assembly-link d-flex justify-content-center" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9" href="/video/video-life-Leonardo-da-Vinci-works-artist-1957/-144292"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/53/81353-138-AEFBDB2E/video-life-Leonardo-da-Vinci-works-artist-1957.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop" alt="Explore the life of Italian painter, architect, engineer, and humanist Leonardo da Vinci" loading="lazy"><script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/Mpo9CBmd.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/53/81353-138-AEFBDB2E/video-life-Leonardo-da-Vinci-works-artist-1957.jpg" ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/1ztBgy6u", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/iG0nHHBe.m3u8" } </script><div class="btn btn-xl btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%)"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_arrow"></em></div><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">3 of 3</div></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><span class="md-assembly-title font-weight-bold mr-5 d-inline font-sans-serif md-video-caption" video-control="81353">Explore the life of Italian painter, architect, engineer, and humanist Leonardo da Vinci</span><span>This video examines the life and works of the Renaissance artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. Made in 1957, it is a production of the Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><a class="font-14 mt-10 d-inline-block" href="/topic/Renaissance-man/images-videos">See all videos for this article</a></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Thus the gifted men of the Renaissance sought to develop skills in all areas of knowledge, in physical development, in social accomplishments, and in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Renaissance-art" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">arts</a>. The ideal was most brilliantly exemplified in Alberti—who was an accomplished architect, painter, classicist, poet, scientist, and mathematician and who also boasted of his skill as a horseman and in physical feats—and in <span id="ref205121"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Leonardo da Vinci</a> (1452–1519), whose gifts were <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="manifest" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifest" data-type="MW">manifest</a> in the fields of art, science, music, invention, and writing.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Michael-Ray/6392">Michael Ray</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":497891,"pageLength":155,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"SMALL","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Renaissance man | Definition, Characteristics, & Examples | Britannica