Few eras of history are as interesting or important to the development of Western civilization as the Italian Renaissance, and the period was important for more reasons than one.
Most people associate the Italian Renaissance with enlightenment, a time when people emerged from the Dark Ages and started to embrace things like science and technology. That is certainly accurate, and the world would not be the same if those things hadn't happened.
The Italian Renaissance was also the time of major breakthroughs in art, music and literature, and a great time of cultural change, as well. It really was a turning point in the history, and that is why it literally means rebirth.
Some of the greatest artwork in world history comes form the Italian Renaissance. Paintings like the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci were both created during this period, as was Michelangelo's statue of David and the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
The composer Giovanni Palestrina was also a product of the Italian Renaissance and composed some of the most beautiful sacred music ever written. His music is still performed to this day, and he is easily the most noted of all composers from this period.
Such writers as Dante Alighieri, Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio created some of the greatest works in the history of world literature. All three are prime examples of Italian Renaissance writers. Dante's Divine Comedy is typically regarded as one of the greatest literary works of all time.
Going back to Leonardo da Vinci, not only was he a great painter, but he was an inventor, mathematician, scientist and many other things. The term Renaissance man comes from people like Leonardo da Vinci, who were proficient in a variety of academic disciplines and occupations.
Niccolo Machiavelli is another example of a Renaissance man and was a brilliant writer and political philosopher. His book The Prince is still read in most colleges and universities throughout the world.
The Italian Renaissance spawned so many great thinkers, inventors, artists, musicians and writers that it is difficult to imagine what the world would be like if at not been for the era. People still reflect on that period of history with reverence and awe and wonder how so many great and enlightened minds and historical figures came from a period right after the Dark Ages, when books were burned.
As an Irish-American, I have always been very fond of the book How the Irish saved Civilization, which explains how when the rest of Europe went into the Dark Ages, Ireland did not, and a lot of the great ancient works of literature were preserved by Irish monks.
The Italian Renaissance has given us so much more art, music and literature that it makes you realize that there were a lot more Europeans that were thirsting for enlightenment as well.