THE RENAISSANCE FACTOR
Between the 14th and the 15th century, a rapid economic, scientific, technical, social, religious and cultural development took place that is unique in human history – the Renaissance. But what was the catalyst for it, what is the "Renaissance factor"?
The Renaissance is an epoch that is unique in human history: Never before have art, culture, economics and science developed so rapidly within one century. We search for the "Renaissance factor", that combination of influences that triggered a pivotal period in history. It is a journey through time from Roman antiquity to the age of the Crusades and the Black Death in the 14th century, events that defined the developments of the Renaissance. We travel with Michelangelo to the major construction site that was to become St. Peter's Basilica, to the banking houses of the Medicis and the workshop of Johannes Gutenberg. We examine some of the many achievements produced during the Renaissance, such as linear perspective, the printing press and double-entry bookkeeping. We ask what these achievements mean to us today, how – almost half a millennium later – we continue to benefit from the "Renaissance factor". We delve deeper with the help of spectacular reenactment scenes and our "special investigators" – experts of our age: trendsetters, scientists, business tycoons, fashion designers and artists.