Anatomy
The study of the human body.

Astronomy
The study of the universe including the sun, moon, stars and planets.

Fresco
A picture painted on walls or ceilings. The paint is applied to wet plaster.

Humanism
An interest in human beings.

Icon
A religious painting or carving on wood.

Magnify
To make things look bigger.

Manuscript
A handwritten book.

Patron
A person who pays an artist to produce a work of art.

Perspective
Adding depth to a picture.

Pietà
Mary holding Jesus in her arms.

Renaissance
A time when people began to question the old ideas of the Middle Ages. People also took a new interest in the world of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Sculptor
An artist who makes statues.

Sfumato
A way of adding shading to a picture.

Sonnets
Poems that are fourteen lines long.

Vernacular literature
Literature written in the everyday language of the people and not in Greek or Latin.