Humanity and the human form dominate Early Renaissance art – from the intensely realistic figures sculpted by Donatello and portrayed by Van Eyck to the sophisticated beings created by Dürer or Leonardo. New techniques, discovery of visual perspective, fresh interest in the antique past, all combined to make art a fully rational activity, incorporating truths of human nature and the universe. In place of Gothic mystery came clarity – reflected in the calmly ordered space of Renaissance buildings. This book emphasizes that persistent preference for sober, logical, harmonious art – true to experience and yet optimistic – which characterizes the Early Renaissance.