Answer:
D. explore nonreligious themes.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the Renaissance, churches held most of the power and had enough wealth to pay artists for commissioned work. As artists had to earn a living, they could only paint what is paid, and this was often religious work ordered, bought ord supported by churches – frescos, altarpieces, scenes from the Bible, etc.
However, private patronages allowed artists to go outside of these realms and explore different nonreligious subjects. They did not have to worry about money because they had patronage from a very rich family. Medici was one of those families and perhaps the most famous one of the kind. They were Florentian merchants who supported artists and often commissioned work from them.
For example, Botticelli’s famous piece Birth of Venus was commissioned by one of the Medici’s to celebrate his marriage. The church would not support this kind of painting otherwise, but the money and commissions of this kind offered artists a chance to be more expressive and explorative with the themes.