Final answer:
Florence was a major Renaissance artistic center due to factors like economic prosperity and humanism, and was significantly influenced by the Medici family's patronage. Renaissance art introduced secular themes, realism, and perspective, setting it apart from medieval art and reflecting a broader human experience.
Step-by-step explanation:
Florence was a significant artistic center during the Renaissance, known for establishing a style that dominated the period's art. This development was due to a combination of factors, which included the economic prosperity brought by the cloth trade, the emergence of a powerful merchant class, and the intellectual movement of humanism impacting art production. Perhaps most crucially, the city was under the influence of the Medici family, who used their wealth not only to control the political system but also to sponsor and stimulate the arts. Prestigious artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti had their works commissioned by the Medici, reflecting their significant role in nurturing and defining Renaissance art.
Renaissance art differed from earlier medieval art by adopting more secular themes, emphasizing humanism, and emphasizing anatomical precision, perspective, and individualism. This was in stark contrast to earlier art, which was more focused on religious subjects and stylistically more idealized and less concerned with naturalism. The artistic developments during the Renaissance transformed art from being simply a form of religious expression to being a medium that depicted a broader view of human experience.