Question

why do you think this leap back to a distant past was so attractive to thinkers growing up in italy in the 14th and 15th centuries

Answer 1

During the 14th and 15th centuries in Italy, a new artistic and philosophical movement emerged: the Reinaissance. This movement was opposed to many of the norms of the Medieval Era, and took after Classical Antiquity instead.

To Italian thinkers and artists of the time, taking a leap back to Classical Antiquity was attractive because Italy itself had been for centuries, the center of the Mediterranean word as the main province of the Roman Empire. These thinkers felt that the cultural achivements of the Classical Era were superior to those of the Medeival Era.