[Roman soldiers bearing the trophies in triumph]

Renaissance representation of classical ruins was a symbol of antiquity, enlightenment, and lost knowledge. Ruins spoke to the passage of time. The greatest subject for ruin artists was the overgrown and crumbling Classical Rome remains. Forum and the Colosseum, Pantheon, and the Appian Way. Initially, art representations of Rome were realistic, but soon the imagination of artists took flight. Roman ruins were scattered around the city, but frustrated artists began placing them in more pleasing arrangements. Capriccio was a style of imaginary scenes of buildings and ruins.

Early Renaissance or Quattrocento (Italian mille quattrocento, or 1400) refers to the 15th century in Florentine art. Extraordinary wealth was accumulated in Florence among a growing middle and upper class of merchants and bankers. Florence saw itself as a city-state where the freedom of the individual was guaranteed, and where a significant share of residents had the right to participate in the government. In 1400 Florence was engaged in a struggle with the Duke of Milan. Then, between 1408 and 1414 again, by the King of Naples. Both died before they could conquer Florence. In 1425 Florence won the war against Milan. The Florentine interpreted these victories as signs of God's favor and imagined themselves as the "New Rome". In this new optimistic and wealthy environment, Florentine artists immersed themselves in studies of the humanities, architecture, philosophy, theology, mathematics, science, and design. They spurred a rejuvenation of the glories of classical art in line with the humanistic and individualistic tendencies of the contemporary era. Quattrocento was followed by the High Renaissance, North European Renaissance, Mannerism, and Baroque periods. Unlike the previous proto-renaissances, the innovations that emerged in Florence would go on to cause reverberations in Italy and Northern Europe, which continue to influence culture until today.