Passage: The nature of the Renaissance also changed in the late 15th century.  The Renaissance ideal was fully adopted by the ruling classes and the aristocracy.  In the early Renaissance artists were seen as craftsmen with little prestige or recognition.  By the later Renaissance the top figures wielded great influence and could charge great fees.  A flourishing trade in Renaissance art developed.  While in the early Renaissance many of the leading artists were of lower- or middle-class origins, increasingly they became aristocrats.

Question: At the beginning of the Renaissance time period, what class the majority of artists come from?
lower- or middle-class