Renaissance
Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in late 13th-century Florence, in particular with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the paintings of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337). Some writers date the Renaissance quite precisely; one proposed starting point is 1401, when the rival geniuses Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi competed for the contract to build the bronze doors for the Baptistery of the Florence Cathedral (Ghiberti won). Others see more general competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, and why it began when it did. Accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins.
Western world
With the discovery of the American continent, the New World in 1492-1493, the European colonial Age of Discovery and exploration was born revisiting an imperialistic view accompanied by the invention of firearms, while marking the start of the Modern Era. During this long period the Catholic Church had inaugurated a major effort to spread Christianity in the New World and to convert the Native Americans and others, by a 'Modern West' emerging from Late Middle Ages (after the Renaissance and fall of Constantinople) as a new civilization greatly influenced by the interpretation of Greek thought preserved in the Byzantine Empire, and transmitted from there by Latin translations and emigration of Greek scholars through Renaissance humanism (popular typefaces such as italics were inspired and designed from transcriptions during this period). By Renaissance architectural works, revivals of Classical and Gothic styles flourished during this modern period throughout Western colonial empires, with the former embodying Roman Catholic Church and republican values while the latter having more conservative and Protestant Church connotations.