The Jerónimos Monastery is one of the great buildings of the Renaissance period, illustrating the discovery of new worlds and the artistic and technical mastery of the time.
  



Desenho_de_Leonardo_da_Vinci
Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, 1487
 
The Renaissance period was a time of extraordinary development and dynamism in the history of the West. The constant search for knowledge primed European civilisation for the scientific revolution, with greater understanding and increased mastery of the natural world, and was reflected in the search for new ideas of beauty.
 

Despite being traditionally seen only as a resurgence of literature and the arts through a restoration of classical culture, the Renaissance was primarily about technical progress, giving Western Europeans greater power over a world which was becoming better known. At the same time an experimental mentality, consequently a scientific method, slowly, but firmly took hold.


Castelo_S_jorge_da_Mina
Castle of St. George of Mina, 1572
  The ability to cross-oceans, in which the Portuguese were pioneers, unmistakeably transformed this progress, because the fifteenth century voyages from the Belém beach contributed to fundamental changes in European thought.

Portugal became the central point of reference, and Lisbon a cosmopolitan city, a centre of economic and cultural development without precedent. The combination of skills and conquests gained from exploration of the seas created what Luís Filipe Barreto calls the "Culture of the Portuguese Discoveries... an essential contribution to the fabric of the Renaissance cultural environment"




 



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