During the late 13th and early 14th centuries, a revolutionary shift in the European cultural sphere placed humans at the center of learning as man's thoughts and works of art they were imbued with humanistic ideals. Over time, these values, then current in Italy, began to spread to other areas and produce the individual rebirth of each region. Immediately after the Middle Ages, European civilization had begun to be characterized by an interest in classical culture and values. This is evident in the very meaning of the term "renaissance": rebirth. Italian artists and scholars saw themselves as revitalizing the standards and achievements of classical Roman culture; some writers such as Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio studied ancient Rome and Greece and tried to revive the values, languages ​​and intellectual traditions of these cultures after the long period of stagnation that followed the fall of the Roman Empire. Considered as a royalty of ancient customs, Renaissance art laid the art of classical antiquity as its foundation, but renewed it with the influences of Northern European art and the applications of contemporary scientific knowledge. Renaissance art spread throughout Europe alongside the spread of Renaissance humanist philosophy, influencing both artists and patrons with the development of new artistic sensibilities and techniques. This component of the Renaissance marks the transition from the medieval period to the early modern age. During the Middle Ages, the subject of nearly all European art was religion, particularly that of Christianity and the Catholic Church. Although Renaissance artists continued to paint religious paintings, the art of this era differentiated into other subjects, i... medium of paper... painting. Because patrons were willing to fund the arts, no matter how controversial the topic. Many of these artists painted Greek myths, as well as other pagan subjects, and generally experimented more; this set the precedent for art to be more sensual and centered on secular life as opposed to the emphasis on the afterlife characteristic of medieval culture. Art then focused on inspiration, and as a result, the creators of the Renaissance built a procedural scaffolding that remained with artists centuries after the period ended. In addition to providing the foundation of our modern view of composition, there are also some current works of art that are reminiscent of those of the Renaissance. For example, some styles from this period are explicit in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Both gradient and blend modes are evident throughout.