Raphael did a lot of painting for the church, including one of his masterpieces, a fresco called The School of Athens, in the Vatican library.
Dante was exiled when he wrote his Divine Comedy. His genius was realized after his death.
Petrarch worked as poet laureate for Rome.
Boccaccio was an ambassador of sorts for Florence.
Machiavelli wrote The Prince for Lorenzo de Medici and woked in the Florentine government.
Lorenzo de Medici was a ruler of Florence and a great patron of the arts.
da Vinci worked for both Florence and Milan.
Donatello worked mainly in Florence but also did some work in Padua.
Cosimo de Medici was another ruler of Florence.
Brunelleschi engineered the dome of the Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
Valla was largely independent and worked from Naples.
