INTRODUCTION

The Italian Renaissance marks a major turning point in the history of art education. Present day conceptions about fine arts versus crafts can be traced back to the Renaissance. The artist, now viewed as a genius causes a key transformation in the structure of education. Students are taught to value the beauty in poetry, drama, and music and aesthetics becomes a major component to the schooling of the artist. Classical ideologies about education come to full circle during the Renaissance. Academies, which are not too different from today's art institutes, begin to spread throughout Italy . Here, students and masters gather together to draw, paint, learn about new techniques, and to discuss philosophy.
By the seventeenth century the empirical sciences begin to take precedence over the arts, and art education transforms once again.