Being that it was the first class, we spent the first day becoming acquainted with Renaissance art. We discussed how the literal term “Reniassance”, which means “rebirth” in French, implies that something has died and is finally coming back to life. This was interesting to ponder, as I had never considered interpreting the word in that sense. It makes a lot of sense, however, as the Renaissance occurred as Europe emerged from the dark ages, which was a metaphorical death of the continent. This was because much of the medicine, innovation, and culture invented up until that point was abandoned, causing Europe to descend into somewhat of a societal death.