<P> The city of Florence in Tuscany is renowned as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and in particular of Renaissance painting . A detailed background is given in the companion articles Renaissance and Renaissance architecture . </P> <P> Italian Renaissance painting can be divided into four periods: the Proto - Renaissance (1300--1400), the Early Renaissance (1400--1475), the High Renaissance (1475--1525), and Mannerism (1525--1600). These dates are approximations rather than specific points because the lives of individual artists and their personal styles overlapped the different periods . </P> <P> The Proto - Renaissance begins with the professional life of the painter Giotto and includes Taddeo Gaddi, Orcagna and Altichiero . The Early Renaissance was marked by the work of Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca and Verrocchio . The High Renaissance period was that of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian . The Mannerist period included Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and Tintoretto . Mannerism is dealt with in a separate article . </P> <P> The influences upon the development of Renaissance painting in Italy are those that also affected Philosophy, Literature, Architecture, Theology, Science, Government and other aspects of society . The following is a summary of points dealt with more fully in the main articles that are cited above . </P>

Who is regarded as the first important artist of the italian renaissance