giotto, often considered the first modern painter, is still gothic, but notice the progress. a more realistic setting places mary and baby jesus on a throne occupying a believable space. the kneeling angels in front and peek-a-boo saints behind create an illusion of depth. if the renaissance was a foundation of the modern world, a foundation of the renaissance was classical art. sculptors, painters, and poets alike turned to ancient work for inspiration. this 2,000-year-old classical goddess, a roman copy of the much older greek original, stood in the medici family garden. this venus was considered the epitome of beauty. louis xiv made a copy, napoleon stole it, and in the 19th century, young aristocrats on the grand tour stood right here and swooned. in the renaissance, as in the ancient world, people saw the glory of god in the beauty, order, and harmony of the human body, god's greatest creation. classical statues like this clearly inspired sandro botticelli. for me, his birth of venus is the uffizi's purest expression of renaissance beauty. the goddess of love, born from