art are closely enmeshed in the social and political culture of any given time. Hence the significant differences in different periods of art, and also the ability to differentiate between these periods. While changes between adjacent time periods may seem minor, they eventually accumulate to form wide differentialities between periods. Because human beings change, politics and society change, and therefore art will also be subject to change accordingly. As substantiation for this claim, one might consider the differences between the Renaissance and Romantic periods of art.

During the Renaissance, the church and a number of powerful families, such as the Medici, played a powerful role not only in politics, but also in influencing the arts. In the early fifteenth century, for example, Renaissance palaces changed from the rather austere designs of the past to include a more socially inclusive arcaded halls and family loggias. The focus of art during this...
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