Cinqué Cento

Cinqué Cento (Ital., 'five hundred;' but really a contraction for 'one thousand five hundred') is a current term for the style alike in art and in literature which arose in Italy about or after the year 1500, and which therefore belongs mainly to the 16th century. It is characterised by the revival of classical taste in all departments of culture, and is frequently used in the same sense as the word renaissance, especially as applied to decoration. Among the great cinquecentisti in art are Michael Angelo, Raphael, Correggio, Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, and Benvenuto Cellini; in poetry the notabler names are those of Berni, Ariosto, and Tasso. See ITALY, ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE, RENAISSANCE.