“1000 Masterpieces from the Great Museums of the World” is one of the most successful TV series about art. The original, with improved image quality, takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of art. Comprehensively illustrated and compellingly presented – the well-known authors of five short art surveys provide a deeper insight into the masterpieces of painting. In 1400, the blossoming of Renaissance culture in Italy marked the beginning of a new era. Classical antiquity, humanism, great discoveries and inventions led to a revolutionary intellectual transformation. Man became the measure of all things and the religious mediaeval world view was supplanted. Profane themes such as the autonomous portrait gained importance and artists attained the status of genius for the first time. Masaccio: Profile portrait of a young man (c. 1425), Leonardo da Vinci: Portrait of Ginevra de´ Benci (1474-78), Raphael: Portrait of Bindo Altoviti (ca. 1515), Titian: Bacchanal (1525), Andrea Mantegna: Crucifixion of Christ (1456-59)