Renaissance
Renaissance period is one of the most famous as it created many amazing pieces such as the Mona Lisa, Donatello, and The creation of Adam.
During this period Christianity was big and many paintings were based off their belief or an event in their religion such as the creation of Adam which depicts Heaven reaching out to Adam, this was famously painted on the Sistine chapel ceiling by Michelangelo.
The father of all famous paintings Leonardo da Vinci furthered the idea of pictorial art (lighting, linear and atmospheric perspective, anatomy, foreshortening and characterisation.
With his lifetime of studying and observing the beauty of nature. He then adopted the style of oil paintings as his primary outlet style; this made it easier for him to depict light in his paintings and its effects on the landscape of nature and also man-made objects. This achieved more natural and life like paintings.