The Florentine mob, weary of puritanism, attacks the convent of San Marco and drags Savonarola away to be hanged and burnt

24-year-old Michelangelo provides for St Peter's in Rome an exquisite Pietà – the Virgin holding on her lap the dead Christ

The first modern lock gates are installed on a canal in Milan, probably designed by Leonardo da Vinci

Faenza becomes the main centre for the production of the Italian tin-glazed earthenware known as majolica

Leonardo argues that fossils in rocks far above the sea imply not the effects of the Flood but a change in the level of an ancient sea bed

Ceramic artists in Italy decorate large majolica dishes with scenes of narrative history, giving this style the name istoriato

Michelangelo begins work in Florence on a tall thin slab of marble, which he transforms into David

Leonardo captures the enigmatic smile of Lisa Gherardini, known now as the Mona Lisa

Pope Julius II summons Michelangelo to Rome to create the pope's own elaborately sculpted tomb

Julius II, together with the architect Bramante, lays the foundation stone for the new St Peter's

Michelangelo begins work in Rome on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel

Raphael is summoned to Rome by Julius II and is given a major commission for frescoes

Raphael begins work on the frescoes in the pope's apartment in the Vatican, known as the Stanze ('Rooms')

Giorgione and Titian introduce the richness of colour which characterizes the high Renaissance style in Venice

The startling colour contrasts in Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling anticipate one of the main characteristics of Italian mannerism

The painter Giorgione dies after a short but extremely influential life in Venice

The king of France, Francis I, wins a dramatic victory at Marignano and captures Milan

The original ghetto is established as a district to which the Jews of Venice are confined

Ariosto, in Orlando Furioso, tells of Roland's madness when he is abandoned by the pagan princess Angelica

Leonardo da Vinci moves to France, on the invitation of Francis I

Luther's writings are burnt in Rome by order of the pope

Mannerism develops in Italy in the work of the painters Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino

Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther after he has refused to recant

The French king, Francis I, is taken prisoner by the Spanish at the battle of Pavia

Pope Clement VII hides in Castel Sant'Angelo while Rome is sacked by German mercenaries