Renaissance. By Luis GómezJardiel 29 12 2010 Period: 1400 to 1450 The rise of Rome and the de Medici family. 1440 Johann Gutenberg invents the printing press. It revolutionized the manufacturing of books, and also the studies of the arts and sciences. Period: 1451 to 1475 Leonardo da Vinci and the Gutenberg Bible 1452 Leonardo da Vinci was born. Period: 1476 to 1500 The Age of Exploration. 1492 Cristóbal Colón reaches the Americas He discovered the New World after traveling weeks on a boat. Period: 1501 to 1550 Politics and the Reformation. 1504 Michelangelo sculpts David. The statue represents the Biblical hero David.