In many ways, Renaissance artists taught us how to see.

They set new standards of beauty, accuracy and naturalism that profoundly influenced the development of Western art for 500 years.

"Flora" by Titian

So it is not surprising that "The Italian Renaissance" exhibition, opening the Italian festival in Japan, created a huge wave of interest at the National Museum of Western Art. Over 60 museums have loaned 180 works including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, manuscripts, jewelry, armor and instruments, by artists such as Botticelli, Raphael and Titian. For most, it is the first and probably the last time they will leave the country of their birth.

The cradle of the Renaissance was 15th-century Florence, where the wealthy, cultured Medici family made the civilizing impetus of the age a reality. Then, Italy was divided into duchies, city-states and principalities, and the glittering life of its rival courts, as well as their spiritual aspirations, is captured in the variety of treasures on display.

"Brutus" by Michelangelo

Admittedly, this is a big subject and I saw signs of visitor fatigue by the end. But the observant visitor will enjoy tracing important shifts in philosophy and expression from gallery to gallery.

First, there is the rise of humanism, which spurred the change from the medieval style. The change shows, for example, in the living immediacy of Donatello's sculptures, which are portraits of individuals and not symbolic types.

Next, the blossoming of the High Renaissance, between 1500-1520, when artists such as Raphael and Michaelangelo created works of new nobility and emotional power.

Finally, the emergence of more sensual, decorative forms.

"La Velata" by Raphael

The first section is devoted to Florence under the Medici. Here, we can see the rise of the use of perspective and how artisans and artists reflected this new sense of order in palace, church and villa.

For example, a small gilded panel from the famous "Gates of Paradise" is a marvel of compression. It depicts the meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who are center stage. Arches vault into the background and a crowd of people, dogs and children spill out in front. Lorenzo Ghiberti, goldsmith and sculptor, worked for over 50 years creating these gilded panels for the Cathedral's Baptistery doors, while architects such as Brunelleschi transformed Florence into a modern city.

In Scheggia's "Susanna and the Elders" there is a lively vestige of the medieval period in an early example of the use of perspective. Brilliant colors continue in the illustrated books. These are delightful miniature masterpieces that portray medieval feasts, mathematicians and saints, bordered by increasingly fantastical garlands, cherubs and beasts.

In striking contrast is Botticelli's vast fresco of the Annunciation, restored especially for this exhibition. Sandro Botticelli was one of Florence's most successful artists, and although his static style, use of line and delicate coloring were outshone by the energy of later masters, here we can appreciate the qualities that inspired the Pre-Raphaelites four centuries later.

Not all was sweetness and light, as an eerie Corniolean engraving of Savonarola reminds us. However, the priest who made bonfires of people and vanities also burned at the stake, as depicted in an elegant panorama of the Piazza della Signoria by Francesco di Lorenzo Rosselli.

The second section shows the spread of new ideas in southern Italy and Venice. The "Ideal City," a painting attributed to the architect Luciano Laurana, embodies the desire to revive the glories of Rome in a progressive way. Here all is order and harmony, and naturally there are no power lines, cars or people to spoil the effect. Venetian rotundas and arcades influenced architects from Robert Adam to Thomas Jefferson, and the ideal city of the 16th century is still dear to many hearts and minds.

Largely through the great Bellini atelier, Venice now began to rival Florence in the quality of its artistic endeavor. Here is an extremely powerful, crisp, colorful Annunciation by Giovanni Bellini, as well as a haunting Saint Eufemia (being firmly bitten by a lion) by his admired brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna.

The third section looks at Florence and Rome in the High Renaissance, when there was a remarkable gathering of artistic power. As a multitalented architect, designer and artist, Raphael embodied the spirit of the times. "He was so gentle," said fellow artist Giorgio Vasari, "that even animals loved him." Here we can see his humane spirit in a lovely painting, "La Velata (Veiled Woman)." A child prodigy, Raphael died aged just 37, but his legacy has been immeasurable.

Finally, the rise of Mannerism includes the dreamy gesture of Titian's "Flora," the cool brilliance of Bronzino's portrait of a lady, and the alluring, fluid grace of Giambologna's small bronze Apollo.

The exhibition closes with navigational instruments as intricate as jewelry, and a map of worlds yet to be explored. A fitting reminder of how far the spirit of adventure would take Renaissance man in his quest for the perfect civilization.