While the older orthodoxy held that the artistic output of the Renaissance was a result of greater opulence, more recent studies have suggested that there might have been a so-called 'depression of the Renaissance'.
Mens ældre ortodokse holdt på, at den kunstneriske produktion i renæssancen var et resultat større overskud, så har moderne studier vist, at der muligvis har været en såkaldt "depression af renæssancen".