By the Early Middle Ages, Christianity had become the prevailing religion of western Europe, and works of art were commissioned mainly for churches and Christian rulers. But following the rise of Islam in the early seventh century and subsequent Muslim conquests, Islamic art and architecture flourished in Spain until 1492 and influenced certain design patterns elsewhere in Europe. Invasions from the Viking north also introduced new art forms to the Continent.
In architecture, the crowning achievement of the European Middle Ages was the cathedral, with its soaring towers and imposing presence dominating medieval towns. As the Middle Age waned and a new interest in nature and naturalism emerged, Italian authors and artists began studying ancient Greek and Roman art and Greek and Latin texts. This launched the humanist movement, which coincided with the artistic revival called the Renaissance ("rebirth"). In the Far East, Buddhism and Hinduism persisted as major religions, influencing the creation of temples, monasteries, sculptures, and paintings. A synthesis of these two religions inspired the temple complex at Angkor Wat and the colossal towers of the Bayon at Angkor Thom.
In Mesoamerica, a relatively isolated area, several civilizations rose and fell from 1500 B.C. to A.D. 1500. The Aztec and the Inka in particular entered Western consciousness with the Spanish conquests of the sixteenth century.