What was a primary motivation for wealthy merchant families to become patrons of the arts?

To follow a new law that required them to fund public projects.

To display their wealth and social status.

To avoid paying their taxes to the Church.

To fulfill their duties as feudal lords.

What was a direct result of the system of patronage in Renaissance Italy?

A decline in the quality of art as artists rushed to finish commissions.

An explosion of creative and artistic works funded by the wealthy.

Artists moved away from Italy to find better-paying work elsewhere.

Only religious art was allowed to be created by the patrons.

Their strong feudal systems provided stability for artists.

They were centers of trade which generated great wealth and new ideas.

The pope ordered that all new art must be created there.

They had recently conquered lands rich in ancient artifacts.