Which period in european history is most closely associated with leonardo da vinci, michealangelo, william shakespeare , and nicolaus copernicus

The picture below shows president richard nixon and the first lady standing before the great wall of china in 1972. they are smiling - as are the chinese with them. when this picture was shown on american television, americans were aware that it was a historic moment. what are two reasons why this moment was important for both china and the united states?