Why did the Renaissance originate in the city-states of northern Italy?
(A) Urban artisans provided financial backing.
(B) Expatriate Chinese artists settled there, provided artistic training.
(C) Urban elites grown rich in trade hubs provided financial backing.
(D) The bubonic plague depopulated the countryside more heavily, destroying rural centers of artistic innovation.
(E) Techniques left behind after Ottoman occupation formed the basis for new explorations in art.