The popular Spark Notes summary of the Renaissance is that the learned elites of Western Europe in the 15th century started to “rediscover” the works of classical (mostly Greco-Roman) authors, artists, poets, philosophers etc.

But I’ve always wondered: was knowledge of these works ever meaningfully “lost” to begin with? After all, it’s not like someone in the 15th century suddenly unearthed a large treasure trove of ancient manuscripts, right? To my knowledge, these works have been “rediscovered” mainly in monasteries and private collections, where they’d have to be preserved and copied for centuries. So is it really accurate to say that they were “rediscovered” if scholars have been aware of them all along? Wouldn’t it be better to say that they were reappraised after falling out of fashion for some time, presumably due to being eclipsed by internal Christian controversies and developments?

To sum up, my question would be: to what extent and how was the heritage of the Greco-Roman world truly “rediscovered” during the Renaissance, and how exactly was it “lost” to begin with?

(Note: I am mostly interested in the history of literary and intellectual works from antiquity, so if this aspect of the Renaissance has a different history from the more artistic side- like sculpture and painting- then I would like to focus on this, please).

Thanks!