The rebirth of antiquity in the renaissance, gave focus to ancient Greek and Roman life which was deemed noble and venerable. The influence of antiquity, the 'new birth' came directly from the civilization of Greece and Rome. Artistically they chose to represent them selves with sculptures and architecture, which reflected the ancient cultures they held in such high regard. Greek and Roman histories were chosen to be basis of society in 14th century Italian life. As culture moved away from the Middle Ages it attempted

The negative space in the altar piece is completely gold. Gold backgrounds hold an intrinsic characteristic of iconic tempera paintings. A lack of a represented background takes the figures out of a time and space. It freezes them in an eternal moment because there are no signs of time of day, season, or even location. The gold also illuminates around all figures and lets the viewer know that the event and patrons of the event are important. Gold backgrounds were a common theme in iconic temperas.

Oil paints were accepted because they were easier to work with and permitted a greater variety of effects. And there are various ways of applying oil paint, unlike tempera. The paint is not limited to linear brushstrokes or stippling and hatching. The renaissance artist of the 14th century could now apply wet paint in glazes, washes, thick or thin, with a large range of brush strokes. This gave artists the ability to model form and light more naturally. Oils dry relatively slow and have little change in color. Changes are easy to make and advances in representation were surfacing. Now the creation of realistic environments and figure were within the reach of artist. Oils proved to be the better painting media and method. More practical then tempera, because they were able to create a large range of tones and colors. And mistakes were affordable because with oils they are easily correctable. Oils took the place of tempera in every away in the contemporary renaissance artists studio. The desire to create realistic paintings where reached with the benefits of oils.

The painting retains much of the story line of the previous Tempera. Both take place on the Hill of Golgotha. But the David painting articulates it with specifics. The skull of Adam lies in the middle ground just as it did in Di Signa's and the inscription on the cross are the same. The cross in David's does not extend as vertically high as Di Signa's. Behind the dead Christ is the city of Jerusalem, which lies in fertile green valleys which were common in the Netherlands. Further playing up the idea of the narrative being relevant to modern times.

"Standing close to Jesus' cross were his mother, his mothers sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, "He is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "she is your mother."

The Tempera Painting is over all Iconic of the 14th century, it has traits and characteristics which are very representative of the time. But as Science and society progressed other forms of artistic expression were needed. It makes sense that the next logical style of painting would arise. Oil paintings filled the void of realism in tempera painting. Gerard David's, Lamentation, was painted in 1515. It is oil on wood and is a scene and narrative very similar to Di Segna's, but represented completely different. The use of oils allows David to capture a realism that could not be achieved by tempera paints. The Lamentation of Christ takes place after Christ had been taken down from the cross. Jesus taken down from the cross lays dead in John the Evangelists arms and the Virgin is holding her dead son's head up. They are in physical contact with Jesus something not seen in the previous painting. This would give the viewer the impression of Jesus being more human, and would be able to relate more to the narrative. Mary Magdalene is again at Jesus' feet, wiping a tear from her eye. Directly behind her is an open tomb, which is open signifying Jesus' death. The cloths of both John and the virgin were typical, but rendered to look smoother and more cloth like than the previous painting. The expressions on both the Virgins and Johns face are human. They ceased to be stylized expressions like of that tempera paintings now were they hold emotions and substance.

An early renaissance painting technique and media was Tempera painting. Tempera is a method of

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