The years between 1300 to 1520, commonly known as the Renaissance, was an era of extraordinarily advanced achievements made in the art world. Techniques that began to be utilized at this period of time made the artworks surpass those of any other preceding movement.

"A word of caution is necessary when speaking of a 'rebirth' of the spirit of antiquity. In Italy, much more so than in northern Europe, the classical tradition had been more or less continuous (Fleming, 283)." Since the classic Roman style was consistently present in the south, the Italian Renaissance was not really a rebirth as is suggested by a literal translation of the word. It was actually a reemphasis and reinterpretation on the already existing techniques and then after this recreation, a surpassing of them.

The Italian revival of antiquity was connected to the newfound concept of humanism. The humanistic approach, was the cause of the studying of classic Pagan authors, therefore explaining the influence it had on many compositions.

The origin of the Italian Renaissance can be identified to the very end of the medieval period. The latter part of the era "was one that seemed to have one foot p

On the contrary, the sky of Eisenheim is not mistakable for that of the rich azure Italian sky. As a matter of fact, it is a cold, bleak black. The remaining tones are also just as dark, dreary, and somber. Christ's emaciated and wounded body is in the midst of indisputable torture. His exaggerated hands are claw-like and wrenching from the nails through his palm; he seems to be gripping, as though onto the agony he is in. The attendants of this portrait are not as serene as in the previous painting. The Virgin and Mary Magdalene are each clasping their hands and very much in emotional agony. Not surprisingly, angelic figures are not there to comfort Christ. This is a deliberate image of absolute suffering.

lanted in the Middle Ages and the other in the emerging Renaissance (Fleming, 248)."

The northern and Italian version of Mary holding the deceased Christ is not the only artwork that has quite contrasted thematic interpretations. For instance, the Flemish version of the crucifixion as done by Grunewald, Eisenheim, is a total opposition of the Italian Christ on Cross.

In Michealangelo's sculpture, Pieta, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary both appear to be at ease. Christ is shown with a calm and relaxed expression on his face, which was so exquisitely sculpted in a perfect classical form. Mary is also shown in a state of tranquility; she doesn't display any grief or anger over her tragic lose. There is absolutely no indication of the suffering that Christ had experienced. These awe-inspiring facial characteristics are results of the cult of beauty.

An illustration of the contradiction between the Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance style is the Pieta executed by Michaelangelo and as accomplished by Rotgen.

Masaccio was a greatly influential artist of the Florentine Renaissance. His frescoes were done in the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. Massicio mastered many techniques, like use of light and shadows. In Expulsion from the Garden, light crosses the painting diagonally from the right. By having Adam and Eve approaching it, Massicio was able to paint the casting of their natural shadows. A further significant procedure- sometimes considered the most consequential modification made in painting- that he mastered was atmospheric perspective (Fleming, 269). This was done by "surrounding the figures with light and air, by relating them to the space they occupy, by modeling them in light and shadow as a sculptor would, so that they appear as if seen in the round with all the weight and volume of living forms (Fleming, 268-26

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