Before you can compare and contrast the art of the Italian Renaissance to the artworks of the Renaissance in the North, you have to understand the roots of the Renaissance. Renaissance has a special meaning, referring to a period of the grand florescence of the arts in Italy during the 14th century and progressed and migrated, in the 15th and 16th centuries, to Northern Europe. The Renaissance was stimulated by the revival of the classical art forms of ancient Greece and Rome. The “re-birth of knowledge,” better known as the Renaissance, can be contributed to the teachings of the Humanists at the time. Francesco Petrarch took little interest in his legal studies, and much rather preferred to spend his time learning about the classical …show more content…

The climates of the respective regions can be attributable to very different stylistic techniques used by the artists of both Renaissances. The Renaissance painting was once described by Giorgio Vasari in 1558 as “… painting is but the imitation of things as they are,” quoted from his book The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects. This is a very true comparison for both Renaissances, in the North and on the Italian Peninsula. But the stylistic techniques that define the comparison of the renaissances differ greatly. Aforementioned was the difference between mediums, resulting in different textures; a consequence of climatically different regions. But the styles of each respective renaissance still differ greatly. One such noted difference is the content and subject of each respective region. As previously stated by Vasari “painting is but the imitation of things are they are,” and the ‘things’ of the north at the time was religious turmoil and conflict. In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five thesis to a German church door, which sparked the movement known as the Protestant Reformation. Many Northern Renaissance art works reflect not just the Protestant Reformation, but religion on the whole. Although many Italian artists did manufacture art works involving religion but it was normally