Compare and contrast painting styles of Northern and Southern Europe

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Encourage by the economic prosperity, a new wave of a growing middle class, joined with princely rulers, and the church to encourage the arts. Northern artists, unlike their Italian counterparts, were relatively unfamiliar with Greco-Roman culture. Therefore, numerous amounts of northern artisans moved in the direction of detailed realism. In addition, the Renaissance artists in the north, had different characteristics, than their Italian counterparts, one of the more fundamental features of northern art was a attachment for a meticulous rendering for detail. Due to geography, and local, and the lack of access to Greek and Roman art and sculptures, Gothic influences were apparent in their art. The pioneering, and first artist, of Northern realism was the Flemish artist Jan VAN Ecyk. Who was reputed to have perfected the art of oil painting, his ability and use of thin glazes, and combinations of pigments added with linseed oil these mixtures, resulted in him to achieve the impressions of dense atmospheric space, and simulate the natural effects of light reflecting off the surfaces of objects. Italy developed a variety of techniques for creating the illusion of reality, called and referred to Linear perspective; in which parallel lines converge to a vanishing point, which lead to a depth in the scene. The Northern artist’s pure determination to capture the contiguity of the physical world, and their love of physical detail ( typical of northern painters) , set themselves apart from most southern Italian artisans.
Artists such as, Michelangelo, Raphael, & Leonardo Da Vinci integrated new methods and techniques of naturalistic representations, with the much appreciated principals of classical art, In addition, The Sistine...

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...ounterparts of linear perspective and symmetrical design, and balance would indicate distinct difference.
In conclusion, similarities between the southern and northern, were provided by a unifying factor, the presence of the church, all the artists of that time were indoctrinated to one endearing subject matter or theme “religion”, religious scenes were woven into the very fabric of their artwork. They also shared another factor, the guild system, where one would have to complete an intense and grueling apprenticeship. To sum it up the Italian artist used more proportions, anatomy, and perspective, their counterparts, focused on the love of adding as much detail as possible. Both forms of artwork, were, manifestly produced, and have the longevity to still inspire and awe millions, a sheer testament to the genius and talents of the Renaissance artists.

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