From Raphael's philosophy (1511) to Pieter Bruigel’s Netherlandish Proverbs (1559), the impact of the Italian Renaissance is relevant, but there is a clear change in the works from south to north. The continuity and discontinuity are evident in examining technique, function, style, and iconography. In Raphael's philosophy, the composition shows architecture in the foreground, figures in the middle ground, and a clear use of one point perspective. The vanishing point ends behind the figures of Plato and Aristotle. “Plato holds his book Timaeus and points to heaven the source of his inspiration while Aristotle carries his book Nichomachean ethics and gestures towards earth, from which his observations of reality sprang.” The style of the work shows the influence of Greek and Roman antiquity and includes a group of great minds from the time.
The iconography shows emphasis on science, knowledge, and the physical world. The painting was commissioned with the intention of bringing these ideals to the Vatican. The function of the work is evident in the Pope's intention to highlight intellectual ideas like law, philosophy, and science. The technique used by Raphael includes fresco painting, shading of three dimensional forms, and shading of chiaroscuro, as well as a light source that casts shadows on the left side of each form. Raphael even included himself in the painting, and painted the famous men to symbolically express their beliefs. The figures “communicate moods that reflect their beliefs and the artist's placemat of each figure tied these moods together.”
In the northern countries, High Renaissance art looks different. Though there is continuity in how artists built upon the Italian Renaissance, there is evidence of many changes. In Brugegel’s Netherlandish proverbs, the composition shows knowledge of perspective, but the eye curves back from the foreground, to the middle ground, and then the background. There is a crowded arrangement of buildings, figures, and landscape, and no clear focal point. This is a discontinuity from the style of the south and shows an example of world picture composition. Bruegel’s figures appear reckless and moving. The iconography of the work illustrates common proverbs and anecdotes of the time; for example, Bruegel shows a man on the roof who “shoots one arrow after the other, but hits nothing.” This Proverb conveys foolishness and lack of reason/focus. Bruegel’s use of technique is also a change from the previous style of the Italian renaissance. He painted oil on panels instead of fresco from Raphael's work. Because of the technique, there is a different range of colors. There is less focus on three dimensional form, this is because there is no clear lightsource in Bruegel's painting.
