(Essak) "The Northern Renaissance style evolved gradually from the late Middle Ages, as artists became increasingly fascinated by the myriad details of the visible world and increasingly better at capturing them "(Getlin 378). Art differed greatly in the northern countries of Western Europe from Italy. “Northern artists did not live among the ruins of Rome, nor did they share the Italians' sense of a personal connection with the creators of the classical past” (Getlin 378). While the Italians were obsessed with structure, accurate perspective and the underlying musculature of the body; Northern artists perfected their ability to accurately render the outward appearance of their subjects. (Getlin 381) Northern Renaissance artists focused on details, showed works with middle class characters and peasants, had a lot of decoration and interest in landscape. A new medium of oil painting was formed and artists began to paint on board with this. (Getlin 380) Albrecht Dürer visited Italy in an attempt to merge the Nordic love of meticulous observation with the Italian idea and discovered why he thought Nordic art relied too much on instinct and lacked a solid foundation in theory and in science. (Getlin 382) From the book it states “The Protestant reforms of the 16th century included a