Tempera is the only medium listed that uses the combination of egg and pigment. Though oil paintings became characteristic of the later Italian Renaissance, tempera was used initially due to its low cost.

Commedia dell’arte was a genre of theater in which actors playing well-known stock characters improvised dialogue within simple narratives. It gained popularity throughout Europe after originating in fifteenth-century Italy.

This painting displays a high level of contrast between its light and dark elements. The background is very dark—nearly black—and yet the helmet glows under a hard, bright light. Although figures from Christianity and exaggerated movement are often seen in Baroque paintings, and are, in fact, commonly a defining feature, this painting is a simple Baroque portrait, and therefore does not display these characteristics. A serene, expressionless face is not a common characteristic of Baroque paintings.

Image: The Man With The Golden Helmet. Artist unknown. (c. 1650) From https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMann_mit_dem_Goldhelm.jpg.

A "golden age" typically refers to a time of great prosperity and wealth. The Dutch Golden Age was a time of both great prosperity for the newly independent Dutch Republic, but also a time of great creativity. Although the Dutch Golden Age occurred during the Baroque period and shares many of its characteristics, there are subtle differences, such as the realism and simplicity that marks Dutch paintings. For an example of these features, see The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer.

Although chiaroscuro (light and dark) and foreshortening add to the illusion of three-dimensional space, linear perspective is what actually helped Renaissance artists to understand and explore that three-dimensional space. It also inspired a large number of Renaissance artists to experiment with painting, as three-dimensional space was something no longer limited to sculpture.

Lapis Lazuli is the stone used to produce Ultramarine; it is found in Afghanistan. Though Azurite yields a similar blue, it is not found in Afghanistan and it lacks certain chemical and physical properties of Ultramarine when ground.

The middle panel of the Annunciation Triptych by the Workshop of Robert Campin depicts an angel telling the Virgin Mary that she will give birth to the Christ child. The Annunciation was an extremely common subject of medieval European art due both to its obvious important to Christian faith and its ease of communication to parishioners who were not able to read. Campin's piece is littered with extra significance, including the Old and New Testaments to demonstrate the believed fulfillment of prophecies that the birth of Christ brought.

Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Campin_-_Triptych_with_the_Annunciation,_known_as_the_%22Merode_Altarpiece%22_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Trompe-l'œil is a French term meaning “deceive the eye,” which is used in artistic terms to describe an image where the viewer is tricked into seeing a two-dimensional image as three-dimensional. By placing the figures in front of a painted frame, Filippo Lippi makes the Madonna and Child with Angels appear to be something other than a traditional painting on its first viewing.

Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fra_Filippo_Lippi_-_Madonna_and_Child_with_two_Angels_-_Uffizi.jpg

Jacopo da Pontormo’s Entombment of Christ is also known as the Deposition from the Cross, as it depicts the crucified Christ being taken from the cross to the grave. Such a scene is identifiable not only for the deceased Christ being carried but also the image of a fainting Virgin Mary, which were the main signifiers of a scene of the descent from the cross. Pontormo’s work is notable among such scenes for having the subjects around Christ and the Virgin looking at the viewer, almost imploring the viewer to share in the emotional suffering of the event.

Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacopo_Pontormo_004.jpg

Mannerism was essentially the second wave of Renaissance painting, being most prevalent in the second half of the sixteenth century. Mannerism took many of the Renaissance values of clarity and formal achievement and pushed them even further. In the works of artists such as Tintoretto, El Greco, and Giambologna created highly stylized, formal works that were paragons of mannerism.