In her study of ‘the two regions that gave birth to the art of the early Renaissance’, Professor Blum argues that the Netherlands and Florence shared many artistic aims and both achieved a new, realistic depiction of the material world – but in response to social developments rather than classical revival. Through in-depth discussions of works by Claus Sluter, Donatello, Jan van Eyck, Masaccio and Rogier van der Weyden, Blum shows how their innovations were used in the promotion of traditional Christian content.