Context: The ideas of the Italian Renaissance were slow to cross the Alps into northern Europe, but important artistic innovations were made also in the Low Countries. Though not – as previously believed – the inventor of oil painting, Jan van Eyck was a champion of the new medium, and used it to create works of great realism and minute detail. The two cultures influenced each other and learned from each other, but painting in the Netherlands remained more focused on textures and surfaces than the idealized compositions of Italy.

Question: What was the focus of paintings in Italy?
Answer: idealized compositions

Question: Where was the focus of paintings on textures and surfaces?
Answer: the Netherlands

Question: What painter was an early champion of oil as a medium in painting?
Answer: Jan van Eyck

Question: Jan van Eyck's paintings are known for what characteristics?
Answer: great realism and minute detail

Question: What wasn't the focus of paintings in Italy?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: Where wasn't the focus of paintings on textures and surfaces?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: What painter was a late champion of oil as a medium in painting?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: What painter wasn't an early champion of oil as a medium in painting?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: Jan van Eyck's paintings are unknown for what characteristics?
Answer: Unanswerable