The Northern Renaissance is not so much a variation of a process common to Europe as an independent, deeply peculiar phenomenon. German and Dutch artists Jan van Eyck, Jerome Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, Peter Brueghel the Elder and Matthias Grunewald did not limit themselves to copying certain forms of Italian painting, but embodied their own original vision in their work, imbued with a mystical attitude and symbolism. In their bizarre paintings, religious intertwines with everyday, God manifests himself in harmony with nature, biblical plots penetrate earthly life and reflect a desperate search for truth, disturbing premonitions, the quiet poetry of everyday life in all its details - and the ugliness, meaninglessness of life devoid of a spiritual principle.