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Raphael's frescos for the Vatican apartments were so far superior to the work of other painters that Pope Julius II had all the other works in these rooms destroyed at once in order that Raphael might have the honor of seeing his work preferred above all others. The ideals of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty provide the connection for the many frescos; these ideals are given body by means of a "supreme harmony of forms" and a "tonality of colors."

Mantegna has been frequently criticized for burdening his art with Roman motifs and superfluous ancient ruins, but in her essay on the artist, Professor Cipriani shows how much more relevant is the relationship between the contemporary event and the past in Mantegna's paintings.

Masaccio is considered a pioneer in the art of the Italian Renaissance. His frescos created a new era in Florentine art, and his work was both instructional and inspirational for generations of Italian artists to come, including Michelangelo and Raphael. His work is revolutionary in that he advanced art through the use of realism, and that he is universally recognized as the first artist to employ the laws of perspective. Masaccio's knowledge of the human form and his presentation of it "in the round", as well as his naturalistic treatment of both figures and landscapes, led Leonardo da Vinci to call his frescos "perfect works."