Renaissance Paintings and Drawings

That is true. Before the renaissance there wasn't such an emphasis on painting an exact likeness.
Representing likeness was undoubtedly encouraged by the new emphasis Christianity placed on the humanity of Christ and the emotional response to his image by the worshippers, as portraits represented both outward appearance and, by interpreting a sitter's expression and likeness, the soul. But there was this other belief that a beautiful outward physiognomy was a reflection of the soul and a desired appearance for a woman was to have a blonde hair, pale skin and red lips were mandatory. Such ideals are reflected in the way both religious figures, such as the Virgen Mary and classical gods and goddesses are represented in Renaissance paintings.

Beauty was equated with virtue in the Renaissance. Portraits of real men and women that emphasised their physical perfection were acknowledgements of their virtue. Conversely, ugliness and physical imperfections of all kinds were poorly tolerated and might condemn the unlucky ones to social ostracism. ill-favoured old women were sometimes identified as witches;
A victim of disease was only too easily seen as a subject for mockery and a potential source of evil to be feared.

Actually, I was also thinking of poor Anne of Cleves as well when I wrote the last post ! In the Renaissance, drawings were usually the means of capturing a likeness in the presence of the sitter. They were highly portable and were often used to send information about individuals to friends or family - their state of health and how they had altered or aged. I have now sketched a small drawing of Peter sitting on his chair which I will post as soon as I photograph it.

The veracity of painted portraits was enabled by sophisticated oil techniques developed in Northern Europe, which were taken up in this period by artists around the Mediterranean.