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The Early Christian and Byzantine narratives were primarily religious in the form of roles, books and book illustration. The narratives had a written text to support the visuals. For example, The Vatican Vergil of the 5th C A.D. and the Vienna Genesis of 6th C. A.D. respectively. Further, scenes from the Genesis became a popular theme at that point of time. For example, a mosaic from St. Mark’s cathedral in Venice dating 1200 A.D. beautifully illustrated the narrative of creation of the world. Since, it was a period with the setting up of a new church numerous frescoes were painted to both decorate and illustrate stories from the old and the new testament. The artists experimented with composition, unique colour palette ad symbolic use of numerous day to dat objects to pass a strong visual message. Noteworthy is frescoes or narrative fresco from Kariye Camii, Anastasis dating 1310 A.D. in Istanbul where hardware becomes a metaphor for the skeletal remains of these domed in hell.
The Gothic period has been termed as a period of architectural marvels, period of churches and cathedrals. However, numerous sculptures and paintings were made to ornament the surfaces of these architectural marvels. The Gothic period laid stress on both the idea and image. Slowly, the artists graduated towards portraying a narrative by using figures both as a group and a singular preposition. Episodes were abbreviated to be represented almost like a snapshot with a strong visual message. It was both decorative as well as communicative with ample use of decorative elements to add grandeur and glamour. Episodes like the Death of Virgin from Strasbourg Cathedral- 1220 A.D. dramatically portrays the narrative of physical loss of the virgin while the others mourn her death. High reliefs such as the Annunciation & Visitation and Abraham & Melchizedek from Reims Cathedral beautifully narrates a story without using excessive props or indirect metaphors to narrate episodes from the old testament.
Gothic narrative art as compared to Greek and Roman went  a step forward with the emergence of Italian painters who painted on wooden panels in tempra which is an egg based medium that dries quickly to form an extremely tough surface. This era of narrative paintings was termed as Neo byzantine or painting in the Greek manner. Some Italian artists like Cimabue, Duccio and Giotto absorbed the Byzantine tradition and experimented painting in a new manner not seen before. These panels were one of the best examples of Gothic narrative art such as Christ entering Jerusalem by Duccio, Annunciation of Death of Virgin by Duccio. Both from Maesta Altar painted around 1308-1311 C. A.D. in tempra. It strongly reminds us of both Roman illusionism as well as Roman and Byzantine techniques merging the inside outside. The narratives were deeply emotive. The Lamentation by Giotto- a fresco from Arena Chapel Padua in 1305 A.D. takes continuous narration to a different height. A diagonal path leads the viewer from the foreground to the horizon. A dead dry tree becomes a metaphor for death. The Gothic period was also a period of revolution when one understood both the politics and the polities of religion giving birth to another style of narrative which merged the Northern and the Italian traditions into  single dominant style throughout western Europe. This style of narrative painting was termed as the international style. Though, book illustrations remained the lacking form of painting, The Limbourg Brothers experimented by painting folios depicting months from a Christian calendar namely February, October and January in the year 1430 A.D. These folios in the international style portray the lavish art of narrative in the most glamourised manner. It tells a story in a most subtle and indirect manner. The suffering of the poor and the divide between the have nots and the rich Bourgeois class. The Limbourg brothers excelled in the crafts.
The Period of Renaissance is considered as a period of reawakening or at times also termed as been back to classicism. It was a period of individualism, self awareness and self assurance. The aim of the renaissance was not to duplicate the works of antiquity but to surpass them. The artist of Renaissance period found themselves in a rather awkward position. Artists of the Late Gothic period known as Master of Female like Robert Campin, Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, Lorenzo Ghiberti all paved way for the Renaissance artist of the Italian era to paint narratives in the most dramatic manner Masaccio, Donatello to name a few. However, the High Renaissance in Italy ones again opened up new horizon in portraying narratives in the most enigmatic and unique manner. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci painted in the year 1495- 1498 C A.D. tempura mural on wall as perhaps the most talked about narrative or fresco with deep narrative content. The artist introduces iconography with the gestures and postures of the figures. The gesture of Christ is one of submission to the divine will and his offering. The painting intends to depict the dark passions of the human mind which it does effectively. Similarly, narrative a picture of the Last Judgement by Michelangelo was not an easy task. In the fresco of the Sistine Chapel 1534-1541C. A.D. A complex composition with hundreds of figures each depicting a story of his own in the most dramatic manner. Drama and dramatic content are the two most important ingredients of story telling. A narrative artists therefore, needs to include the element of drama through various postures and mediums such as colour, light, composition, space and lastly binding them into an understandable cohesive whole. This was the hallmark of the Baroque period or style which meant irregular contorted and grotesque in the most artistic manner.