Northern Renaissance Art

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The Northern Renaissance Netherlands, Holy
Roman Empire, England, France
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Christian Humanism

• 1. Focused on the Bible and early Christian
  writings- how to improve society and reform the
  Church
• 2. Emphasized education for all classes human
  intellect would bring Church changes moral
  improvement
• 3. Writings led to criticism of church
• 4. Influences the Reformation

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Printing Press

• Developed by Johannes Gutenberg- printed first
  Bible in 1456
• 1480 380 presses in Western Europe
• 1500 1,000 presses. 25,000 different works had
  been printed
• Rapidly spread new knowledge and ideas among
  educated classes
• Greatly influenced the Reformation

4
Thomas More (1478-1535)

• Englands greatest humanist
• Was in the service of the monarchy- Henry VIII
• Wrote Utopia an imaginary society based on
  reason and tolerance, citizens practiced a
  Christianity free of ignorance and superstition.
  There was no private property and no desire for
  profit war was only in self-defense. It
  contrasted with the evils More saw in his own
  society

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Erasmus (1466-1536)

• Dutch Humanist
• Was an ordained priest, devoted his life to
  classical studies
• His most famous work In Praise of Folly, he
  ridiculed the attitudes of his own time-
  ignorance, superstition and greed
• He used his knowledge of classical languages to
  achieve and publish a deeper understanding of the
  Bible. Used the Greek version which revealed
  errors in the Latin version.

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Erasmus (1466-1536)

• He believed Christian religion offered humanity
  sound guidelines for its moral conduct
• Religion and learning were bound together
• Criticized the abuses of the Catholic Church
• Opposed Martin Luthers Reformation

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Renaissance Art in Northern Europe

• Should be considered separate from Italian art.
• However, Italian influence was strong.
• Painting in OIL, developed in Flanders, was
  widely adopted in Italy.
• The differences between the two cultures
• No. Europe ? change was driven by religious
  reform, the return to Christian values, and the
  revolt against the authority of the Church.
• Italy ? change was inspired by humanism with its
  emphasis on the revival of the values of
  classical antiquity.
• More princes kings were patrons of artists.

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Characteristics of Northern Renaissance Art

• The continuation of late medieval attention to
  details.
• Tendency toward realism naturalism less
  emphasis on the classical ideal.
• Interest in landscapes.
• More emphasis on middle-class and peasant life.
• Details of domestic interiors.
• Great skill in portraiture.

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Flemish Realism
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Jan van Eyck (1395 1441)

• More courtly and aristocratic work.
• Court painter to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the
  Good.
• ?The Virgin and Chancellor Rolin, 1435.

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Van Eyck -Adoration of the Lamb, Ghent
Altarpiece, 1432
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Van Eyck? The CrucifixionThe Last
Judgment ?1420-1425
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Jan Van EyckGiovanni Arnolfini and His
Wife(Wedding Portrait) 1434
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Jan van Eyck - Giovanni Arnolfini His Wife
(details)
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Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464)
The Deposition 1435
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van der Weydens Deposition (details)
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Quentin Massys (1465-1530) The Moneylender
His Wife, 1514
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France
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Renaissance Art in France

• A new phase of Italian influence in France began
  with the French invasions of the Italian
  peninsula that began in 1494.
• The most important royal patron was Francis I.
• Actively encouraged humanistic learning.
• Invited da Vinci and Andrea del Sarto to France.
• He collected paintings by the great Italian
  masters like Titian, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

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Jean Clouet Portrait of Francis I, 1525
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Germany
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Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)

• Court painter at Wittenberg from 1505-1553.
• His best portraits were of Martin Luther (to the
  left).

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Matthias Grünewald (1470-1528)

• Converted to Lutheranism.
• Depictions of intense emotion, especially painful
  emotion.
• Possibly involved in the Peasants Revolt on the
  peasants side.
• The Mocking of Christ, 1503 ?

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Matthias Grünewalds The Crucifixion, 1502
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Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

• The greatest of German artists.
• A scholar as well as an artist.
• His patron was the Emperor Maximilian I.
• Also a scientist
• Wrote books on geometry, fortifications, and
  human proportions.
• Self-conscious individualism of the Renaissance
  is seen in his portraits.
• ? Self-Portrait at 26, 1498.

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Dürer Self-Portrait in Fur-Collared Robe, 1500
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Dürer The Last Supperwoodcut, 1510
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Dürer FourHorsemenof theApocalypsewoodcut,
1498
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England
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Hans Holbein, the Younger (1497-1543)

• One of the great German artists who did most of
  his work in England.
• While in Basel, he befriended Erasmus.
• Erasmus Writing, 1523 ?
• Henry VIII was his patron from 1536.
• Great portraitist noted for
• Objectivity detachment.
• Doesnt conceal the weaknesses of his subjects.

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Artist to the Tudors
Henry VIII (left), 1540 and the future Edward VI
(above), 1543.
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The Low Countries
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Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516)

• A pessimistic view of human nature.
• Had a wild and lurid imagination.
• Fanciful monsters apparitions.
• Untouched by the values of the Italian
  Quattrocento, like mathematical perspective.
• His figures are flat.
• Perspective is ignored.
• More a landscape painter than a portraitist.
• Philip II of Spain was an admirer of his work.

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HieronymusBoschThe Garden of Earthy
Delights1500
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HieronymusBoschThe Garden of Earthy
Delights(details)1500
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HieronymusBoschThe Cureof Folly1478-1480
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HieronymusBoschThe Temptation of St.
Anthony1506-1507
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Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569)

• One of the greatest artistic geniuses of his age.
• Worked in Antwerp and then moved to Brussels.
• In touch with a circle of Erasmian humanists.
• Was deeply concerned with human vice and follies.
• A master of landscapes not a portraitist.
• People in his works often have round, blank,
  heavy faces.
• They are expressionless, mindless, and sometimes
  malicious.
• They are types, rather than individuals.
• Their purpose is to convey a message.

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Bruegels, Tower of Babel, 1563
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Bruegels, Parable of the Blind Leading the
Blind, 1568
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Bruegels, Niederlandisch Proverbs, 1559
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Bruegels, The Triumph of Death, 1562
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Bruegels, Winter Scene, 1565
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Bruegels, The Harvesters, 1565
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Spain
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Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco)

• The most important Spanish artist of this period
  was Greek.
• 1541 1614.
• He deliberately distorts elongates his figures,
  and seats them in a lurid, unearthly atmosphere.
• He uses an agitated, flickering light.
• He ignores the rules of perspective, and
  heightens the effect by areas of brilliant color.
• His works were a fitting expression of the
  Spanish Counter-Reformation.

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El Grecos, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586-1588
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El Grecos, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586-1588
(details)
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El Grecos, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1578-1580
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Conclusion

• The artistic production of Northern Europe in the
  16 century was vast, rich, and complex.