The Northern Renaissance

1
The Northern Renaissance

• Christian Humanism

2
Christian Humanism

• Emphasis on early church writings
• provided answers on how to improve society and
  reform the church
• Used Hebrew and Greek texts and writing of the
  Church fathers
• Led to criticism of the church

3
Erasmus

• Most famous and celebrated of all northern
  humanists
• Made new translation of the Greek and Latin
  version of New Testament
• purer editions
• In Praise of Folly (1513)
• Criticized immorality and hypocrisy of church
  leaders and clergy
• Inspired new calls for reform
• Martin Luther

4
Thomas More (1478-1536)

• A civic humanist
• Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII
• Utopia (1516)
• Mixes civic humanism with religious ideals
• Sees accumulation of property as a root cause for
  societys ills
• People must be willing to sacrifice individual
  rights for the common good
• War, poverty, religious intolerance and other
  problems of early 16th century do not exist in
  Utopia

5
Other Writers

• Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples (1454-1536)
• Produced 5 versions of the Psalms
• Challenged single authoritative version of the
  Bible
• Francesco Ximenes de Cisneros
• Spanish humanist
• Reformed Spanish clergy and church
• Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition
• Complutensian Polyglot Bible
• François Rabelais (1494-1553)
• Secular writing portrays confidence in human
  nature
• Gargantuan and Pantagruel (1532-1542)
• Fold epic and comic masterpiece championed
  secular learning
• Michel de Montaigne
• Developed the essay form
• Skepticism
• Doubt that true knowledge could be obtained thus
  must be tolerant of other views

6
Other Writers

• William Shakespeare
• Greatest of the English Renaissance authors
• Reflected ideas of classical Greek and Roman
  culture, individualism, and humanism
• Comedies, tragedies, histories, and sonnets
• Miguel de Cervantes
• Don Quixote
• Among the greatest pieces of Spanish lit
• Critical of excessive religious idealism and
  chivalric romance

7
Northern Renaissance Art

• Flemish Style
• Heavily influenced by Italy
• More detail throughout paintings
• Oil paints
• More emotional
• Preoccupied with death

8
Jan Van Eyck

• Most famous and innovative of 15th century
• Perfected oil painting
• Naturalistic wood panel religious symbolism
• Masterpiece Ghent Altarpiece (1432)
• Most famous Arnolfini and his Wife (1434)

9
Peter Brueghel the Elder

• Not really influenced by Italians
• Focused on lives of ordinary people
• Peasant Dance
• Peasant Wedding
• The Battle Between Carnival and Lent

10
Germany

• Albrecht Dürer
• Foremost northern Renaissance artist
• Master of the woodcut
• Master of Italian techniques of proportion,
  perspective, and modeling
• Numerous self-portraits
• Hans Holbein the Younger
• Painted Erasmus and More, numerous portraits of
  Henry VIII and family members
• The Ambassadors
• Fugger Family

11
Spain

• Mannerism
• Reaction against the ideals of balance, symmetry,
  simplicity, and realistic use of color
• Elongated figures, twisted poses, and compression
  of space
• El Greco
• Greek artist who painted in Spain
• Perhaps greatest of the Mannerists
• Burial of Count Orgaz