Before 1450, Renaissance humanism had little influence
outside Italy; after 1450, these ideas began to spread
throughout Europe.
The invention of the printing press helped
to spread Renaissance ideas throughout Europe.
Question:
How did Renaissance ideas spread to northern Europe?
Growth of Cities
• Expanded trade, growth of cities spread Renaissance across Europe
• Growing wealthy merchant class eager to support artists
Role of Monarchs
• Unified governments of England, France supported the arts with money
- many rulers viewed artistic achievement as source of national pride
Cultural Interaction
• In late 1400s, artists fled war in Italy; moved to northern Europe
- Italian, northern European artists interacted; shared ideas, styles
Question:
How did northern Renaissance artwork differ from that of Italian artists?
Answer: depicted everyday objects, people as they actually were
The Northern Renaissance
Main Idea
Renaissance ideas soon spread beyond Italy to northern Europe by means of trade,
travel, and printed material, influencing the art and ideas of the north
Trade, the movement of artists and scholars, and the development of printing helped
spread Renaissance ideas north from Italy
•Northern scholars traveled to Italy, brought ideas home
•Universities started in France, Netherlands, Germany
In 1455 Johann Gutenberg printed a complete
edition of the Bible using a printing press with
movable type.
The printing
revolution
transformed
Europe.
•
Printed books were far
easier to produce than
hand-copied books.
•
More people had access to a
broad range of learning.
•
By 1500, the number of
books in Europe had risen
from a few thousand to
between 15 and 20 million.
MAJOR WORK OF ARCHITECTURE
In Bourges, France the Palais Jacques Coeur
1443 -1451
is a 15th century mansion that marked a turning point in the
history of architecture.
Built by the rich merchant Jacques Coeur, it will never be
inhabited by its owner, who fell into disgrace a few years before
the end of the construction.
While the 1400’s were a time of peace in Italy, England and France were both fighting each other in the Hundred
Years War
Flanders was the first place to sponsor artists because it was rich from cloth and trading
Italy was divided into city-states, but England and France united
under strong monarchs and rulers often sponsored artists
Royal courts played a major role in introducing Renaissance
styles to northern Europe
As ideas spread from Italy, blended with northern traditions=
northern renaissance developed its own character
In 1494, a French king launched an invasion in through northern Italy
Many people (including artists) were forced to flee to a safer life in northern Europe
CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTHERN
RENAISSANCE ART
• 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.
FLEMISH PAINTING (FLANDERS)
• First great Flemish Renaissance painter was Jan van Eyck who developed
techniques with oil based paints still used today
• Oil paintings became popular and spread to Italy
• Van Eyck’s paintings display unusually realistic details and reveal the
personality of their subjects
VAN EYCK -ADORATION OF THE LAMB,
GHENT ALTARPIECE, 1432
Inside of St Bravo Cathedral, Ghent
Belgium
Oil paint on the wood
Giovanni Arnolfini and His
Wife
(Wedding Portrait)
Jan Van Eyck
1434
National Gallery, London
ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN (1399-1464)
The
Deposition
1435
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.
HIERONYMUS BOSCH
THE GARDEN OF EARTHY
DELIGHTS
1500
MUSEUM PRADO, MADRID
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.
DÜRER – SELF-PORTRAIT IN FURCOLLARED ROBE, 1500
MAJOR WORK - SCULPTURES
Claus Sluter
Well of Moses 1395 -1406
Limestone, Dijon, France
• The Well of Moses (French: Puits de Moïse) is a monumental sculpture recognized as the
masterpiece of the Dutch artist Claus Sluter