Northern Europe and Spain----1500s
(16th century) Chapter 23
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1477--- Burgundy is annexed with France; looses independent power
1509—Erasmus ( Dutch humanist writer) writes The Praise of Folly, criticizing the church
and the affluent wealthy class
1509-47--- reign of Henry VIII (turns to Protestantism in England to marry more wives)
Reformation---in Holy Roman Empire of present day Germany….Martin Luther nails
protest on the Wittenberg Church door in 1517
Germany, Scandinavia and Netherlands become predominantly Protestant---while French
Catholics go to war with French Protestants
Spain is Catholic stronghold and European powerbase, bringing back riches from North
American conquering
Beginnings of capitalism in Europe and nation states (as opposed to city-states)
Many Protestants think religious images are wrong---iconoclasts…secular themes develop
No. Europe adopts innovations of south ---perspective, foreshortening
No. Renaissance looks for realism and interest in detail
No. Architecture still has traces of Gothic, but also High Renaissance Italian elements such as
pilasters, columns, pediments, balance and symmetry
Major Works of No. Renaissance---1500s
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Albrecht Durer, 1498, woodcut
Reflect end of the world (1500) with famine (scales), war (sword), death (pitchfork), pestilence
(bow); no division between heaven and earth…crowded composition with Gothic overtones
Piece of Turf, Durer, 1503, watercolor
Extreme attention to detail and natural subject; lowly and simple clumps of grass highlight the dignity
of everyday things---that of God in everything; extreme scientific accuracy. Supports Protestant
ideologies
Adam and Eve, Albrecht Durer, 1504, engraving (compare with Masaccio’s Adam and Eve fresco)
Ideal humans before fall (may have been his wife); influenced by classical works such as Apollo
Belvedere---contrapposto; mouse is the devil; 4 humors= choleric cat, sanguine rabbit, phlegmatic ox,
melancholic elk; extremely detailed print with attention to nature
Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch, 1505, oil on wood
Fantasy world of the evils of the flesh; private commission---enigmatic; triptych w/ self portrait on
side panel
Isenheim Altarpiece, Grunewald, 1510, oil on wood
Monastery hospital for St. Anthony’s disease (ergotism)—plague/boils/oozing; Mary in agony; Christ
looks amputated; Christ rises without wounds, signaling relief to patients. Catholic iconography.
Good example of “art as healing instrument”: Closed doors are suffering; predella=lamentation;
opened=beautiful sculptures of saints, Christ resurrected and healed, hope for the dying.
Melancholia I, Durer, 1514, engraving (not in text)
Part of a series to describe 4 humors; magic square shows date, many iconographic references to
depression and the genius/artist being “stuck”----lack luster animals, grumpy angel next to “genius”
baby, vanishing hourglass, bat with moneybag; self-referential of Durer as frustrated artist; alchemy
symbols---unlocking the secrets in life as an artist does (with much frustration!)
Four Apostles, Durer, 1526, oil on wood
Durer is a gold smith, intricate detail is his heritage; was very successful as an artist and good
businessman. “Leonardo of the North”. ..sketchbooks, close observation of nature. Shows preference
for Protestantism with Peter in the background, bible is the “word” not the pope; 4 humors (as in
Melancholia)….sanguine(cheerful, ruddy), melancholic (depressed), choleric (angry), phlegmatic
(placid, unconcerned)
(also: Durer’s Knight, Death and the Devil, engraving= medieval costumes, memento mori, etc
blends with Ren. Naturalism and detail. Knight as soldier for Christ
Battle of Issus, Altdorfer, 1529, oil on wood
Alex the Great victory over Persians -- alludes to Bavarian king’s (William IV—patron of artist)
contemporary battle against Turks; sun over Greeks (Bavarian/German), crescent moon over
Persians (Turks)
French Ambassadors, Hans Holbein, 1533, oil
French ambassadors to England. Holbein, German, worked for English Henry VIII, Shows educated,
worldly, scientific men with symbols of their power around—status symbols---globe, lute, books, etc;
hymnal shows song translated by Martin Luther into German (showing Protestantism); concealed
crucifix at left side perhaps suggesting the Christ is always in the background; broken string of lute
perhaps reference to religious discord; one foot in heaven and one on earth symbolic on floor
geometry; anamorphic skull at bottom reminds viewer that riches are fleeting—memento mori
Butcher’s Stall, Pieter Aertsen, 1551, oil on wood
Genre scene of everyday life; visceral nature of life is symbolized by hanging meat and sausage;
religious overlay appears in background, urging awareness of over-indulgence---fish, pretzyl and
wine; Mary on donkey and Joseph walking with Jesus
Return of the Hunters (Hunters in the Snow), Pieter Bruegel—the Elder, 1565, oil on wood
Like medieval book of hours, represents changing of seasons; strong diagonals lead the eye into the
depths below of skaters and birds; peasants who had little luck trudging back
Spain----1500s
Burial of Count Orgaz, El Greco, 1586, oil on canvas
El Greco= The Greek who lived in Spain; Count Orgaz had been dead for 300 years before El Greco
painted it, to be placed over the count’s tomb; portraits of many contemporary Toledo (Spain)
leaders; Mannerist with elongated bodies and crowded scene, but Venetian color and Spanish
Catholic mysticism; deletion of ground lines and spatial depth (all figures in the foreground) links
funeral with opening of the heavens for God to accept the body of the count; El Greco’s son Is painted
in with handkerchief with his father’s signature; El Greco himself is behind him
Plateresque architecture (metal-like---silver) elegant and ornate. Incorporates
Moorish design and flamboyant ogival arches….late Gothic
Good example of Plateresque style: Colegio de San Gregorio, c. 1498, Spain--elaborate tracery includes coat of arms of Ferdinand and Isabella
Gory example of Plateresque style: Casa de Montejo, 1549, Mexico---shows
Spanish soldiers conquering Mayans with severed heads
VOCAB:
Anamorphic
Chiaroscuro
Engraving
Plateresque
Woodcut