[CHP. 16- 16TH CENTURY PAINTING IN NORTHERN EUROPE]
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Northern Renaissance
The Italian renaissance eventually spread throughout Europe, emerging in a movement known as the northern renaissance
Although the Northern European artists were inspired by the Italian renaissance artists, they didn’t base their new developments on the
rediscovery of Greco-Roman ideals. Instead, they broke away from the gothic style by looking at nature and painting it as it appeared. In a very
detailed VERY realistic.
Lacking classical sculpture to teach them idealistic proportions, the northern European artists painted such as faithful likenesses of their subjects,
that Charles VI of France, it’s said,, sent one of these artists to 3 differnet coursts to paint portraits of prospective brides, and based on the slection
of his new wife solely on the portraits.
Let’s look at the Annunciation from the Merode Altarpiece by Robert Campin (the Master of Female)
It was the artists from the Netherlands, painting in the Flemish style who were considered the best painters of the Northern Renaissance. This
panel, painted by Robert Campin, exemplifies the style and technique of those revered Northern Renaissance artists. While Italian artists
experimented with painting oil on canvas, th northern Renaissance artists preferred to work on wood panels, creating works ranging from small
portraits to large altarpieces. Sometimes, they would actually glue fine linen over gessoed wood panels as a ground fot their paintings. The Merode
altarpiece is a little over 2 feet tall and 4 feet long when the wings are open. Rather than being true to life according to the biblical description in
his depiction of this scene, Campin painted the Virgin Mary in a contemporary Flemish home, and incorporated common religious symbols as
elements of the Annunicaiton imagery. For example, the lilies on the table symbolize Mary’s virginity, while hangthe hanging water pot and white
towel symbolize her purity and her role as the vessel for the incarnation of Christ. Most of the paintings of the Annunciation portray the angel
Gabriel telling Mary that she will be the mother of Christ. This one, however, shows Mary in the moment immediately following her acceptance of
her destiny.
Some art historians interpret the rush of wind in this painting, which is ruffling the pages of the books snuffing the candel, as the impregnation of
Mary by the Holy Spirit. In this interpretation, God assumes human form and is represented by the tiny figure in the upper left, descending on a ray
of light, and carrying a cross. For a time, it was considered that this next apinting was done by Robert Campin, AKA the Master of Femalle
Slide: St Luke Drawing the Virgin by Rogier van der Weyden 1440
It is fascinating that Rogier van der Weyden is one of the most mysterious figures from the Northern Renaissance. We’ve pieced together a
biography of this artist from various sources, but we have never foundan existing work that actually bears the name of Rogier van der Weyden. or a
time, when Robert Camoin was called the Master of Femalle, it was thought that he and Rogier van der Weyden ewre oneand the same. More
recently though, it is believed that van der Weyden studied under Campin, which explains the similarity of the painting styles. Another great
altarpiece from the Northern Renaissance is the Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald.
Isenheim Altar piece by Matthias Grunevald 1510-1515
Scholars and critics consider this sublime work by Grunevald on a par with the Mona Lisa and the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. Grunwald painted
the panels of this altarpiece in the chapel of a hospital and monastery. The hospital was set up to treat those with St. Anthony’s Fire, or ergotism, a
disease caused by the poison of a fungus that clung to rye, and was inadvertently ground into flour used to make rye bread. Ergotism causes painful
eruptions accompanied by nervous spasms and convulsions. Victims often had to have limbs amputated and many who suffered from this disease
died. This altarpiece played a psychological and mystical role in the treatment program at the hospital by glorifying Christ’s suffering in a terrifying
crucifixion scene, the painting offered comfort to those afflicted with the horrible, painful disease.
Wedding Dance- Pieter Bruegel 1566
Pieter Bruegel is another famous Northern Renaissance artist. But unlike most others of the time, Bruegel chose peasant life life as his
primarysubject matter. His paintings, while insightful portraits of peasants, always had a sataric edge, often visible in the eating and drinking scenes
in which peasants indulge with gluttonous absorption. Bruegel’s work is known as genre painting, which refers to the painting of scenes of
everyday life.
[CHP. 16- 16TH CENTURY PAINTING IN NORTHERN EUROPE]
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The following chart, compiles by Carol Strickland, summarizes the differences between Italian and Northern Renaissance art.
Italian Renaissance
Northern Renaissance
Specialty
Ideal Beauty
Intense realism
Style
Simplified forms, measured
proportions
Lifelike features, unflatering honesty
Subject
Religious an mythological scenes
Religious and domestic scenes
Figures
Heroic male nudes
Prosperous citizens, peasants
Portraits
Formal, reserved
Reveal individual personality
Technique
Fresco, tempera, and oil painintgs
Oil paintings on wood panels
Emphasis
Underlying anatomical structure
Visible appearance
Basis of Art
Theory
Observation
Composition
Static, balanced
Complex, irregular
Chart compiled by Carol Strickland
Hieronymous Bosch, 1450-1516 - Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1505-10, triptych, oil on wood, 12' long (open)
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Heaven on right panel, Hell on left panel
center panel is full of images about earthly pleasures
moralistic triptych, that comments on sin
fantastic, surreal images
Bosch was unique in his time
Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1525-69 - The Peasant Dance, c. 1567, oil on wood, 3'9"x 5'5"
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-people overindulge in the presence of religious icons
-genre scene (everyday life)
Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1525-69 - Hunters in the Snow
Albrecht Durer, (1471-1528) - Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, c. 1497-8, woodcut, 15"x 11"
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-symbolic composition
-linear qualities
-print
Printmaking
Printmaking-is a process where an artist creates images that are transferred to another surface after they are prepared. Two kinds of printmaking
are mentioned in the text: woodcut, which is the carving of a wood block and then inking the raised surface left behind, and engraving, which is the
carving of metal plates in which the carved out areas become the part which holds ink and when printed.
Matthias Grunewald, (d. 1528)
-did the Eisenheim Altarpiece which is characterized by the great amount of emotional and evocative painting. The exterior of the altarpiece
depicts the Crucifixion of Christ and the interior the Resurrection.
Hans Holbein the Younger, (1497-1543)
The Ambassadors, oil on panel
-uses anamorphic projection for skull on lower section of painting.
Northern Renaissance
Began circa 1500
Included Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, England
The Italian renaissance eventually spread throughout Europe, emerging in a movement known as the northern renaissance
[CHP. 16- 16TH CENTURY PAINTING IN NORTHERN EUROPE]
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Although the northern European artists were inspired by the Italian renaissance artists, they didn’t base their new developments on the
rediscovery of Greco-Roman ideals
Instead, they broke away from the gothic style by looking at nature and painting it as it appeared. In a very detailed VERY realistic.
Lacking classical sculpture to teach them idealistic proportions, the northern European artists painted such as faithful likenesses of their subjects,
that Charles VI of France, it’s said, sent one of these artists to 3 different courts to paint portraits of prospective brides, and based on the selection
of his new wife solely on the portraits.
The Netherlands
“During the sixteenth century the Italian manner continued to influence the direction of northern art, though in many different ways. It was also
during this period that the influence of the German painters grew, while that of the Flemish painters waned.”
Most important artist:
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Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516)
Flanders:
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569).
Germany
Important Artists:
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Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
Albrecht Altodorfer (1480-1538)
Matthias Grünewald (1510-1515)
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543)
Part --: Unit Exam Essay Questions
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Characterize the difference in styles between High Renaissance painting in Italy and 16th-century painting in Northern Europe. How do
the contexts differ?
Characterize the styles of Dürer and Leonardo. How are they similar? What are the differences? To what do you attribute the similarities
and differences?
Discuss the unusual iconography of the Garden of Earthly Delights. What are some of the possible sources? What is its context and
message?
Cite five Netherlandish proverbs and explain how they are illustrated by Bruegel.
Describe how an engraving is made and discuss the historical development of this medium.
Chapter Outline (AAT4)
16th-CENTURY PAINTING AND PRINTMAKING IN NORTHERN EUROPE
Martin Luther's 95 Theses (1517)
Satire and proverbs: Erasmus (Praise of Folly and Adages);
Printmaking; the myth of the mad artist
Netherlandish artists: Bosch; van Hemessen; Massys; Bruegel the Elder
German artists: Dürer; Grünewald; von Hagenau; Cranach the Elder; Hans Holbein the Younger at the court of Henry VIII
Van Mander: Het Schilderboeck (The Painter's Book) (1604)
Summary and Study Guide
Define or identify the following terms:
burin
genre
print
edition
intaglio
print matrix
engraving
plate
woodcut
Chronology
1525-1569 Pieter Bruegel the Elder”
“1526 Durer: The Four Apostles 1529 Altodorfer: The Battle of Issus”
“1533
Holbein the Younger: The French Ambassadors”
“1540
Holbein the Younger: henry VIII”
[CHP. 16- 16TH CENTURY PAINTING IN NORTHERN EUROPE]
“1565
Bruegel the Elder: Hunters in the Snow”
“1565
Bruegel the Elder: Peasant Wedding”
“1568
Bruegel the Elder: Peasant Dance”
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