Mannerism
A style that developed in the
sixteenth century ( 1526-1600, after
the sack of Rome )as a reaction to
the classical rationality and balanced
harmony of the High Renaissance;
They rejected many conventions of
the Renaissance and their work
could be characterized by the
dramatic use of space and light,
exaggerated colour, elongation of
figures, and distortions of
perspective, scale, proportion.
They were a very individual and
expressive group that had a variety
of styles.
Parmigianino's Madonna with the
Long Neck
El Greco (1541- 1614)
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born Crete, studied Italy moved to Spain. His
name is Spanish for ‘the Greek’.
influenced by Parmigianiomo (who painted
Madonna of the Long Neck).
The Burial of Count Orgaz (1586)
Top of Painting:
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Eternal Heaven, Christ,
Bottom of Painting:
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Angels, 16th century Spaniards, Count Orgaz,
Greco’s friends, his son on the bottom left
Uniting feature:
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Angel bearing the soul, looks like a doll, priest
looking up, Mary looking down
Known for:
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elongated bodies,
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strong sense of movement,
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flickering light,
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bright colours (some say acid colours)
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intense emotion.
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Technique: consisted of the application of thick
oil paint over a red ochre gessoed animal-skin
canvas. The light areas were blocked in white or
gray oil paint. He applied the paint in broken
short brush strokes which were almost
impressionistic.
Mannerism in El Greco's jarring
"acid" color sense, his figures'
elongated and tortured anatomy,
the irrational perspective and light
of his breathless and crowded
composition, and obscure and
troubling symbolism
Northern Countries
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These Northern countries were known for
certain achievements (strengths) during the
Renaissance:
Low Countries (Belgium, Holland): oil paint,
allowed them to paint in detail
Germany: art centre of Europe
France: excelled in architecture during this time
Spain: used wealth and privilege to draw artist to
their court.
Northern Renaissance
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From the late 15th century, the ideas of the Italian Renaissance
spread around Europe…it would reach Britain by the 16th century
(Shakespeare's time)
Art and artists were imported into northern countries. King Francis
I (France) would not only commission Venetian artists but
invited Leonardo da Vinci to live French palace and would die in
France)
Artists such as the German Durer would travel to Italy to study
Universities and the printed book helped spread the spirit of the
Renaissance as did trade with the Italians
The later Northern Renaissance was also closely linked to
the Protestant Reformation (Italian was Catholic) and was kindled by a
weakening of the Roman Catholic Church
Forms of artistic expression which a century ago would have been
banned by the church were now tolerated or even encouraged in
certain circles.
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Unlike religious practices in Italy at this time, there was a greater
emphasis on private religious practices in the home environment.
Books had already became an important source of
communicating religious beliefs the medieval illuminated
manuscript was a part of life long before the 15th century.
Domestic altarpieces are a newer form of private observance and
one which we find in northern Europe far more often than in
Italy.
The last influence we should note is that because sculpture was
such an intrinsic part of the Gothic cathedral, the sculptural
tradition which will dominate northern European art is visibly
quite different from the classical tradition which will be so
important to Italy….very little free standing sculpture.
What was the Reformation? How
Did It Affect Art?
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The Protestant Reformation was a revolt against abuses and other forms of
corruption perpetrated by the Papacy and the Church in Rome. The actual
spark which ignited the revolt was Pope Leo X's decision to launch a
campaign in Germany for the sale of "indulgences" (effectively permits
allowing sinners to buy their way into heaven), in order to finance the
building of the new Saint Peter's Basilica, in Rome (time of the Italian High
Renaissance). The Reformation began on Oct 31, 1517, when the German
Augustinian monk Martin Luther nailed his 95-point manifesto on the door
of All Saints Church, Wittenberg, Germany, and led to a split in Christianity
between Roman Catholics and Protestants.
Protestantism led to a new type of Christian art which celebrated the
Protestant religious agenda, and diverged radically from the High Renaissance
art of Italyareas of southern Europe, which remained Roman Catholic.
The form and content of Protestant art - in particular painting - reflected the
plainer, more unvarnished and more personal Christianity of the Reformation
movement. Thus large scale works of Biblical art were no longer
commissioned by Protestant church bodies.
Jan Van Eyck (1390-1491) The Arnolfini Marriage
(1434) (portrait gallery –London)
size- 32” x 23” !!!!! This is not a large painting.
Meaning of the following symbols:
 Raised right hand- Fidelity
 Dog- Fidelity and Loyalty((the common canine
name Fido originated from the Latin fido, "to trust").
Ripened peaches- Fertility
 Clogs cast aside- standing on holy ground
 St. Margaret on bedpost- saint of
childbirth
 Wisk broom- domestic care
 Lit candle- oath of marriage, devotion of
newlyweds, seeing eye of G-d
 Crystal beads- Virgin Mary
What is written above the mirror:
 Jan Van Eyck was here in 1434 (he was a
witness of the marriage)
Who is in the mirror?
 Jan Van Eyck and another witness
What is around the mirror?
 10 scenes of Christ’s passion
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No she is not pregnant, it was the style of
the day
Arnolfini Wedding
1434
1423
More on this painting:
High realism, unity, meticulous detail, realistic
light coming from the left.
When was this painted in relation to other Italian
Renaissance paintings?
 1434- Donatello’s David
 60 years before Leonardo’s “Last Supper”
 100 years before Michelangelo’s “Last
Judgment”
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Remember this artist from earlier in
the semester?
BOTERO FERNANDO (1932)
He also did his take on this painting.
For the fashion students in the class
other Paintings by the artist
Rogier der Weyden- Portrait of a lady (1455)
Compare it to Mona Lisa (1503-5) ? What personality do you think she
has? What station in life? What’s the feeling of the painting?
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sharply contrasting outlines of lips and nose, or his emphasis on the
slenderness of limbs - idealise his sitters, lending them a greater sophistication
Hieronymus Bosch Dutch (14501516) Prado
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Great imagination
World of weird images and puzzling symbols
Packed with people (mostly naked, many things going on)
Left Panel- Garden of Eden
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Amid exotic animals,
plants and landscape, God
is introducing Adam to
Eve
God’s beautiful creation
Middle Panel-Garden of Delights
•Fantastic landscape
•Humanities constant search
to satisfy its earthly delights
with overindulgence and sin
Right Panel- The Garden of
Satan
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Bosch version of Hell
Hundreds of figures are
being tortured while the
eggshell human tree trunk of
Satan in the center
supervises it all
The overindulgences and sin
eventually lead people to
Hell
Bosch is very pessimistic, no
chance of salvation is shown
The last
Judgement
GLUTTONY
SLOTH
Death
AVARICE
Radiant all seeing
eye of God
LUST
ENVY
VANITY
Hell
Seven Deadly
Sins and the
Four Last
Things-14801500-decorated
table top for King
Phillip II of Spain
(Prado)
ANGER
Heaven
Pieter Brugel-1525-1569
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Painted peasants in their daily activities in ordinary landscapes
How has Brugel created depth in the return of the Hunters?
Dürer, Albrecht (b. 14711528,Germany)
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German painter, printmaker, draughtsman
and art theorist, generally regarded as the
greatest German Renaissance artist.
Dürer traveled, and found, he says, more
appreciation abroad than at home. The
Italian influence on his art was of a
particularly Venetian strain
He had an arranged marriage, and friends
considered his wife, Agnes, to be mean and
bad-tempered, though what their real marital
relations were, nobody can tell. For all his
apparent openness, Dürer is a reserved man,
and perhaps it is this rather sad reserve that
makes his work so moving.
Self-Portrait at 26 (1498) (Prado)
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Any similarities to the Mona Lisa (painted
1503-5) ?
Printmaker- woodcuts and copper engraving- Guttenburg invented
the printing press in 1446)(Both-Prado)
St. Michael's fight
against the dragon
1498 (330 kB);
Woodcut, 39.2 x 28.3
cm (15 x 11 1/8 in)
The Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse
1498 ; woodcut
The Knight, Death
and The Devil 1514
25x19 cm
Copper Engraving
A Young Hare
1502 (140 kB);
Watercolor and
gouache on paper
Northern Renaissance
Northern Renaissance
 Realism and Attention to
detail
 Everyday life, everyday
objects including using
them for symbolism
 Landscapes/domestic
interiors……portraits
 Reformation less
religious decoration in
churches-more for
private devotion
Italian Renaissance
 Idealized beauty
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Greek/Roman themes
Mythology
Catholic Religious
scenes- for public viewng
Northern Renaissance
Main differences between the Northern Renaissance and the Italian Renaissance:
Northern Renaissance
 Attention to surface
detail, naturalism.
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Minute surface detail
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Oil on panel.
Italian Renaissance
 Symmetrical, balanced,
good sense of mass, linear
perspective
 Figures with mass and
volume, knowledge of
underlying anatomy.
 Fresco, tempera, oil
(venice).