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Northern Renaissance

NORTHERN RENAISSANCE

  1. OVERVIEW
  1. Time period

1.Northern Renaissance refers to artistic developments in Northern Europe (Flanders, Netherlands, Germany, England) during the 1400’s and 1500’s

2.The Renaissance was developing in the Northern Europe contemporaneously with the Italian Renaissance.

  1. Locations

1.Burgundy

  • Southwestern France to southern Belgium
  • Rivals of France, often siding with the English
  • Ruled by powerful dukes who were patrons of the arts

2.Flanders

  • Modern-day Belgium, southern Netherlands
  • Cosmopolitan cities
  • Prosperity based upon wool and banking
  • Painters from the region are known as Flemish

3.Netherlands

  • Present-day Holland
  • Painters from this region are known as Netherlandish

4.Germany

  1. Rich Artistic Tradition

1.Pioneered the use of oil paints in the 1300’s. Painters from Flanders travelled down to Italy in search of commissions from wealthy Italian patrons. Flemish painters interacted with Italian painters in some of the big cities and shared the medium of oil painting. The Venetians would be among the earliest Italians to capitalize on this medium

2.Renowned for exquisite detail in their paintings made possible by the lengthy drying time of oil paint.

3.Noted for the use of “disguised symbolism” – everyday objects have hidden meanings

4.Figures in many Northern Renaissance paintings look a little strange by the Italian Renaissance standards. People often have slightly elongated heads and strange-looking faces, but overall their proportions are realistic. Northern Renaissance painting lacks the classical references found in Italian art.

  1. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
  1. Limbourg Brothers

1.Painted Les Tres Riches Heures de Duc de Berry (The Very Sumptuous Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry)

  1. Robert Campin

1.Also referred to as “Master of Flemalle,” because he was a master painter from that city in Flanders.

2.Merode Altarpiece

  1. Jan van Eyck

1.The Ghent Altarpiece

2.Arnolfini Marriage

3.Man in a Red Turban(Jan van Eyck)

  1. Rogier van der Weyden

1.The Deposition

  1. BOSCH – An Unusual Flemish painter

1.Garden of Earthly Delights

  1. GERMAN MASTERS OF THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
  1. Matthias Grunewald and the Isenheim Altarpiece

1.An altarpiece for the Hospital of St. Anthony Monastery in Isenheim, Germany

2.Representation of Christ (Altarpiece closed)

3.Suffering of the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene

4.Altarpiece opened

  1. Albrecht Altdorfer

1.The Battle of Issus, 1529

  1. Albrecht Durer

1.Two visits to Italy

2.Raised the status of artists in Northern Europe

3.The Leonardo of the North

4.Portraits

5.Naturalist paintings (plants and animals)

6.Woodcuts and Engravings – Graphic Arts

7.Fall of Man (Adam and Eve)

8.The Knight, Death, and the Devil

9.Four Horseman of the Apocalypse