Section 2: The Renaissance Moves North

Began in Flanders – a region of northern France, Belgium and the

Netherlands

Artists of Northern RenaissanceAlbrecht Durer (1471 – 1528) the “German Leonardo”Painter, printer, engraver, mathematician, theorist from Nuremberg, Germany – oldest of 18 children!Studied Italian masters such as Da Vinci (Florence) & Bellini (Venice) Made 2 trips to Italy & 1 to the NetherlandsEmployed techniques in paintings, engravings (designs etched on metal plates), prints and woodcutshttp://www.msu.edu/~cloudsar/nrweb.htm

Durer Self-Portrait (age 28)(1471-1528)

Dürer deliberately set out to create a Christ-like image, with his hand raised to his chest almost in a pose of blessing. It was a statement of faith. Christ was the son of God, and God had created Man. For Dürer, the painting was an acknowledgment that artistic skills were a God-given talent. INSCRIPTION: I, Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg painted myself thus, with undying colors, at the age of twenty-eight years

Praying Hands (1508)Pen and ink drawingPreliminary study for an apostleCommissioned by Frankfurt merchant Jakob Heller for an altarpiece paintingAltarpiece and painting were destroyed by fire in 1729 at the residence of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria in MunichThe story below is probably a modern myth.http://www.moytura.com/reflections/prayinghands.htm

Flemish Painters

Jan Van Eyck (1395-1441)Patron was Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy (led the capture of Joan of Arc)Portrayed townspeopleDetailed religious scenesperfected oil paint – lasted longer than tempera and dried much slower; oil paints were used in layers

Van Eyck’s oil paint “recipe” included linseed oil, walnut oil or poppy seed oil to bind the mineral pigments; along with glass and calcined bones (heated into a powder).The use of oil paints spread to Venice & FlorenceDa Vinci (1452-1519) added bee wax to the mixture.

Jan Van Eyck (1395-1441)

Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife/Bride (Giovanna Cenami):

1434

Zoom In!

Flemish Painters continued

Pieter Bruegel (1525-1569) – dropped the h (Brueghel) from his name in 1559Known as “Peasant Bruegel” Traveled to Rome to study; returned to Antwerp and BrusselsUsed vibrant colorsMaster of landscapes and lively scenes of peasant lifePeasant Dance and Peasant Wedding are two well-known paintingsAlso painted the Harvesters Signed his drawings with “Made from life”Peasant Wedding Details

Peasant Wedding: 1568Where is the husband?

Peasant Dance: 1568

Northern HumanistsLike the Italian humanists, they stressed education and classical learningPut more emphasis on religious themes; 1st major group to call for reform of the Catholic ChurchCriticized abuses of the Church – papacy & indulgencesErasmus: Dutch priest and humanist from Rotterdam, Netherlands, who visited Rome and brought Renaissance ideas to northern EuropeThomas More: English humanist & devout Catholic (opponent of the Protestant Reformation) who was executed under the reign of Henry VIII of England

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)Dutch humanist who blended humanism with strong faithProduced the 1st printed/published Greek edition of the New Testamentwanted the Bible translated into the vernacularCalled for reform of the Church – wrote The Praise of Folly, a satirical work criticizing the abuses of the ChurchHe respected Martin Luther but chose to remain a Catholic because he feared a change in doctrine.Died of dysentery in Basel

Thomas More (1478-1535)A friend of Erasmus; wanted social reformWrote Utopia (Latin) to describe an ideal society where men and women live in harmony, all are educated, all religions are tolerated & order and discipline prevail over libertyExecuted for treason in 1535 – He refused to accept the Act of Supremacy under King Henry VIII of England.Canonized in 1935 (Pius XI); Pope John Paul II made him the saint of politicians & statesmen

William Shakespeare & Elizabethan England

English poet and playwrightWrote 37 plays (comedies, tragedies, histories) between 1590-1613Shakespeare PlaysWrote 154 sonnets on the subjects of love, beauty & mortalityAdded over 1700 new words to enrich the English language

Shakespeare’s Sonnet # 18Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?    Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,    And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,    And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines,    By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade,    Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,    When in eternal lines to time thou growest; So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,    So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

More ShakespeareWilliam (April 23, 1564-April 23, 1616) was born in Stratford-upon-AvonHe married Anne Hathaway in 1582. He was 18; she was 26fathered a daughter Susanna and twins Judith and Hamnet (died at 1 yr.)1594: Became an actor with Lord Chamberlain’s MenPlays performed in the Globe, Rose and Swan Theatres

Globe Theatre: built in 1599 (Richard Burbage) from the timbers of “The Theatre”June 1613: A cannon set fire to the thatched roof and burnt the Globe to the ground (during Henry VIII performance)1614: Globe rebuilt1642: Puritans closed down all theatres in England1644: Cromwell’s Roundheads tore it down & put up tenement housing

Globe Theatre

Had an octagonal outer wall which enclosed a roofless pitCould hold 3,000 playgoers (holds 1,700 today)Yard (“pit/stinkards”): 1000 people could stand in front of the stage (1 pence)Galleries (upper, middle, lower): wooden benches under thatched roof (2 pence)Gentlemen’s Room: part of middle gallery…for richer patrons (3 pence)Balcony: favored by aristocrats…could be seen and heard (3 pence)

The Globe Theatre continued

Miguel de Cervantes(October 9, 1547-April 23, 1616)

Spanish writer and great literary figure from a town near MadridTraveled to Italy in 1569; served in the Spanish army in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571Captured by pirates & imprisoned in Algiers for 5 yrs.Turned to writing to pay off his debt for the ransom that freed himWrote Don Quixote to mock medieval chivalryDon Quixote and his practical sidekick Sancho Panza battle windmills (giants), and flocks of sheep (opposing armies)

The Printing Revolution

1455: Johann Gutenberg (1400-1468) from Mainz, Germany printed the first complete edition of the Bible using the printing press—made out of wood & modeled on the wine press of the Rhineland vineyards.Development of movable type began a printing revolution-300 movable pieces are used in the BibleGutenberg’s wealthy business partner, Johann Fust, sued him for an unpaid loan, which had probably gone into developing the printing press. Gutenberg lost the law suit and had to turn over much of his equipment to Fust.Built upon Chinese and Egyptian advances in papermakingGutenberg used handmade paper from Italy –each sheet contained a watermark – or vellum (scraped calfskin).

Changes in Society

By 1500 more than 20 million copies of the Bible were printed; of the 180 original Gutenberg Bibles (42-line Bible) , most were bought by churches and monasteries.Today, only 48 copies exist worldwide (11 in the United States).Gutenberg BiblePrinted books were easier to produce.Printed books were cheaper.More people learned to read.More access to a broad range of knowledge…new ideas (especially those of the Protestants and Martin Luther)The press also contributed to the Scientific Revolution.

Johann Gutenberg

The Gutenberg Bible