The Northern The Northern RenaissanceRenaissance

Reformation in Northern Europe

Religion and PoliticsReligion and Politics

Mix of civil and religious authority was rearranged

Germany was split in its loyaltySwitzerland pursued separationItaly remained true to the faithEngland didn’t reform, but switched head

of the church

JOHN CALVIN (1509-64)

• trained in humanism and law in addition to theology. • John Calvin of Geneva was a sophisticated Frenchman • succeeded in establishing a Swiss Protestant theocracy in the city-state of Geneva, • militant preaching inspired • Protestants all over Europe.  • ultimate influence went beyond religion to economics.

ERASMUS (1469-1536)

born in Rotterdam, Germany

• became the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance. • important writer/analyst for Classical literature.

• His written works gained him a reputation throughout Europe such as • Adages • In Praise of Folly.

• wanted to see a massive program of education from which, he believed, would come a universal Christian church. • It was a gigantic task, but because the Church was rich, Erasmus believed it could be accomplished if the Church rethought its priorities and cut waste. • To this end, Erasmus appealed to the princes of Europe to take the lead in reforming the Church whenever the Church was unwilling to reform itself.

Martin Luther

Luther was born in 1483 and died in 1546. He wrote that…

faith is God's work in us, that changes us and gives new birth from God. (John 1:13). It kills the Old Adam and makes us completely different people. It changes our hearts, our spirits, our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith.

HENRY VIII of ENGLAND (1509 - 1547 )

built upon the innovations instituted by his fatherThe break with Rome, coupled with an increase in governmental bureaucracy, led to the royal supremacy that would last until the execution of Charles I and the establishment of the Commonwealth one hundred years after Henry's death.

ALBRECHT DURER (1471-1528)

Durer, whom many regard as Germany's greatest artist, could be described as the Leonardo of the northern Renaissance.

Went to Italy to discover early Renaissance painting techniques (i.e. the major breakthroughs)

JAN VAN EYCK (c. 1390-1441)

"The prince of painters of our age,“

work advances the new naturalism of the age

brought a new "reality" to painting in such works as The Arnolfini Marriage.

Marriage bed – fertility and

children

St. Catherine on the bedpost – patron saint of childbirth.

Candle symbolizing the light of Christ.

Shoes – barefeet on solid ground

Dog symbolizing fidelity

Hands clasped

Mirror reflecting

artist.

The mirror is painted with almost miraculous skill. Its carved frame is inset with ten miniature medallions depicting scenes from the life of Christ. Yet more remarkable is the mirror's reflection, which includes van Eyck's own tiny self-portrait, accompanied by another man who may have been the official witness to the ceremony. Symbol of faithfulnessAlmost every detail can be interpreted as a symbol. The companion dog is seen as a symbol of faithfulness and love. The fruits on the window ledge probably stand for fertility and our fall from Paradise. Even the discarded shoes are not thought to be incidental, but to signify the sanctity of marriage.

The artist and the

backs of the couple.

All around the mirror are scenes

from the life of Christ.

Symbolic candleThe solitary flame burning in bright daylight can be interpreted as the bridall candle, or God's all-seeing eye, or simply as a devotional candle. Another symbol is St Margaret (the patron saint of women in childbirth), whose image is carved on the high chairback. An elaborate signatureAs today, marriages in 15th-century Flanders could take place privately rather than in church. Van Eyck's Latin signature, in the Gothic calligraphy used for legal documents, reads: ``Jan van Eyck was present'', and has been interpreted by some as an indication that the artist himself served as a witness.

HEIRONYMUS BOSCH (c.1450- August 1516)

Hieronymus, or Jerome Bosch, spent his entire artistic career in the small Dutch town of Hertogenbosch, from which he derived his name.

At the time of his death, Bosch was internationally celebrated as an eccentric painter of religious visions who dealt in particular with the torments of hell.

PIETER BREUGEL (c.1525 –1569)

Nicknamed ‘Peasant Bruegel’ was probably the most significant and exciting painter in the Northern Europe during the middle part of the sixteenth century. His nickname “Peasant Bruegel” indicates his favorite subjects: peasant life, proverbs and genre scenes. He also set New Testament topics among common folks of contemporary Flanders.

Pieter Breugel (1528 – 1569)Pieter Breugel (1528 – 1569)The Triumph of DeathThe Triumph of Death

Flemish Proverbs (1559)Flemish Proverbs (1559)

In this tour de force of 92 visualizations of local proverbs, Brueghel shows, midpicture, Aesop’s fox duly bibbed and frustrated, waiting for soup sustenance from

his “friend” the crane, who is happily sipping from a narrow earthenware vase. In the right lower corner “he who spills gruel cannot get it all up,” shows a hungry man with a big spoon trying to scoop up the spilt kettle of gruel from the ground back into the pot.  Others included are: “He blocks up the well after the calf is drowned,” “One shears the sheep, another the pig,” “One holds the distaff, which the other spins,” “The pig has been stuck though the belly”;

Upper left

Lower LeftLower Left

Upper rightUpper right

Lower rightLower right

The Breugel FamilyThe Breugel Family

Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) Because of his fondness of certain subjects and glowing enamel paint, Jan, the second son of Pieter Breugel was given the nickname “Velvet” or “Flower” Brueghel.

Jan Brueghel the Younger (1601-1678) Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638) called Hell Breugel for his facination with fires, goblins and the like.

Jan Breughel the ElderJan Breughel the ElderAdam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 1615 1615

Jan Jan Brueghel Brueghel the Elder.the Elder. Bouquet Bouquet in a Clay in a Clay Vase.Vase. c. c. 1599-1599-1607 1607

Jan Jan Brueghel Brueghel the the Younger.Younger. Paradise.Paradise. c. 1620 c. 1620

Pieter Breughel the YoungerPieter Breughel the Younger

The Peasant Wedding.The Peasant Wedding. 1620. 1620.

Jan VermeerJan Vermeer

excelled in portraying comfortable interior scenes that are composed with mathematical clarity and suffused with cool, silvery light

Vermeer was a master of composition and in the representation of space. He arranged tonal values and perspective over the foreground, into the middleground, and farther into the distance

The Dutch Renaissance

Girl AsleepGirl AsleepAt a TableAt a Table

Girl Girl with a with a Pearl Pearl EarringEarring