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The Renaissance in the North
Northern Europe in the 16th Century
Synthesis of new ideas from Italy– Alternatives to traditional religious doctrine– Enthusiasm for classical antiquity– Emphasis on individualism
Culture and Politics– Francis I, The Hapsburgs, The Tudors– Scientific, religious movements
Benvenuto Cellini. The Saltcellar of Francis I, 1539-1543. Gold. Kunsthistorisches Musseum, Vienna. The Male figure is Sea; the female is Land. The sculptor had fled to the French court after the sack of Rome in 1527.
Leone Leoni. Bust of Emperor Charles V, 1533-1555. Bronze. Height. Height 44”. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The sculpture deliberately portrayed the German ruler as a Roman emperor, thus associating Charles with both Italy and Classical antiquity. Note the eagle at the base, symbol of imperial rule since Roman times.
Causes of the Reformation
Economic and nationalistic self-interests– Unfair political and economic papal demands
Maturation of humanist ideals– Desire for more personal, interior piety
Moral and intellectual depravity of some clergy– Wealth of monastic and episcopal lords
Renaissance Humanism and the Reformation:
Humanists and Reformers
SimilaritiesPublic religious
aversionsFavored early
Christian writers over medieval scholastics
Mastery of Biblical languages
Differences
Nature of humanity– Education vs. Grace
Universal truth found through rational exploration of religious texts vs. Scriptura sola
Cultural Significance of the Reformation
Spread of literacy “Printing Press”– Diffusion of literature– Proliferation of vernacular texts
Focus on the Word “Only the scriptures”– Aural vs. visual– Hymns– Deeper personal spirituality– Simplistic decoration– Secular art
The Visual Arts in Northern Europe
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
Italian, humanist influences– Linear perspective– Perception of the artist (Self-Portrait, 1500)– Classical ideals of beauty, proportion– Quest for knowledge, scientific precision
Woodcuts, engraving Painting (Venetian influences)
Albrecht Durer. Self Portrait, 1500. Panel. Alte Pinakothek, Munich. The frontal pose and solemn gaze convey Durer’s belief in the seriousness of his calling. -Durer adopted Renaissance humanism’s concept of the artist as an inspired genius, creating a unique personal world. -In other paintings Durer shows complex line drawing rather the color and brightness. Most of his greatest works appear as woodcuts or engravings. -Use of printing press and and an emphasis on prioritizing religious work.
The Visual Arts in Northern Europe
Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470-1528)
Rejected Renaissance innovations– Traditional religious themes– Isenheim Altarpiece, Crucifixion (1515)
Political, religious sympathies
Tortured images
Lack of perspective, proportion
Matthias Grunewald. Crucifixion.1515 Panel. Musee’ d’Unterlinden, Colmar.Mary Magdalene, Mary and Apostle John. John the Baptist points to Christ’s sacrifice. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
The Visual Arts in Northern Europe
Albrecht Altdorfer (1480-1538)
Personal worldview through landscape– Danube Landscape (1522-1525)– No human figures
Contemplation on beauties of nature– Sympathy with natural forces– Light, scale, vitality
Painting in the Netherlands
Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516)
Pessimistic view of human nature– Human folly– Inevitable punishment for sin
Garden of Earthly Delights (1505-1510)– Pleasures of the body lead to damnation– Private and complex symbolism
Hieronymus Bosch. Garden of Earthly Delights, 1505-1510. Panel. Prado, Madrid. Triptych (a three-paneled painting) known as the Garden of Earthly Delights. There are hundreds of nude figures engaged in the pursuit of erotic pleasure. The painting reads left to right a story of innocents, pleasure and consequence.
The right panel (consequence panel) symbolizes Bosch’s hell. A lute and harp, symbols of heavenly music, are used as instruments of torture, while a gambler is pinned to his table. The fires of Hell rage in the background.
Painting in the Netherlands
Pieter Bruegel, the Elder (1525-1569)
Futility of human existence– Pervasiveness of sin
Order, purpose in natural cycles– Triumph of Death (1562-1564)– Hunters in the Snow (1565)
Scenes from peasant life
Art and Architecture in France
Jean Clouet (c. 1485-1541)– Francis I (c. 1525-153)
French Gothic + Italian Renaissance– Château de Chambord
Emphasis on decoration– Square Court of the Louvre
Chateau de Chambord, France, 1519. The turrets and pinnacles are French medieval architecture
Art in Elizabethan England
16th-century stability, prosperity
Relations with Netherlands, Spain
Nationalism– Hans Holbein, the Younger (1497/8-1543)– Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619)
Hans Holbein the Younger. Henry VIII in Wedding Dress, 1540. This wedding, when he was in his 49th year, was probably the ill-fated one to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
-Henry VIII reigned from 1509-1547. -Broke from Roman Church in 1534 because the pope refused to grant him an annulment from his first wife, Katherine of Aragon.
-Tried and killed English Catholics for political treason and Protestants for religious heresy.
Hans Holbein the Younger. Anne of Cleves, 1539-1540. Vellum applied to canvas.
After viewing this portrait, Henry VIII sent for Anne of Cleves and made her his fourth queen. Note the formal pose and suitably modest gaze.
-This painting inspired Henry VIII to marry this princess, but divorced her six months later.
Nicholas Hilliard. Ermine Portrait of Queen Elizabeth. I, 1585. Oil on canvas. Hatfield House, England.
-The ermine on the queen’s sleeve is a symbol of virginity. The portrait as a whole is a symbol of her majesty.
Music of the Northern Renaissance
Complexity of style, polyphony
Instrumental accompaniments
Lyrical narratives
German and Flemish songs– Romantic, military, political– Isaac
Music of the Northern Renaissance:Elizabethan MusicEnglish Litany (1544)
– Simplified Gregorian Chant– The Boke of Common Praier Noted (1549)
William Byrd (c. 1543-1623)– Protestant compositions, Catholic masses– Virginal instrumentation, madrigals
English Literature
Humanism in England– Caxton’s printing press– Increased literacy
Classical models– Thomas More (1478-1535)– Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)– Edmund Spencer (1552-1599)
English LiteratureEnglish Drama
– Increasing prosperity and leisure– Traveling actors, noble patrons– Permanent theater buildings
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)– Humanity defeated by destiny
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)– Classical models, complicated plots– Psychological motivation, problems of human
existence