Download Northern Renaissance Art

Northern Renaissance
The Renaissance Spreads North
Trading Goods and Ideas
• As trading grew a merchant organization, the
Hanseatic League, began controlling trade in
Northern Europe.
• Operating from the 1200s-1400s, the league
protected its members from pirates and other
hazards. The Hanseatic League built lighthouses
and trained ship captains.
• Through trade and the movement of people,
ideas from Italy spread to other portions of
Europe.
Trading Goods and Ideas
• The warring cities-states and armies from
France and Spain caused artists to flee Italy
seeking refuge in other areas of Europe.
• Artists brought with them humanism and new
painting techniques.
• Scholars from Northern Europe desired an
education from Italy, and returned to their
homelands with humanist ideas.
Trading Goods and Ideas
• In the mid 1400s, Johannes Gutenberg
perfected a machine developed in China and
Korea.
• The movable type printing press could quickly
print on both sides of paper, resulting on
processing books faster and cheaper.
• This invention allowed the masses to be
educated, now having access to books, leading
to an explosion of the spread of Renaissance
ideas.
Trading Goods and Ideas
printing press
invented in
Germany
press
technology
spreads
easier and
cheaper to
make books
more books
available
ideas spread
quickly
people want
to learn to
read
Philosophers and Writers
• Outside of Italy many people combined humanism and
the ideas of Christianity together to create Christian
humanism.
• The leading Christian humanist was Desiderius
Erasmus, a priest in the Netherlands, wrote about a
simple Christian life, stripped of the rituals and politics
within the church.
• He also emphasized the importance of education.
• Erasmus’ works fanned the flames of the growing
discontent of the Catholic Church leading to his works
being censored in Paris, and him being condemned by
the Church.
Philosophers and Writers
• Sir Thomas More, a friend of Erasmus, spread
the ideas of humanism in England.
• His most famous work, Utopia, described a
perfect, non-existent society based on reason.
Utopia, also openly criticized English
government and society.
Philosophers and Writers
• William Shakespeare was an English playwright
who drew inspiration from ancient and
contemporary works of literature.
• Humanist topics, a knowledge of science, and an
understanding of human nature are expressed in
his writings.
• Shakespeare used drama which appealed to the
human psyche. This differed greatly from the
morality plays during the Middle Ages which
focused on proper behavior.
Philosophers and Writers
• Christine de Pisan was an Italian-born writer
who worked for the French court of Charles V.
• Her writing supported her and her three
children after she was widowed.
• Pisan’s most famous work, The City of Women,
focuses on the role of women in society.
• She often advocated the need for women to
be educated as men were.
Albrecht Durer
• German artist who
studied Italian painting
techniques.
• Used oil paints to
indicate minute details
inside of a painting.
Jan Van Eyck
• Flemish(Netherlands)
painter who focused on
landscapes and
domestic life.
• He used oil paints and
integrated symbolism
into his art.
Wrap Up
• How did the Renaissance spread to northern
Europe?
• What contributions did writers and
philosophers make to the northern
Renaissance?
• How did the works of northern artist differ
from those of the Italian Renaissance?