Download Unit Sheet #15: Chapter 23: High Renaissance in Northern Europe

Unit Sheet #15: Chapter 23: High Renaissance in Northern Europe 16th Century: High Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Renaissance and Spain Works of Art Artist Medium Date Page # 23‐1: Garden of Earthly Delights 23‐2: Isenhein Altarpiece S23‐4: Self Portraits 23‐5: Adam and Eve & 23‐10: The Battle of Issus 23‐11: The French Ambassadors
23‐14: Cour Carre (Square Court), Louvre, Paris
23‐16: Money‐Changer and His Wife 23‐17: Butcher’s Stall 23‐22: Hunters in the Snow, Peasant Wedding 23‐25: Burial of Count Orgaz Hieronymus Bosch
Matthias Grunewald
Albrecht Durer
Albrecht Durer
Albrecht Altdorfer
Holbein the Younger
Pierre Lescot
Quinten Massys
Pieter Aertsen
Bruegel the Elder
El Greco
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Painting
Painting
Engraving Painting
Painting
Architecture Painting
Painting
Painting
Painting
1505‐1510
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Preview: In the 16th century, societies in Northern Europe experienced profound political and cultural shifts that are reflected in the art of the period. France and the Holy Roman Empire increased their power and size, but by the end of the century, Spain was the dominant power in Northern Europe. Monarchs commissioned artworks to glorify their reigns, but a growing class of merchants increasingly began to commission and collect art as well. Early in the century, the Reformation movement sparked lasting religious conflict throughout large areas of Northern Europe, and artists developed new expressions of Protestant ideals. Despite the Reformation’s criticism of Catholicism, European states maintained active cultural exchange with Italy, and absorbed the ideals of Italian Renaissance Humanism. In the Holy Roman Empire, the painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer became the first international celebrity artist outside Italy. In France, King Francis I was an enthusiastic admirer of Italian art, and French architecture of this period reflects a mix of Italian and Northern Renaissance elements. Netherlands in the 16th century was a prosperous country, and artists such as Pieter Bruegel enjoyed the patronage of the burgeoning merchant class. Netherlandish painters are known for their inventive, often enigmatic forms and narratives, best exemplified by the work of the country’s leading painter, Hieronymus Bosch. Spanish architecture in the 16th century is characterized by abundant, delicate ornamentation. El Greco was the leading painter in 16th century Spain, cultivating a style that combined Spanish religious fervor and the exaggerated forms of Italian Mannerism. CONTEXT – in addition to many of the 15th century contextual issues found on unit sheet #20 16th Cent. 1. Printmaking becomes an art form – widespread dissemination of artistic ideas 2. Protestant reformation (1517) – personalization of religious experience CONTEXT – History: 15th century in Northern Europe: 1456 Gutenberg develops printing press and publishes Bible The two great printing innovations of this period of civilization: Their significance to general culture: 1. The printed word – printing press ‐ dissemination of information and opinion Aldine press 1495 in Venice ‐ mass printings of the Bible Gutenberg Bible 1456 2. The illustrated book/wood cut Durer’s Treatise on Human Proportions c.1510 ‐ fame of the artist 1517 Martin Luther posts the 95 Theses condemning Church’s practices 1534 Henry VIII founds Church of England Reasons for Northern Europe being more fertile ground for protest ‐ vital merchant class Within the establishes Church than in the south (Italy) ‐ stronger guilds The major tenants of Luther and the Reformation: 1. “Justification by faith” – every person had to find their God for themselves 2. Individual conscience was the ultimate moral authority 0 a priesthood of all believers 3. Through prayer, each person could address God directly without priestly/saintly intercession 4. Translation of scriptures into native languages so people could interpret Bible for themselves 5. Learning to read and understand became the necessary prelude to faith and salvation 6. Psychological impact of Lutheranism lay in shifting the burden of thinking to the individual Examples of how the Reformation brought about an enormous impact n all of the arts Architecture: ‐ patronage diminishes from the Church for architectural projects/decorations ‐
Churches become much simpler in decoration and design (focus on pulpit) Sculpture: ‐ less three‐dimensional sculpture – thought to be too close to idol worship Unit Sheet #15: Chapter 23: High Renaissance in Northern Europe Painting: ‐
Wholesale destruction of church art during the 16th century ‐ new themes and new iconographic traditions emerge (before, emphasis on historical paintings, mainly biblical and mythological subjects) ‐
New categories of subject matter develop (from universal to the particular) 1. Portraiture – Luther’s reorientation of religion toward subjective, personal, individual 2. Genre – telling of everyday experiences. Personal feelings and reactions 3. Landscape – nature and expression of God’s creation/confirmation of rational universe 4. Still life – middle class life with moral message – subject matter has symbolic meaning ‐ artist’s prints allow for artistic ideas to become more accessible to more people further away and results in dissemination of ideas and fame of the artist Printmaking: Vocabulary: Protestant, Christian Humanism Techniques/Terms: Printmaking: relief process – woodcuts, wood block prints Intaglio process – etching: acid bath/bite/tar Engraving: incising, burin Summary 1.
The idea of Christian Humanism (which laid the ground work for Luther’s Reformation) takes hold in Northern Europe earlier than in Italy. 2 reasons why: •
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Scholars could view the Church and social abuses with more independence and objectivity Native tendency to look more nature and the world about them 2.
The road to the Reformation was paved by the northern humanists whose articulation and advocacy of reason in human affairs pruned away so much medieval superstition. •
Thomas More UTPOIA‐ a disguised expose of the social absurdities and injustices of his time; his utopian society founded on reason, equality, tolerance, democracy, dullness Rabelais GARGANTUA‐ liberate men and women form their foolishness, so that they could realize their higher potentialities as human beings Erasmus PRAISE OF FOLLY‐ criticism of the pretensions and hypocrisies of his time, especially the Church (pilgrimages, power of the clergy, literal interpretation of the Bible, Papal indulgences, meditation of saints and the sacramental system) Six major tenants of Luther and Reformation 1. “Justification by faith” – every person had to find their God for themselves 2. Individual conscience was the ultimate moral authority – a priesthood of all believers 3. Through prayer, each person could address God directly without a priestly/saintly intercession 4. Learning to read and understand became the necessary prelude to faith and salvation 5. Psychological impact of Lutheranism lay in shifting the burden of thinking to the individual The reformation brought about a dramatic shift of direction and had an enormous impact on all of the arts (architecture, sculpture, painting, printmaking). Each of these arts were affected (with special attention to new developments in painting) in the following ways: Architecture: ‐
Patronage diminishes from the Church for architectural projects and decorations ‐
Churches become much simpler in decoration and design Sculpture: ‐
Less three‐dimensional sculpture – thought to be too close to idol worship ‐
Wholesale destruction of church art during the 16th century Painting: ‐
New themes and new iconographic traditions emerge (before, emphasis on historical paintings, mainly biblical and mythological subjects) ‐
New categories of subject matter develop (from universal to the particular) 1. Portraiture – Luther’s reorientation of religion toward the subjective, personal, individual 2. Genre – telling of everyday experiences, personal feelings and reactions 3. Landscape – nature an expression of God’s bounteous creation/confirmation of rational universe 4. Still life – middle class good life with moral message, with subject matter having symbolic meaning Printmaking: ‐
Prints works of art and illustrations in books (Gutenberg develops printing press in 1440) •
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