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Renaissance North
Mannerist Review
“Extreme Renaissance”
• What happened after the High
Renaissance?
• Time of crisis that gave rise to competing
tendencies (kind of like today)
• Originally “Mannerism” was a negative
term- used for mid-16th century painters
whose style was artificial but now seen as a
group of artists who looked inward instead of
at the natural world for their vision
• Rebel in Florence!
• Unreal light, disquieting and creepy
• Figures are agitated yet rigid
Florentino, Descent From the Cross, 1521
• Distortions are scientifically
based
• Showed that inner views are
skewed-there is no single
correct reality
Parmigianino, Self Portrait, 1524
• Influenced by Raphael’s paintings
• His style changed to elongated
figures, very smooth- ideal beauty
does not copy nature
• Artificial background- nothing is
based on reality, unearthly perfection
Parmgianino, The Madonna with the
Long Neck, 1535
• First woman artist example
since Greece!
• First widely recognized
celebrity woman artist
Sofonisba Anguissola, Portrait
of the Artist’s Sister Minerva,
1559
Tintoretto, The Maundy (Christ Washing The Feet of His Disciples), 1547
• Jacobo Titntoretto, Venetian, 1518-94
• Very emotional, unreal light, sudden lights and darks
• Michelangeloesque figures
• Correggio was seen as a “ProtoBaroque” Artist
• Northern Italian but was influenced by
the Renaissance masters
• For him, spiritual and physical ecstasy
were one and the same
• Uses Leonardo’s sfumato
• Beautiful sense of color like the
Venetians (Titian)
• Artist had no immediate successors but
his work was widely appreciated unlike
the mannerists
Correggio, Jupiter and Antiope, 1523
• The most important sculptor in Florence in
the latter half of the 16th c.
• Was untitled- the artist just wanted to show
three figures in physical turmoil- critics gave
it its name
• Not really concerned with subject matter
• Purpose was to solve a formal problem
• Looks like choreography rather than pathos
Bologna, Rape of the Sabine Woman, 1583
• Not really a lot of
new sculptor talent in
the later 16th c.perhaps because of
Michelangelo
• Florentine goldsmith
and sculptor
• Salt from the sea,
pepper from the landshows Neptune and
mother earth
• Represents four
seasons
• Skill is impressive in
such as small object
• Figures similar to
Parmigianino
Cellini, Saltcellar of Francis I 1539-43
Palladio, Villa Rotunda, 1567-70
• Mannerist architecture is hard to define
• Palladio was 2nd only to Michelangelo during this time period
• Thought that architecture should be governed by reason and by certain universal
rules perfected during ancient times
• Believed in cosmic significance of numerical rations-practiced classicism
• Villa Rotunda is a residence, shaped like a temple (he was convinced that Roman
buildings were also shaped like this)
Palladio, S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 1565
• Made a classically integrated façade on a basilican church
• Integrated a tall and a wide temple design
Spain
• Spain at this time was the dominant
European power. The Hapsburg rule of
Spain and Europe as well as the New
World enabled Spain to support the most
powerful military force in Europe and to
use it very effectively in supporting the
policies of the Church. Although not a
Spaniard, Domenikos Theotokopoulos or
El Greco depicted the Spanish heart and
soul in his work.
• Domenikos Theotocopoulos
(1541-1614), worked in Venice
• Settled in Spain, but saw the
great works of the High
Renaissance
• Counter Reformation, which was
intense in Spain effected his
emotional work
• Count Orgaz was a medieval
benefactor of the church
• Represented as a contemporary
event
• Top of painting- figures are
sweeping and flamelike
El Greco, Burial of Count Orgaz,
1586
• Color and texture
rivals Titian
• Painting fills an entire
wall of a chapel
• Below the painting is a
box that looks like a
coffin- meant to show
that action continuesunites the visual world
with the real world
• Master at portraiture
• Religious leaders were seen as mystics
and intellectuals at the same time
El Greco, Portrait of a Cardinal, 1600
Renaissance North
This is the period of the re-configuration of Europe.
Burgundian Netherlands disappears and the Holy Roman
Empire, mostly Germany, expands gaining new territories.
Spain through a series of carefully conceived marriages and
successful military campaigns became the dominant
European power. The power of the papacy was rapidly
diminishing and European monarchs were gradually
increasing their hegemony, both as independent rulers and
power brokers. This was the period of the Reformation, a
reaction to the excesses of the Church. The period brought
about the division within Europe: Protestant and Catholic.
This division also led to war and civil war within these
countries and without.
• More jubilant mood
• Light is extremely bold, full of vibrant
energy
• Color is rich and full
• Knowledge of perspective came from Italy
• Psychologically impacted by the
Renaissance in Italy
Grunewald, The Resurrection, 1510-15
Renaissance North
• Italian ideas swept
north around 1500
• Germany had two
masters- Grunewald and
Durer
• Grunewald remained
relatively unknown
• Main work was The
Isenheim Altarpiece
• Seen as the most
impressive crucifixion
ever painted
• Grief shown is very
Medieval
Fig. 23-1 Matthias Grunewald, The Crucifixion
• Jesus is both human
(closed), 1510
and monumental
• Crucifixion is taken out of its familiar surroundings-in darkness yet bathed in
bright light- symbolic and realistic at the same time
Fig. 23-1 Matthias Grunewald, The Crucifixion
(opened), 1510
Fig 23-3 Lucas Cranach, Allegory of Law and Grace
• First artist to be fascinated with his
own image
• Christ-like pose- showing not
conceit, but how seriously Durer
regarded his mission as artistic
reformer
• Invented a devise for producing an
image by mechanical means to
demonstrate the validity of
perspective- first step towards the
principle of the camera
Durer, Self Portrait, 1500
• Albrecht Durer 1471-1528
• Greatest printmaker of his time
• Visited Italy and bought into the Artist
as Genius idea and the rational rules of
Renaissance art
• Subject of the Four Horsemen suggests
the work of Schoengauer, but figures are
Renaissance-based
• This is a woodcut, but the medium has
become as expressive as engraving
Durer, The Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse, 1497-8
Fig 23-7Albrecht Durer
The Fall of Man (Adam
and Eve)
Fig 23-4 Albrecht Dürer Last Supper 1523
Involving the Past to Alter
the Future: Albrecht
Altdorfer's The Battle of
Issus shows the defeat of
Darius in 333 B.C. by
Alexander the Great at
Arbela on the Issus River.
Seen from a bird's eye view,
the battle takes place within
a vast panoramic landscape.
Altdorfer, The Battle of Issus, 1529
• Very far from the classical ideal
• The tablet tells us that this is
about Alexander’s defeat of Darius
but in a contemporary way- armor
and town are 16th century
• The sky raises the subject to the
cosmic level (like Grunewald)
• Human figure is incidental
23-11
Hans Holbein
French
Ambassadors
1533 (23–11)
• Went to England and became court
painter of Henry VIII
• Immobile pose, air of
unaproachability
• Precisely rendered jewelry and
costume
• Molded British aristocracy’s taste
for decades
Holbein, Henry VIII, 1540
• Hans Holbein the Younger 1497-1543
• Continued the portrait tradition of
Durer
• Lived in Switzerland (German born)
• Memorable image of a true
Renaissance man
Holbein the Younger, Erasmus of
Rotterdam, 1523
Sir Thomas More
1527, Holbein
Pieter Aertsen, The Meat Stall, 1551
• In the Netherlands, there
were less and less
commissions for religious
paintings because of the
strictness of the
atmosphere (counter
reformation)
• Landscape, still-life, and
Genre scenes became
important
• Meat stall- a completely
secular picture- no interest
in formal arrangementsjust heaps of meat (mmm!)
• Meant to impress us with
its detail (4’X12’)
Fig. 23-20
Caterina van
Hemessen a
Netherlands artist,
she has caught
herself at her work in
Self-Portrait
Fig 23-23 Netherlandish Proverbs
1559 , Oil on oak panel, 117 x 163 cm; Staatliche
Museen zu Berlin - Gemaldegalerie, Berlin
Bruegel the Elder, Peasant Wedding, c.1565
• Crude, heavy people yet respected in Bruegel’s view
• Limited modeling and flat colors, space is in linear perspective-attention to detail
makes the event seem as important as a biblical scene- maybe because peasant life is
the ideal life for him?
Bruegel The Elder, The Return of the Hunters, 1565
• Explored landscapes and peasant life- know little about him.
• Very educated, a humanist, never worked for the Church
• Visited Italy, but was not impressed with the masters- returned with landscape
drawings instead
• This painting is a descendant of Lindbourg’s February- landscape is more important
than the people- rhythm of nature is the subject matter
Bruegal the Elder, Fall of Icarus
What is the philosophy behind this painting- What is Bruegal trying to say?
th
16
Century Architecture
Chateau of Chambord, 1519
• France had a hard time adopting classical architecture- took a while for Gothic
traditions to change
• Based on Gothic design on the outside, but its plan is much more geometric and
regular- more Italian
Pierre Lescot, Square Court of the Louvre, 1546
• Lescot was very influenced by Bramante and his ideas
• This design is a blending of Italian and French ideas -can you pick each influence out?
• Also a combination of the
classicism of the Italian tradition
with the slenderness and delicate
nature of French Gothic
Jean Goujon, Fontaine Des Innocents, 1548-9
23-26 JUAN DE HERRERA, Escorial (bird's-eye
view), near Madrid, Spain, ca. 1563–1584
23-13 ROSSO FIORENTINO
and FRANCESCO
PRIMATICCIO, ensemble of
architecture, sculpture, and
painting, Gallery of King
Francis I, Fontainebleau,
France, ca. 1530–1540.