1616thth CenturyCenturyNorthernNorthern

RenaissancRenaissancee

Context• In 1477, the Duchy of Burgundy dissolved, and the land it occupied was absorbed mainly by the Holy Roman Empire, and to a lesser degree, France. Spain became a major power.• In 1456, Gutenberg invented the printing press, and began publishing the Bible. By 1500, the Bible was available printed in local languages, making it more accessible to the middle class.• To accompany the mass production of books, artists developed printmaking techniques, enabling the mass production of illustrations. This promoted the wide dissemination of artistic ideas.• The illustrations in books, as always, made them more accessible to those who could not read.• The accessibility of information, especially the Bible, was a major contributing factor to the Reformation.

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

• Martin Luther was a monk and theologian • In 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses condemning the Catholic Church’s practices.• He disputed the sale of indulgences by the church as a way to buy God’s favor.• He believed that salvation was not earned through good deeds, but was instead a free gift given by God’s grace through baptism and faith in Jesus Christ.• Luther’s teachings spread quickly, due to the recent invention of the printing press. • Luther encouraged the printing of the Bible in local languages (specifically German) to make it more individually accessible• He advocated a direct relationship with God, challenging the idea of having a priest or saint as an intermediary.

Martin Luther

The Reformation• The major tenets of Luther and the Reformation:1. “Justification by faith” – every person had to find their God for themselves2. Individual conscience was the ultimate moral authority – a priesthood of all believers3. Through prayer, each person could address God directly without priestly/saintly intercession4. Translation of scriptures into native languages so people could interpret Bible for themselves5. Learning to read and understand became the necessary prelude to faith and salvation6. Psychological impact of Lutheranism lay in shifting the burden of thinking to the individual

Martin Luther

Impact of the ReformationArchitecture: - 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)- destruction of church art during the 16th century

Printmaking: - artist’s prints allow for artistic ideas to be more accessible to more people further away, and results in dissemination of ideas and fame of the artist.

Impact of the Reformation

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 subjective, personal, individual 2. genre: telling of everyday experiences, personal feelings and reactions 3. landscape: nature an expression of God’s creation/confirmation of rational universe 4. still-life: middle class life with moral message – subject matter has symbolic meaning

Printmaking Processes• Printmaking can include any artwork made by creating a design on one object (usually called a plate or block), then applying ink to that object and using that it to print an image onto another object (typically, a piece of paper). • There are two main categories of printing techniques: intaglio and relief• In relief printing, the artist carves their design onto their plate (traditionally a block of wood), then uses a roller to apply ink to the raised areas of the block. The block of wood works as a stamp. • The carved out areas remain blank. Woodblock printing is usually characterized by thicker, bolder lines.

Printmaking Processes• In intaglio printing, the artist etches or engraves lines into their plate (usually metal). When preparing to print, the artist forces ink down into the carved grooves, and wipes any excess ink off of the surface of the plate. The plate is then laid on the paper, and fed through a high-pressure printing press, which forces the paper down into the grooves, where it comes in contact with the ink.• Engraving is a form of intaglio printing in which the artist scratches their design into the plate with a sharp tool.• Etching is a form of intaglio printing in which the artist uses acid to carve their lines into a metal (usually zinc or copper) plate. -First, the artist covers the plate with a waxy material that will resist the acid, called ground (usually tar/bitumen). -Second, the artist creates their design by using a sharp tool to scratch the ground off-Third, the artist places the plate in an acid bath. The acid eats away at the areas that do not have ground, creating deep grooves.-After cleaning the plate, the artist is ready to print.

Printmaking Processes• In intaglio printing, the artist etches or engraves lines into their plate (usually metal). When preparing to print, the artist forces ink down into the carved grooves, and wipes any excess ink off of the surface of the plate. The plate is then laid on the paper, and fed through a high-pressure printing press, which forces the paper down into the grooves, where it comes in contact with the ink.• Engraving is a form of intaglio printing in which the artist scratches their design into the plate with a sharp tool.• Etching is a form of intaglio printing in which the artist uses acid to carve their lines into a metal (usually zinc or copper) plate. -First, the artist covers the plate with a waxy material that will resist the acid, called ground (usually tar/bitumen). -Second, the artist creates their design by using a sharp tool to scratch the ground off-Third, the artist places the plate in an acid bath. The acid eats away at the areas that do not have ground, creating deep grooves.-After cleaning the plate, the artist is ready to print.

Hieronymus Bosch• Although it appears to be designed as an altarpiece, this artwork was displayed in Henry III of Nassau, regent of the Netherlands’ palace only a few years after it’s completion, implying that it may have been a private commission.• Bosch was a unique artist, whose fantastical style and subjects were not seen again until the Surrealist movement in the early 20th century, 400 years later.• The left panel depicts Jesus presenting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The central panel appears to be an extension of paradise, filled with naked humans and odd, fantastical creatures. The right panel depicts Hell, with humans being tormented by various monsters.• The meaning of the painting is unclear. It may have been intended as a warning against excess and sin (note the glutton forced to vomit for eternity, or the miser forced to defecate gold coins), • Alternatively, it may have been designed in commemoration of a marriage (hence the focus on sex and procreation). • The fruits and large birds of the central panel symbolize fertility.

The Garden of Earthly DelightsHieronymus Bosch

1505-1510. Oil on wood.

Isenheim Altarpiece• The German (which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire) painter Matthias Grunewald painted the Isenheim altarpiece to fit around a carved wooden shrine, which was carved by Nikolaus Hagenauer in 1505.• The painted altarpiece contains not one, but two sets of doors.• The painting was commissioned by the Hospital of St. Anthony, and was placed in the hospital’s chapel.• As such, Grunewald focused on the themes of disease, and saints associated with disease or miraculous healing.• On the right innermost door, there is a scene depicting the Temptation of St. Anthony, in which St. Anthony is attacked by the five temptations, depicted as monsters. • In the lower left is a man stricken with disease, most likely ergotism (a disease caused by ergot, a fungus that grows on rye), which caused convulsions and gangrene. Ergotism was commonly called “St. Anthony’s Fire” and was one of the major diseases treated at the hospital. • The left panel depicts the Meeting of Saints Anthony and Paul, healthy and aged, conversing peacefully.

Isenheim AltarpieceMatthias Grunewald

Hospital of St. AnthonyIsenheim, Germany, c. 1510

The carved sections feature gilded and polychromed

statues of Saints Anthony, Augustine, and Jerome in the

main zone, and smaller statues of Christ and the 12 apostles

on the predella.

Isenheim Altarpiece• When the first set of doors is closed, the following scenes appear (left to right):-Annunciation-Angelic Concert-Madonna and Child-Resurrection

• Keeping in mind the patron and location of the artwork, what was the purpose of these panels?

Isenheim Altarpiece, half open

Isenheim Altarpiece• When closed, the altarpiece depicts Saint Sebastian on the left, the Crucifixion in the center, Saint Anthony Abbot on the right, and the Lamentation on the bottom.• Saints Anthony and Sebastian are both saints associated with disease and miraculous healing.• The gangrene associated with ergotism often resulted in the amputation of limbs. Grunewald may have alluded to amputation in his off-center depictions of Christ. When opened, the upper panel would appear to sever Christ’s arm, and the predella would appear to sever his legs.• This panel juxtaposes the suffering of Christ with the rewards of faith depicted on the interior panels.• The artist further enhanced the contrast of horror and hope through his use of color.

Isenheim Altarpiece, closed

Albrecht Dürer• Durer was the dominant artist of the early 16th century Holy Roman Empire.• Originally from Nuremberg, Durer travelled widely throughout the Holy Roman Empire and to Italy. • Because of his travels to Italy, Durer was exposed to the ideals of the Italian Renaissance, and was the first northern artist to incorporate ideas of scientific observation, human proportion, and perspective into his artwork. • Durer wrote theoretical treatises on a variety of subjects, and also kept a record of his life through correspondence and a detailed journal.• After his first trip to Italy, Durer painted a portrait of himself in the Italian style, turned in ¾ pose, with a landscape in the background.• Two years later, he painted a second self-portrait. In this portrait, Durer deliberately depicted himself as a Christ-like subject, both in hair-style and frontal pose. This depiction is influenced by the humanist Italian Renaissance view of the artist as a divinely inspired genius. • His hand gesture resembles (but not copies) Christ’s gesture of blessing, and also alludes to its function as the artist’s instrument.

Self-PortraitsAlbrecht Durer

1498 (left) and 1500 (below)Oil on wood

Fall of Man• Albrecht Durer became internationally famous as well as wealthy through the sale of his prints. Because duplicate prints could be made cheaply, they were accessible to purchase by a wider range of people, increasing his fame.• Durer hired a manager to aggressively market his prints, and sued another artist for copying his work (considered the first copyright infringement lawsuit in history). • The engraving on the left depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. • This artwork represents the first result of his studies of the Vitruvian theory of human proportions (a theory based on arithmetic ratios) that Durer learned about in Italy. • The figures are Durer’s “ideal” male and female proportions, and stand in classical contrapposto poses (Durer may have seen renderings of classical Greek statues). • Durer tempered the idealism of the figures with naturalism (based on observation) in the background.• The animals represent the four humors (bodily fluids based on theories by the Greek physician Hippocrates): choleric (yellow bile, spleen) cat, the melancholic (black bile, gall bladder) elk, the sanguine (blood) rabbit, and the phlegmatic ox.• Cat and mouse symbolize Adam and Eve

Fall of Man (Adam and Eve)Albrecht Durer

1504. Engraving. 8” x 7.5”

Melencholia I• Durer revisited the idea of the four humors for this engraving, which depicts the winged personification of genius, stricken by a bout of melancholy (a metaphor for Durer’s own psyche). • It was believed at the time that artists suffered from an excess of black bile, which accounted for their alternating states of artistic frenzy and depression.• There were three identified types of melencholia, of which artistic melancholy was type one (hence the title). • The child figure depicts Durer as an avid young student.• What about the figure suggests a melancholic state?• What items surround the figure?• What is the meaning of the event in the distance?

Melencholia IAlbrecht Durer

1514Engraving

9.5” x 7.5”

The Four Apostles• Durer produced this painting without commission, and donated it to the city fathers of Nuremberg in 1526 to be hung in the city hall. • From left to right: John, Peter, Mark, Paul• This painting showcases Durer’s support for Martin Luther through his positioning of the figures.• Durer placed John the Evangelist, who was held in especially high esteem by Martin Luther for his emphasis on Christ’s person in his Gospel, is placed in front of Peter.• What does Peter represent? Why?• Both John and Peter read from the Bible, which Luther believed to be the single true source of religious truth.• This belief is underscored by the passage that the two men read:“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). • At the bottom of the panels, Durer included quotations from the four apostles’ books, using Luther’s German translation of the New Testament.

The Four ApostlesAlbrecht Durer

1526Oil on wood

7’ x 2.5’ per panel

Judgment of Paris• Lucas Cranach was a close friend of Martin Luther (they were godfather’s to each other’s children).• By the time of this painting, Luther’s Reformation had gained popularity. One of the popular beliefs of the Reformation was that depictions of saints and the virgin were distractions from a direct spiritual connection with God, leading to a second iconoclasm.• This painting depicts Mercury (in the center) presenting the shepherd Paris (left) with the three goddesses (left to right, Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera) to judge in a beauty contest. • In what ways is this image different from traditional Greek depictions of this story?

Judgment of ParisLucas Cranach the Elder, 1530. Oil on wood. 1’ x 9”

The Battle of Issus• The duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm IV, commissioned Albrecht Altdorfer to paint Battle of Issus at the commencement of his military campaign against the invading Turks.• The painting depicts Alexander the Great’s defeat of King Darius III of Persia in 333 BCE at a town called Issus.• The banner in the sky identifies the subject matter (in Latin).• Although the scene depicts an ancient battle, Altdorfer reinforced the metaphor by showing the armies in 16th-century armor and military alignments.• This scene, with it’s birds-eye view of the battle and distant mountains, shows Altdorfer’s love of landscape.• Altdorfer based the topography in the background on maps, setting the battle in Greece, looking across the Mediterranean to the Nile of Egypt.• The sun on the right represents Alexander, while the crescent moon on the left represents ancient Persia.

The Battle of IssusAlbrecht Altdorfer, 1529. Oil on wood. 5’ x 4’.

The French Ambassadors• Hans Holbein was from Basel (in modern day Switzerland), and was trained by his father in traditional 15th century Flemish portraiture technique.• He left Basel to escape a brewing religious civil war, and moved to England, where he soon became the court painter under Henry VIII. • Holbein’s paintings were known for their glossy, lustrous surfaces, rich color, exquisite attention to detail, and realism.• This painting depicts the French ambassadors to England.• The ambassadors, both ardent humanists, are surrounded by objects reflective of their worldliness and their interest in learning and the arts. • Notice the strange diagonal object on the floor, which interrupts the otherwise symmetrical balance of the painting. What is it?

The French AmbassadorsHans Holbein the Younger

1533. Oil & tempera on wood. 6’ 8” x 6’ 9”

The French Ambassadors• The object on the floor is an example of an anamorphic device, an object which is distorted so that it can only been seen with a special curved lens, or from an acute angle.• It is a skull. • Skulls were often included in paintings as reminders of death (memento mori). Coupled with the partially visible crucifix in the upper left corner, it could be a reminder to viewers of death and the resurrection.• It could also symbolize growing tension between secular and religious authorities, as one of the ambassadors was a titled landowner, whereas the other was a bishop. • The lute with a broken string, a symbol of discord, is placed next to a copy of Martin Luther’s translations of religious texts, which may subtly refer to growing religious tension.

The French AmbassadorsHans Holbein the Younger

1533. Oil & tempera on wood. 6’ 8” x 6’ 9”

Henry VIII• As court painter, Holbein produced numerous portraits of Henry VIII. • Although initially a vocal opponent of Martin Luther, Henry VIII was instrumental in breaking England from the Catholic church.• Henry VIII strongly wanted a male heir. When his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, failed to produce one, he sought to annul his marriage to her.• When the pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine, Henry VIII broke with the Catholic church and established the Church of England, of which he himself was the head.• Henry had his marriage annulled, and shortly thereafter married Anne Boleyn. • Anne Boleyn had several miscarriages, and eventually Henry again became anxious. If he got out of his marriage with Anne, he would have to go back to Catherine.• When Catherine of Aragon died shortly thereafter, Henry saw that if Anne was also dead, he would be free to marry anew. He falsified charges of adultery against Anne, and had her beheaded.• Henry’s third wife, Jane Seymour, finally produced a male heir, but died shortly thereafter. Henry went on to marry three more times.

Henry VIIIHans Holbein the Younger

1540. Oil on wood.

Money Changer and his Wife• Quentin Massys was a leading Antwerp (Netherlands) painter in

1510. At the time, Antwerp was a major trading hub for England, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and Portugal, and housed many wealthy private patrons of the arts.• This painting depicts a professional man weighing money on a pair of scales, a scene which reflects the growing commercial nature of Antwerp.• This image communicates Massys’ concern that the increasingly prominent focus on money was a distraction from religion. • The wife, although sitting in front of an open prayer book, is focused more on watching her husband weigh money.• In the background, two men gossip outside the window, symbolic of idleness and sloth.• In contrast to the background, the convex mirror in the foreground reflects the image of a man reading the bible, with a church steeple behind him.• The inscription on the original frame (now lost) read, “Let the balance be just and the weights equal” (Lev. 19:36), an admonition that applies both to the money-changers professional conduct and the eventual final judgment.

Money Changer and his WifeQuentin Massys

Oil on wood. 2’ 3” x 2’ 2”.

Hunters in the Snow• Another Netherlandish painter, Pieter Bruegel, was known for his landscape paintings that focused on human activities.• Although Bruegel studied for two years in Italy, he did not adopt classical themes into his work as Durer did. • This image is one of a series of six paintings (there may have originally been twelve) that depict seasonal changes.• These paintings were based on the tradition of calendar paintings from Books of Hours, which depicted peasant life during different times of year. • This painting reflects the particularly harsh winter of 1565.• The weary hunters return with their hounds, women build fires, and skaters play on the ice below.• What techniques is Bruegel using to create a sense of depth?

Hunters in the SnowPieter Bruegel the Elder

1565. Oil on wood. 3’ 10” x 5’ 4”.

Netherlandish Proverbs• In this bird’s-eye view of a village, Bruegel has illustrated over one hundred proverbs (metaphorical sayings that express a truth). • The villagers (including nobility, peasants, and clerics) cleverly act out the proverbs, which would have been recognizable to viewers at the time.• Some examples of the proverbs included:-On the bottom left, a man in blue “bites the column” (an image of hypocrisy-To his right, a man “beats his head against a wall” (an ambitious idiot)-On the roof a man “shoots one arrow after the other, but hits nothing” (a shortsighted fool)-In the far distance, the “blind lead the blind”• This painting illustrates a deep understanding of human nature.

Netherlandish ProverbsPieter Bruegel the Elder

1559. Oil on wood. 3’ 10” x 5’ 4”

Château de Chambord• During the Reformation, France remained a predominantly Catholic country, and eventually outlawed Protestantism in 1534.• The king of France, Francis I, built several estates known as châteaus. A château served as vacation palaces and hunting lodges, where the king could entertain important guests.• The Chateau de Chambord was remarkable for its unusual architecture, which was a cross between the Renaissance styles of the time and medieval castles (it even featured a purely decorative moat and outer wall). • The layout featured rooms organized into self-sustaining suites (as opposed to corridor based medieval rooms).

Château de ChambordChambord, France

Begun 1519

• In the center, lit by an open skylight, was a double-helix staircase. • The regularity of the outer walls contrasted with the hodgepodge roof, which was said to resemble the skyline of Constantinople.• The chateau was unfurnished; upon visits, Francis and his party of around 2000 would bring their own food and furniture.