Northern Renaissance
Time Period: 1400-1500
- emphasis on non-religious subjects; portraits, genre paintings, still life
- commercial/mercantilism prospered; trading towns; simulated interest in the arts
- cities competed for best cathedrals, altars, etc.
- political/religious turmoil during the reformation; martin luther caused one of the greatest upheavals in european history
- netherlands and germany protestant; spain, italy, catholic
- anti catholic; iconoclastic movement
- capitalist market system, flourished due to grade; printmaking made artists more popular
- Johann Gutenberg; prints mass produced and inexpensive; oil paint; rich colors; natural hues and tones; dried slower; medium of choice
- thin, graceful figures; latest fashions; gold in abundance; elaborate frames
- symbolism plays large role; meanings of simple objects studied/debated by scholars
- assimilation of Italian Renaissance ideas into a Northern European context
- Northern Europeans had a fondness for nature, either in the study of animals or depictions of landscapes
- Reluctance of linear perspective
- Dominated by altarpieces in cathedrals; religiously sincere, intellectually challenging
- Oil paint provides luminous glow; artists could reproduce images; spread fame
- Achievements of Italian painters had profound effects; Northern painters traveled to Italy
- meticulously painted details, horizontal lines; Protestants sought more austere church interiors in reaction to the lavishness of their Catholic counterparts