NORTHERN

RENAISSANCE
C.1400 1580 METICULOUS NATURALISM

A Goldsmith in The term Northern Renaissance refers

His Shop
Petrus Christus 1449
Metropolitan Museum of Art, to art that was produced over a wide area of
New York City, NY
Painted for the Goldsmiths Guild
of Bruges, Christuss object-filled
northern Europe between about 1400 and
image reflects the material wealth
of such mercantile cities, which 1580. It includes artists as diverse as Jan van
underpinned artistic patronage.
Its naturalistic rendering of textured Eyck, who worked mainly in Bruges, Albrecht
and reflective surfacesincluding
a gleaming convex mirror
could only be achieved by using
Drer from Nuremberg, and Hans Holbein,
translucent glazes of oil paint.
who was born in Germany, established his
reputation in Switzerland, and painted his
most celebrated works in England. Northern
Renaissance artists shared their Italian
contemporaries drive toward an increasing naturalism. However, it was a
naturalism characterized by minute attention to detail, based on fascination
with the natural world and the individual, rather than on the revival of ancient art.
The sometimes breathtakingly realistic detail of Northern Renaissance art is
inextricably linked with advances in the oil painting technique in the 15th century:
paintings such as Petrus Christuss A Goldsmith in His Shop (above) display
a degree of illusionism that only became technically possible with oil paint.
 NORTHERN RENAISSANCE 121

CONTEXT A shifting political canvas

1419 Philip III (Philip the Good) becomes

Revolution and reform
Dramatic changes occurred at the time of the
Northern Renaissance, as monarchs in northern
Europe battled for power, and religious divisions
tore through society. Europe consisted of a
complex patchwork of competing territories,
and trade routes facilitated commercial and
cultural links between cities north and south
of the Alps. Far from being a one-way ow of
Renaissance ideas from Italy into northern
Europe, a dynamic interchange took place
between north and south.
One of the most signicant developments
was the rise of printmaking and printed books,
which originated in Germany in the mid-15th
century. Johann Gutenbergs invention of
movable type, allied to the development of the
printing press, led to one of the worlds great
technological revolutions. Printed books with
woodcut illustrations transformed the way
images and ideas could be spread and shared.
Being able to make and sell multiple copies of
their work could also transform artists fortunes.
In the 16th century, the religious revolution
known as the Protestant Reformation had a
profound impact on art in northern Europe.
Disillusioned with the worldliness of Catholic
Church leaders, German priest and theologian
Martin Luther developed a new doctrine based
on the belief that salvation came from faith alone.
His ideas spread throughout Germany and
beyond, and Western Christendom was split in
two. Many artists were affected by the turmoil.
Grnewald had Lutheran
Duke of Burgundy (until 1467), and ruler of
Flanders, Brabant, Namur, and Limburg.
1453 The Hundred Years War between
France and England ends. Printing of the
Gutenberg Bible, the rst full-length book
ever produced with movable type, is in
progress (it is completed by 1456).
1492 Christopher Columbus inadvertently
discovers the Americas, having set out to
nd a route to the Far East.
1517 Martin Luther xes his Ninety-Five
Thesesa document in which he protests
against the sale of Indulgences by the
Catholic Churchto the door of a church
in Wittenberg, Germany. This act marks
the start of the Reformation and the birth
of the Protestant faith.
1522 First acts of iconoclasmthe
destruction of religious imagesby
Reformers in Wittenberg.
1534 Act of Supremacy establishes the

KEY EVENTS
sympathieswhen he left his Church of England, with Henry VIII as its
Catholic patron, his career was head, marking the split from the Roman
Catholic Church, and the start of the
essentially nished. Holbein English Reformation.
fared betterwhen Lutheran
iconoclasts destroyed religious
art in Basle, and patronage
declined, he settled in England
and became court artist for
Henry VIII. As the market for
altarpieces and paintings of
ART IS TRULY IN
saints dwindled in Protestant NATUREHE WHO
Europe, there was a rise in
IS ABLE TO EXTRACT
secular painting: genre scenes
with moral rather than overtly IT, POSSESSES IT
religious subjects; landscapes;
and portraits such as Holbeins Albrecht Drer
Ambassadors (see pp.13031),
which refers discreetly to religion
while advertising Renaissance
achievements in scientic
discovery and exploration.

Printing revolution
Printmaking transformed the way images
were made and viewed. The German
artist Albrecht Drer earned international
renown through masterful prints, such
as this woodcut Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse. It was published in 1498
in a set of 15 prints on the Apocalypse.
122 RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM

BEGINNINGS
FLEMISH NATURALISM
A new type of painting developed in 15th- TURNING POINT
century Flanders, the region (roughly equivalent
to modern-day Belgium) also known as the
Southern Netherlands. As Flemish artists moved
The Arnolni Portrait
Jan van Eyck 1434 National Gallery, London, UK
away from the decorative extravagance of
International Gothic, a natural-looking style This celebrated double portrait shows a wealthy couple in a domestic interior, and
evolved that blended realistic detail with may commemorate the marriage of the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolni
and his wife. Scholars debate the paintings subject, and question the extent to
spiritual symbolism. (The terms Flemish and which the meticulously painted objects have symbolic signicance. However, all
Netherlandish tend to be used interchangably). agree that this ravishing masterpiece displays an unprecedented level of realism
The founders of the Netherlandish School and detail made possible by van Eycks perfection of the oil painting technique.
were the Master of Flmalle (probably Robert
Campin) and Jan van Eyck. The Master of
Flmalles paintings display a powerful sense ARTISTIC INFLUENCES
of physicality, while Van Eycks mastery of the
Works by Flemish artists Sluter and Broederlam at a monastery in the
oil painting technique allowed him to achieve Burgundian capital Dijon pregured the robust realism of the Master of Flmalle.
luminous, jewel-like colors and an extraordinary His detailed depiction of (often symbolic) objects and van Eycks technical
clarity akin to todays high-denition images. Van advances in oil painting became hallmarks of a new Flemish style.
Eycks successor in Bruges was Petrus Christus,
but it was Rogier van der Weydens combination Sculptor Claus Sluter developed
The Well of Moses,
a naturalistic style that was new to detail, 13951403, by
of minutely observed naturalism and emotional northern European sculpture: he Claus Sluter features highly
expression that had the biggest inuence on seems to have inuenced the individualized, realistic portraits
paintings of the Early Netherlandish of six prophets. Chartreuse
the development of Netherlandish art. de Champmol, Dijon, France
painter the Master of Flmalle.

Jan van Eyck Naturalism is evident in Melchior

born c.1380/90;
died Bruges, Flanders, June 1441
The most famous of all Early
Netherlandish artists, Jan van
Eyck is now known through
about two dozen paintings
religious works and portraits.
His supreme skill in oil painting
gained him renown north and
south of the Alps. Little is known
of his early life, but by 1422 he was
working for the Count of Holland.
Three years later, he became court painter to Philip the
Good, Duke of Burgundy, in Bruges, with an ofcial,
salaried role. He remained in the Dukes service for the
rest of his life, going on several diplomatic missions on
his behalf. One of his earliest dated paintings, the
BIOGRAPHY
St. Joseph, detail,
Broederlams Dijon Altarpiece. 139495, by Broederlam
The painting includes naturalistic from the Dijon Altarpiece,
touches, notably a peasant Joseph, created for the Chartreuse
that look forward to the realism of de Champmol. Muse des
the Netherlandish school. Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France
Symbolic objects became a feature
Lily, detail, c.142530
of 15th-century Netherlandish art. from the Mrode Altarpiece,
The three blossoms of this lily workshop of the Master
symbolize Marys virginity before the of Flmalle. Metropolitan
Annunciation, after conception, and Museum of Art,
New York City, NY
perpetually after Christs birth.
Oil painting transformed art in the Thamar Painting, c.1403

Ghent Altarpiece of 1432, bears an inscription Netherlands. Van Eyck perfected from De Claris Mulieribus,
suggesting that this stupendous painting (as Drer the use of layers of transparent shows an artists assistant
called it) was painted by both Jan and his brother glazes to create luminous, grinding pigment into oil with
Hubert (died 1426). However, Hubert is a shadowy illusionistic effects, brilliant colors, a muller. Bibliothque
gure, and his contribution to the painting is unknown. and an enamel-like nish. Nationale, Paris, France
123
124 RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM

TIMELINE The Mrode Altarpiece

Master of Flmalle/Robert
The Northern Renaissance emerged in the 15th century Campin (workshop of)
c.142732 Metropolitan Museum
in the Netherlands, with the pioneering works of van Eyck, of Art, New York City, NY
the Master of Flmalle, and van der Weyden. In the 16th In this famous triptych the
Annunciation occurs in a Flemish
century this early Flemish style evolved into what could domestic interior. The donors may
be termed the owering of the Northern Renaissance. have bought the central
Annunciation painting, then
German artistssuch as Drer and Grnewaldand a commissioned two side panels, in
new generation of Netherlandish artistssuch as Bosch the left of which they appear. Many
objects have symbolic significance:
and Bruegeldeveloped fresh styles and subjects, including the mousetrap in Josephs workshop
landscapes and scenes from everyday life. symbolizes Christs incarnation as a
snare for the devil.
THE MASTER OF
FLMALLE
The Master of Flmalle is an
invented name for an anonymous
artist who created a group of
paintings once mistakenly believed
to have come from an abbey of
Flmalle. These paintings stand
alongside those of Jan van Eyck at
the head of the Early Netherlandish
school. On stylistic grounds, they
were once thought to be by the
young Rogier van der Weyden, but
most scholars now think that they

CONTEXT
were almost certainly painted by
Rogiers teacher, Robert Campin,
a leading artist in Tournai (in
modern-day Belgium).
Citizen of Tournai
In 1410, the artist Robert
Campin purchases
citizenship in Tournai,
suggesting he was born
elsewhere. The Entombment
attributed to him dates from
around this time. It combines
a medieval gold background
with realistic, sculptural
figures influenced by the
sculptor Claus Sluter.

1410 1415 1420 1425 1430

Van Eyck in The Hague

The first record of Jan van
Eyck is in August 1422, when
documents describe him as a
master with an assistant,
working at the court of John
of Bavaria, Count of Holland,
in The Hague.

Rogier van der Weyden

born Tournai, Flanders, 1399?;
died Brussels, Flanders, June 18, 1464

The greatest Netherlandish artist of the mid-15th

century, Rogier van der Weyden was born Rogier
de la Pasture (Roger of the Meadow), but is
known by the Dutch version of his name. The son
of a cutler, he was apprenticed to Robert Campin
in Tournai. By 1435, he had moved to Brussels,
and in 1436 he was appointed ofcial painter to
the city. He painted portraits and religious
subjects, and ran a thriving workshop. After van
BIOGRAPHY

Eycks death in 1444, he became the leading

painter at the court of Philip the Good. His fame
spread through France, Germany, Italy, and
Spain, and his naturalistic, emotionally sensitive
style had a huge inuence on European painting.
 NORTHERN RENAISSANCE 125

Etienne Chevalier and St. Stephen

(Melun Diptych)
Jean Fouquet, c.145560 Gemldegalerie, Berlin, Germany
This panel originally formed a diptych with the Virgin and Child (right).
Fouquet, painter to King Charles VII of France, depicts the Kings
treasurer and his name saint in a realistic, perspectival space.
Virgin and Child
(Melun Diptych)
Jean Fouquet c.145560
Koninklijk Museum,
Antwerp, Belgium
While the donor and his saint are
in a precisely realized Italianate
interior, the Virgin and Child are
in an unrealistic, heavenly space,
surrounded by blue and red cherubim
and seraphim. The unnaturally
smooth, white, bare-breasted Virgin,
dressed as a fashionable queen,
is modeled on the Kings mistress
Agns Sorel, who died in 1450.

Courtly commission
Between 1450 and 1460
Jean Fouquet illuminates
a Book of Hours for Etienne
Chevalier, his most important
patron at the court of
Charles VII.

1435 1440 1445 1450 1455 1460

FLEMISH PAINTING
WILL, GENERALLY
SPEAKING, PLEASE
THE DEVOUT
BETTER THAN ANY
PAINTING IN ITALY
1548 | Michelangelo
Quoted by Francesco da Holanda,
Portuguese painter

Descent From the Cross

Rogier van der Weyden c.1440 Prado, Madrid, Spain
Imitating the sculpted altarpieces popular in Netherlandish
churches, Rogier crams his almost life-size figures into a
shallow, boxlike space, heightening the emotional intensity
created by the anguished expressions and contorted poses.
Made for the Crossbowmens Guild in Louvain, this
meticulous masterpiece features tiny crossbows in the
painted tracery, and evokes the crossbows shape in the
poses of Christ and Mary.
The Entombment
Dirk Bouts c.1450s
National Gallery, London, UK
The subtle, muted colors of this poignant
image result from the technique of applying
pigments mixed with glue directly on to
linen. It may have been painted for export
to Italythe linen support could be rolled
and easily transported.
126 RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM

Hieronymus Bosch
born s-Hertogenbosch?,
Netherlands, c.1450 buried
s-Hertogenbosch, August 9, 1516

Born Jerome van Aken, Hieronymous

(Latin for Jerome) Bosch (after
s-Hertogenbosch) created some of
the most intriguing images in the
history of art. He lived in a town
that was far away from mainstream
Netherlandish painting, and developed
a uniquely imaginative style, depicting
the consequences of sin and folly
with fantastical, often grotesque
imagery. Little is known about his life,
BIOGRAPHY

except that he was wealthy, an

orthodox Catholic, and a leading
member of a religious organization
called the Brotherhood of Our Lady.

From Ghent to Bruges

In 1468, a year after Hugo
van der Goes becomes a
master in the Ghent Painters
Guild, he assists with the
wedding decorations of
Charles the Bold in Bruges.

1460 1470 1480 1490

Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove

Hans Memling 1487
Sint-Janshospitaal, Memlingmuseum, Bruges, Belgium
The most popular Netherlandish painter of his day, Memling
may have been taught by Rogier van der Weyden. This quiet
devotional diptych shows the Virgin and the praying donor
in separate panels, but in the same roomboth
figures are reflected in the mirror behind her.

Pontinari Altarpiece (central panel)

Hugo van der Goes c.1475 Uffizi, Florence, Italy
Commissioned by Tommaso Pontinari, representative of the Medici bank in
Bruges, this altarpiece was installed in a hospital church in Florence. Its
meticulous naturalism influenced Florentine artists. Weather-beaten shepherds
gaze in awe at the infant Christ, while vases of flowers symbolize Christs sacrifice
(red carnations representing the bloodied nails of the cross, for example).
 NORTHERN RENAISSANCE 127

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Hieronymus Bosch c.1500
Prado, Madrid, Spain
Despite its triptych format, which was traditional
for altarpieces, this large painting was intended
not for a church, but for an aristocrats palace.
In the left panel, God creates Adam and Eve in The Madonna Standing
Eden; the landscape continues into the central With the Child and Angels
panel (perhaps depicting a false paradise), Quentin Massys c.150010
where naked men and women cavort amid Courtauld Gallery, London, UK
bizarre plants, huge birds, and fantasy fruit; in A leading painter in Antwerp,
the right panel, sinners are punished with Massys may have visited Italy.
gruesome tortures in a monstrous vision of Hell. This exquisite Madonna is in
the Netherlandish tradition,
but the classical architecture
and putti with garlands indicate
a knowledge of Italian art.

A PAINTED SATIRE
ON THE SINS
AND RAVINGS
OF MANKIND
Drer acclaimed abroad
1605 | Jos de Sigenza In 152021, Drer journeys
Spanish monk, on Bosch's paintings north to Aachen for the
coronation of Charles V,
the Holy Roman Emperor.
Traveling through the
Netherlands, he is feted
as the greatest German
artist of his time.

1500 1510 1520

Self-Portrait With Gloves

Albrecht Drer 1498
Prado, Madrid, Spain
This is one of a number of self-portraits by Drer.
One of the giants of the Northern Renaissance,
he was determined to elevate the status of artists,
and depicts himself as an elegant gentleman.
Crucixion (Isenheim Altarpiece, central panel)
Mathis Grnewald c.151215
Muse dUnterlinden, Colmar, France
German painter Mathis Grnewald painted this harrowing altarpiece for a
plague hospital. By showing the suffering Christ in horrific detail, he hoped
to inspire patients to view their own terrible suffering as part of a divine plan.
128 RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM

Death and the Maiden

Joachim Patinir Hans Baldung Grien
born Dinant or Bouvignes?, Flanders, c.1480; c.152025 Kunstmuseum,
died Antwerp, Flanders, 1524 Basle, Switzerland
Baldung was probably a pupil of
Patinir was the rst European artist to give landscape Drer. His paintings and prints
priority over gures in a painting. He is thought to have included a variety of subjects, but
come from the Meuse valley, in an area with a rocky he is best known for macabre, erotic
landscape unusual in Flanders. It evidently inspired his allegories involving witches or young
BIOGRAPHY

women being embraced by Death.

works. A member of the Painters Guild in Antwerp, he was
The inevitability of death was a
held in high esteem by his contemporaries, including Drer. preoccupation of many Northern
He sometimes painted landscape backgrounds for his Renaissance artists.
friend Quentin Massys (who became guardian of his
children after his death).

Charon Crossing the Styx

Joachim Patinir c.151524
Prado, Madrid, Spain
In classical legend, Charon ferried souls
of the dead to the underworld. Placing
Charon in a panoramic landscape,
midway between Paradise and Hell,
Patinir transforms pagan myth into a
Christian allegory about the choice
between good and evil. Boschs
influence is evident in the visions
of Paradise and Hell.

1520 1525 1530 1535 1540

The Card Players

Lucas van Leyden c.1517
Wilton House, Wiltshire, UK The Battle of Issus
A renowned printmaker, Lucas Albrecht Altdorfer 1529
was also a pioneer of genre Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany
paintings, such as this. Probably This spectacular battle scene, depicting one of
intended as a moralizing message Alexander the Greats victories, has a visionary power.
about the ills of gambling, the Altdorfer achieves an extraordinary sense of space as
scene is presented as if the the landscape stretches into the blue distance, and
viewer is at the card table. teeming hordes fight beneath a dazzling sunset.
 129

Hunters in
the Snow
Pieter Bruegel 1565
Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna, Austria
One of a series of six
paintings of The Months,
this extraordinarily skillful
composition is a monumental
version of the type of scene
that appeared in medieval
Books of Hours. As hunters
trudge through the snow,
bold diagonals lead across
and into the painting
toward icy ponds and
distant Alpine mountains.

1545 1550 1555 1560 1565 1570

Lutheranism made legal

Pieter Bruegel (the Elder) In 1555, the Peace of Augsburg
born nr. Breda?, Netherlands, c.1525; gives official recognition of
died Brussels, Flanders, 1569 Lutheranism as well as Roman
Catholicism in Germany.
The greatest northern European artist of
his time, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a Bruegel dies
painter, draftsman, and printmaker whose Pieter Bruegel dies in
lively, humane scenes of rural life (often 1569, leaving two
illustrating proverbs) earned him young sons, Jan and
the name Peasant Bruegel. Despite his Pieter the Younger,
nickname, Bruegel spent his career in who go on to become
cities rather than the countryside. He successful painters.
visited Italy early in his career, and the
experience of crossing the Alps stayed
with him. His style changed signicantly
BIOGRAPHY

after moving from Antwerp to Brussels

in 1563: busily crowded scenes were
replaced by bold, monumental gures WHEN HE TRAVELED
and powerful landscape settings.
THROUGH THE ALPS...
[BRUEGEL] SWALLOWED
ALL THE MOUNTAINS...
AND SPAT THEM OUT...
Queen Mary I ON HIS CANVASES
Anthonis Mor 1554 Prado, Madrid, Spain AND PANELS
Daughter of Henry VIII of England, Mary married Philip II of Spain
the year this picture was painted. Mor combines regal dignity 1604 | Karel van Mander
with a sense of human vulnerability: Mary sits stiffly as she turns
toward the viewer, clutching a bright red Tudor rose.
130 RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM

MASTERWORK
The Ambassadors
Hans Holbein the Younger 1533
National Gallery, London, UK

One of the earliest portraits depicting two life-size

gures, this magnicent painting combines startling
realism with an equally startling hidden message. The
painting was commissioned by Jean de Dinteville, a
French nobleman and ambassador in London. He is
shown with his friend, Georges de Selves, the Bishop
of Lavour, a classical scholar and diplomat, who
visited him in London in the spring of 1533.
The two men stand either side of a tabletop display
of immaculately painted objects signifying their
learning and culture. The cylindrical dial indicates the
date: April 11, 1533. The sitters ages are recorded:
Jean de Dintevilles inscribed dagger indicates that he
is in his 29th year; Georges de Selves age25is
written on the book on which he leans his elbow. It is
a moment frozen in time, when the men are shown at
the height of their powers.
There are layers of meaning in this complex portrait.
The terrestrial globe on the bottom shelf represents
science and exploration, but also bears the name of
Jean de Dintevilles chateau in France, where the
picture was to hang. The lute is a symbol of music,
but its broken string may signify death or the religious
discord of the Reformation.
Although the painting may appear to be a
glorication of mans achievements, it takes on
another meaning when the distorted shape hovering
over the pavement is recognized. It is a skull, painted
in what is known as anamorphic perspective: only
when viewed obliquely from the right does it assume
its recognizable form. This reveals the painting as a
memento moria reminder that whatever mans
worldly achievements, we all must die. But there is
yet another layer of meaning: almost hidden in the
top left corner, a crucix afrms that after death,
salvation comes through Christ.
 NORTHERN RENAISSANCE 131

IF YOU ADDED THE VOICE,

THIS WOULD BE HIS VERY
SELF. YOU WOULD DOUBT
WHETHER THE PAINTER OR
HIS FATHER MADE HIM
1533 | Hans Holbein
Inscription on his portrait Derich Born, stressing how
lifelike his portraiture appears

Hans Holbein (the Younger)

born Augsburg, Germany, 1497
died London, England, October/November 1543

The son of a successful German

artist, Holbein began his career in
Basle, Switzerland, working mainly
as a portraitist and designer of
woodcuts and stained glass. In
1524, he visited France, where
he would have seen works by
Raphael. Two years later, armed
with a letter of introduction from
the great humanist scholar
Erasmuswho noted that in Basle the arts are not
appreciatedHolbein traveled to England, where he
worked mainly as a portraitist for the statesman Sir
Thomas More and his circle. In 1528, Holbein returned to
BIOGRAPHY

Basle (where he had left his wife and family), but in 1532
he went back to England for good. Holbein was the
supreme portrait painter of his time, and soon gained
royal patronage, probably with the help of Henry VIIIs
chief minister Thomas Cromwell.