Renaissance in Northern Europe & Spain (16th Century)

Who was King Francis I?

He's the king of France who commissioned artists (even from Italy like Leonardo) especially to decorate his hunting lodge

Clouet, Francis I

• Shows the king of France in an elegant way with the attention to detail, yet w/ disproportion between head and body

Who was Albrecht Dürer?

A German artist known for his detailed engravings and woodcuts

Albrecht Dürer, Self Portrait

• Dürer painted himself as almost Christ like figure

Albrecht Dürer, Fall of Man (Adam and Eve)

• A print of his work

• Durer was the 1st Northern Renaissance artist to achieve international celebrity

Albrecht Dürer, Four Apostles

• Made for the hometown hall

• Durer was a protestant sympathizer and showed this in this portrait depiction of the 4 apostles (Peter is shown behind John )

• Underneath the portraits, there was a warning about the coming of perilous times and the preaching of false prophets who will distort God's word

Grunewald, Isenheim Altarpiece

• Made for the hospital run by monks that helped treat a skin disease from stale bread

• Jesus is shown on the cross in pain with the same skin disease as the patients in the hospital (when closed)

• When open, it shows Jesus rising with no marks of the skin disease in fact he glows like the light (giving hope for the patients)

El Greco, Burial of Count Orgaz

• Shows the story of a local noble man who's being lowered by 2 saints

• This shows the emotional content captures the fervor of Spanish Catholicism & dramatic use of light

What happened in the 16th century when it comes to religious art, especially in the Netherlands?

• Protestants started the iconoclasm (breaking of images) which means the destruction of religious art as it was seen as idolatry

Bruegel the Elder, Hunters in the Snow

• Made in a series, and for the home

• Showing a diagonally deep landscape

Bruegel the Elder, Netherlandish Proverbs

• This painting shows a Netherlandish village with numerous imagery proverbs (moral stories)

• Ex. Crying over spilled milk, & stretching from loaf to loaf

Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights

• Has 3 parts, made for someone's home

• On the right shows hell, left shows Adam & Eve in paradise

• Center piece is bizarre with/ many erotic scenes of human pleasures