Characteristically Northern Quality of Lucas Cranachs and Albrecht Durers Art

Chapter 22
RENAISSANCE ART IN NORTHERN EUROPE

---

N orthern Renaissance art is by no means to be considered an appendage to Italian art. As in literature, Italian influence was potent, and some of the greatest of the northern artists were profoundly affected by their own trips to Italy; Drer and Bruegel are skillful examples. At the same time, the vigorous indigenous traditions of northern fine art continued to discover expression, so that the art of the northern Renaissance manifested a distinct synthesis of native and Italian elements. In fact, the traditions of the Northward had their own reciprocal influence on Italian art. In item, the technique of painting in oil, adult in Flanders, was widely adopted in Italy and elsewhere.

In general, northern art continued to behave on the late medieval tradition of dandy attention to detail. The Italian influence helped to modify this emphasis in the direction of greater simplicity and subordination of less essential features to the main theme. Other contributions of the art of the Due north were a tendency toward realism and naturalism, great skill in portraiture, and an interest in landscape.

All of this can be seen clearly in the nifty flowering of Flemish fine art in the fourteenth and particularly the fifteenth centuries. Information technology was a part of the splendor and vitality of the civilization of the Depression Countries in this period, stimulated by the vivid court of the dukes of Burgundy. The sculptor Claus Sluter (d.1405/6) broke away from the delicacy and artificiality of current Italian models, and gave his figures massiveness and awe-inspiring grandeur, which are sometimes combined with extraordinary suppleness and grace. Sluter too achieved great naturalism and emotional ability, as shown in the illustration on page 436 of the Madonna on the trumeau, portal of the Chartreuse de Champol.

One of the founders of Flemish painting in the fifteenth century was the so-chosen Chief of Flmalle who is often identified with Robert Campin (c.1378 1444). His realism is shown in his careful attending to particular, as in the Mrode Altarpiece. Here the central panel, depicting the Annunciation (Analogy page 422) contains many genre touches of a domestic interior, and one of the side panels shows St. Joseph as a carpenter with the tools of his craft scattered most on his workbench. His paintings reveal a special talent for landscape, sometimes shown in the background through an open window. His preoccupation with the representation of spatial depth and perspective is another facet of his realism. In some of his depictions of the Passion and the events surrounding it, he conveys intense emotion.

Campin'due south art has been referred to as middle class. More courtly and aristocratic was the work of Jan van Eyck (c.1395 1441), the other founder of the schoolhouse of Flemish realism. In some of his work, Van Eyck had every bit a collaborator his blood brother Hubert, a rather shadowy figure whose very existence has sometimes been questioned. From 1425 to the terminate of his life, Jan van Eyck was court painter to the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, who also employed him on diplomatic missions.

Ane of the keen masterpieces of the Van Eycks is the Adoration of the Lamb in the Ghent Cathedral. (Illustration page 437) Dated 1432, it is a almost complex and elaborate work, with folding wings painted both on the inside and on the outside. The main function is the scene that gives it its title and shows vast numbers of pilgrims in a magnificent landscape, adoring the Lamb. The work makes a great impression of splendor, magnificence, and religious devotion, all heightened past the loving and meticulous detail of flowers, jewels, and other elements. The figures of donors, saints, Adam and Eve, and others are carried out with great psychological skill and variety. An inscription on the frame attributes it to both Hubert and Jan. It has been suggested that Hubert, the older brother, worked out the overall program and contributed an element of poesy and mysticism, while Jan supplied the realism found in the particular and the psychological aspects.

Declaration, Mrode Altarpiece past Master of Flmalle (Robert Campin?) Bulloz

Van Eyck'due south signed painting of the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait (1434), is now in the National Gallery in London. (Illustration folio 438) It shows his mastery of portraiture, his loving involvement in detail, and the jeweled splendor of his colors. It as well reveals a mastery of spatial composition. Some of his individual portraits are masterpieces, and his skill in landscape is everywhere apparent, every bit in the background of the Madonna with Chancellor Nicolas Rolin in the Louvre.

Van Eyck was much less emotional than Campin. His work has been described equally classical and humanistic. His calm vision was much closer to Italian republic than to the more emotional and mystical temperament of northern Europe.

Rogier van der Weyden (c.1399 1464) may have been trained in the workshop of Campin. He was painter to the urban center of Brussels, and was as well patronized past the Burgundian court. His nearly famous work is an altarpiece now in the Prado Gallery in Madrid and called the Escorial Degradation. (Analogy folio 439) It shares many of the characteristics of the piece of work of the Master of Flmalle, including realistic representation of details and groovy emotional strength. The grief of those who are nowadays at the deposition of Jesus from the Cross is strikingly shown. These furnishings are heightened past the glowing colors and richness of textures that are then conspicuous in Flemish art, and that were made possible past the use of the medium of oil.

In the Degradation the infinite is enclosed and occupied chiefly by the human figures. Elsewhere in the piece of work one sees other Flemish touches the landscape, sometimes shown through an open window, the naturalistic genre details of domestic interiors. But in his homo and emotional appeal, Rogier differs from Jan van Eyck and greatly influenced after Flemish painters.

He is one of the greatest of all portrait painters. His paintings of the last 2 Burgundian dukes, Philip the Adept and Charles the Bold, bring these fifteenth-century figures vividly before united states. (Analogy folio 440) His portraits are illumined by his homo sympathies, and many later artists tried to capture this in their work, without e'er equaling his achievement.

Hans Memling (d. 1494) seldom rises to the heights of Rogier, of whom he was a follower, but he was tremendously pop. In some of his portraits he achieves greatness, and he is outstanding every bit a mural artist. Otherwise his art lacks the grandeur and depth of Rogier'due south. Its cheerfulness and decorative charm, nonetheless, proved very pop and he became 1 of the richest men in Bruges.

These artists stand for only a very few of the outstanding Netherlandish masters. Subsequently in this chapter nosotros volition render to the piece of work of two of their greatest successors, Bosch and Bruegel.

FRANCE

Although reciprocal cultural influences had long flowed back and forth betwixt France and Italia, a new phase of Italian influence in France opened with the French invasions of the peninsula that began in 1494. Starting with Charles VIII, the French kings brought Italian artists domicile with them and put them to piece of work. The near important of the royal patrons was Francis I, whose agile encouragement of humanistic learning has been mentioned. Among the artists who came to France at his invitation were Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea del Sarto. Francis besides collected paintings by great Italian masters, such every bit Titian, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

None of these artists or works, nonetheless, had a decisive impact on French art through the work they did in France. More important were Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino (1495 1540), Francesco Primaticcio (1504 70), who long outlived Francis, and Sebastiano Serlio (1475 1554).

Rosso and Primaticcio, who arrived in the early on 1530s, were the starting time two Italian artists of any stature who did a substantial corporeality of work in France. The most important evidence of their work is found at the Palace of Fontainebleau, where Francis I had been conveying out a remodeling project since 1528. Here the two Italian artists worked out a novel scheme of decoration, combining painting with stucco sculpture in total relief. Recurrent motifs include the utilise of fruit, flowers, and the female person nude. The effect is rich and elaborate. Instead of being subordinate to the architectural framework, the decoration tends to overshadow and obscure it. The work of the "School of Fontainebleau" had nifty influence throughout Europe.

Afterward the expiry of Rosso in 1540, Primaticcio connected to piece of work in the palace of Fontainebleau. Here he evolved a style of figure drawing that was to become standard in French republic and to be adopted in other countries: slim, elongated figures, oft nudes, in like shooting fish in a barrel and elegant poses. In his later years, Primaticcio did some architectural piece of work, and amid other projects, designed the tomb of Henry II.

A younger Italian artist, Niccol dell' Abbate (c.1512 71), collaborated with Primaticcio in the Fontainebleau decorations, adding a special skill in illusionism, which he had learned in Italian republic. He too had a great importance in the field of landscape painting. The panoramic landscape, with its fantastic character, its distant views, its dreamlike mood, influenced past both Italian and Flemish models, was introduced into France past him.

Different painting, which had declined in France by the beginning of the sixteenth century, architecture had continued to flourish. Though in that location was French interest in Italian compages before the invasions, information technology was these invasions that provided the decisive stimulus. This came especially through the French occupation of Milan. Milanese architecture emphasized very elaborate ornament, in dissimilarity to the more astringent style of Florence. This highly decorative manner appealed to the French, and was copied by them. The Certosa of Pavia, which was located in Milanese territory not far from the city of Milan, was the edifice most admired by the French. At that place were finer examples of Renaissance architecture being congenital in Milan, especially the works of the keen Bramante, but they were ignored by the French.

This lack of appreciation points to the weakness of much of the work washed in France nether Italian influence: The artists failed to appreciate the real importance of Italian art and copied just its superficial qualities. In some cases, the Italian artists who worked in France were inferior talents who, nevertheless, had great influence. One of these was Serlio, whom Francis I brought from Italy in 1540 or 1541. A bully patron of architecture, Francis built many of the magnificent castles, which are nonetheless seen. Past the fourth dimension Serlio arrived, the French could appreciate the real achievements of the Italian Renaissance.

Deposition past Germain Pilon Alinari/Art Resource

Thus there was a great historic period of French architecture from nearly 1540, in which the Italian elements were assimilated, and a truly French architecture was produced. In this development, Serlio had an influence out of proportion to his ability, which was not outstanding in comparison to either the all-time Italian or the best French architects of the time.

Serlio'southward influence in France came through the buildings he planned or built he built only two and especially through his architectural treatise. Nonetheless, he lacked the ability to create a mode, and what other architects got from his volume were individual elements, rather than a coherent whole. All the same, he was an important source of Italian ideas in France.

There were two French architects working in the middle of the sixteenth century who were men of genius, Pierre Lescot (c.1515 78) and Philibert de l'Orme (d.1570). Lescot is best known for his work in rebuilding the square courtroom (Cour Carre) of the Louvre, a great purple palace in Paris. He began this late in the reign of Francis I. Lescot's work here was classical but non-Italian; it had more than decoration and greater variety than the all-time Italian piece of work of the time. Thus he created a style that is at one time French and classical.

Philibert de 50'Orme, the greatest French architect of the period, studied in Rome from 1533 to 1536. A few years after his render to France, he came to the attending of the dauphin and Diane de Poitiers, the dauphin's mistress. When the dauphin became King Henry 2 in 1547, de l'Orme received the postal service of superintendent of buildings. Afterwards Henry'due south death in 1559, he lost his position and apparently suffered some mistreatment, having caused bang-up offense by his arrogance during his time of ability. Later he was restored to favor by Catherine de' Medici, who gave him important commissions. He too wrote two books on architectural subjects.

His attitude toward both the classical and Italian styles was conditioned by his stiff French patriotism. He was opposed to those who followed blindly either of those models; he believed in being guided by reason, applied experience, and a sense of the advisable.

At the same time, de fifty'Orme understood classical architecture and knew how to accommodate it to his utilise without sacrificing his own individuality. The issue is an architecture that can be called classical without being a mere re-create, and that is still French. He also was able to give to his work a monumental grapheme previously unattained in France in this flow.

The architects often worked in close collaboration with the sculptors. In the field of sculpture, Italian influence appeared in the person of Benvenuto Cellini, who worked in French republic from 1540 to 1545. Amidst the artists he influenced was the neat French sculptor, Jean Goujon (16th century). Though he probably studied classical fine art in Italia and used Italian ideas in his work, he evolved a distinctive style, which was followed widely in France. The exquisite grace of his figures is illustrated by the reliefs of nymphs shown on page 441.

The greatest sculptor of the after years of the century was Germain Pilon (c.1525 xc). He was non influenced past Goujon, but in his earlier works he shows the influence of Primaticcio. As time went on, he adult a highly personal style. The Deposition, a bronze relief, (Analogy page 425) shows the flowing quality of his later style, besides as his employ of naturalistic details, fifty-fifty harsh ones, to achieve emotional effect.

To turn briefly to the field of painting, we may note 2 masters of portraiture, the Clouets, father and son. Jean Clouet (dead past 1541) was actually not a native of French republic. He may have been born in Brussels, though it is non sure, and he never became a French citizen. From 1516 he is known to have worked in the service of the French crown. Though he was not exclusively a portrait painter, his portraits are notable for their keen observation of graphic symbol, (Illustraton page 442) as in the portrait of Francis I.

In 1541, after his father's death, Franois Clouet (d. 1572) was appointed by Francis I to be his father'south successor. To him we owe portraits of many of the members of the French court, including some of the kings.

Both Clouets show Italian influences, but these had been assimilated and subordinated to a native French tradition. So the Italian bear on on French art in general, though it was non at get-go understood and for a while produced some impuissant imitations, was eventually digested and helped to course what was essentially a new, distinctly French manner.

Frg

The political and religious situation of sixteenth-century Frg had an influence on art. The political disunity and weakness of the empire meant that there was no single artistic eye with as deep an influence equally the royal court in France though the emperors more often than not had artistic interests and were active patrons. Thus there were a number of places where of import work was being done, with local variations in style and tradition.

The religious troubles of the Reformation likewise discouraged artistic enterprise. Artists, like other people, sometimes had to change their identify of residence to escape persecution. There were fewer patrons, and those who were still commissioning works of art turned to smaller pieces and away from large and monumental works.

In spite of such handicaps, much work was done, and some important artists were produced in sixteenth-century Federal republic of germany. Three of the greatest may be discussed here: Cranach, "Grnewald," and Drer, all of them born inside a few years of i another.

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 1553) was courtroom painter at Wittenberg from 1505 to the end of his life. To him we owe perhaps the all-time portraits of Martin Luther, one of which is reproduced hither. (Illustration folio 443) His many portraits show penetrating insight into the subjects' thoughts and emotions. He is also remarkable for his feeling for nature: his keen and loving observation of natural detail, his deep emotional response to the grandeur and beauty of heaven and trees. Some of his portraits are set in the open air, and in these he matches the natural setting to the mood and temperament of the sitter.

Mathis Gothart-Neithart known as "Grnewald" (c.1480 1528) worked for a while in the service of Albrecht of Brandenburg, archbishop of Mainz, who has been discussed in connexion with Luther. Nevertheless, the artist eventually adopted Lutheran views, and may have been involved in the Peasants' State of war on the side of the peasants. In addition to painting, he was employed during his career on various projects that required engineering skill; he knew something about medicine as well.

Grnewald is one of the greatest of German artists; his genius finds expression in the depiction of intense emotion, particularly painful emotion. This is shown in his best-known work, the paintings on the altarpiece for a chapel in a monastery at Isenheim. The Crucifixion (See next page) that he painted here does not spare the beholder. Grnewald relentlessly brings out all the marks of terrible suffering and agony, induced by the cruelty and torture of the executioners. The faithful figures at the foot of the cross express unbearable grief. In that location are few if any not bad paintings that convey so vividly a sense of horror and pain. The painting is Gothic rather than Renaissance in composition and structure.

Crucifixion, Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grnewald Bulloz

Other works of Grnewald convey the same sense of suffering and grief, for example, a painting of the mocking of Christ. He oft manages to convey an unearthly, supernatural atmosphere, in keeping with the fevered, overwrought emotional temper that tin be constitute in early on sixteenth-century Germany. Though some of his paintings show the influence of Italian Renaissance works, Grnewald remained strongly medieval in outlook and technique.

The sense of balance and measure, the Renaissance concept of human dignity that is lacking in Grnewald, can be establish in the work of Albrecht Drer (1471 1528), the greatest of German language artists. He is associated primarily with the city of Nuremberg, one of the leading cultural and intellectual centers of Germany. The famous Nuremberg patrician, civic leader, and humanist, Willibald Pirckheimer, was a close friend of Drer. The artist has left two portraits of him, executed at different times.

Italian republic was very important in Drer's development and in the history of north European art in general. Before Drer's first Italian trip, which took identify in 1494 95, the art of the Renaissance in Italian republic had had piddling issue in the North. "Drer's beginning trip to Italia, brief though information technology was, may be chosen the beginning of the Renaissance in the Northern Countries."16 Drer came dorsum from Italy full of desire for High german artists to participate in the "regrowth" of the arts that had been brought about by the Italians. Here is another clear witness to the fact that many of the leading men of the flow were imbued with the idea that a rebirth, revival, or renewal was going on in their ain twenty-four hours.

Drer went to Italy again from 1505 until the beginning of 1507, saw the superior social position and learning of Italian artists compared to Germans, and began to acquire for himself the new humanistic learning. Because he was a scholar too as an artist, he was patronized from 1512 onward by the emperor Maximilian I. (Analogy page 444) He was also a scientist, with an all-inclusive involvement in nature. In addition to his creative work, he wrote books on geometry, fortifications, and human proportions.

Drer was able to capture the accurate classical spirit in his art, even though he had fiddling contact with the original works, but had to arroyo them through Italian prints and drawings. Under these conditions, Erwin Panofsky thinks this achievement "almost a miracle."17

The cocky-conscious individualism of the Renaissance, together with its conception of human dignity and dignity, tin be seen in Drer's self-portraits. No previous artist had used himself so frequently equally the subject of his works. Furthermore, Drer'south portraits of himself are not establish just in grouping paintings, as was often the instance with other Renaissance artists who used this device every bit a sort of signature, but were also independent studies. These self-portraits stand for in their ain special field to Montaigne's intense and prolonged interest in exploring himself.

The virtually remarkable of these self-portraits, one which has often been found shocking, was painted in 1500. (Illustration page 445) It represents Drer himself in such a way that it also appears to be a picture of Jesus. This has seemed blasphemous to many viewers, and yet there was no irreverence in Drer. On the opposite, his life and work show him to have been a securely religious man. Panofsky's solution to this mystery is, briefly, that such identification was less strange at that time than it would be now, and also that for Drer the work demonstrates humility rather than vainglory. It indicates that the artist must humbly strive for the divine creative gift.18

Drer'due south numerous other portraits are remarkable for technical skill and penetrating observation. He was also a master of landscape, and in keeping with his scientific graphic symbol, a keen and loving portrayer of animals. Drer was non only a painter, just also an engraver and a designer of woodcuts. His reputation was, in fact, greater for his work in these fields than for his paintings. Amidst his best works in woodcuts were several series he did illustrating the Apocalypse and the Passion.

Among Drer's numerous engravings, he produced in 1513 and 1514 the three which are the most famous: Knight, Decease, and the Devil; St. Jerome in His Study; and Melencolia I. (Analogy folio 446) These three represent respectively three means of life: the moral, theological, and intellectual. All are of very great importance, simply in the cursory space we take, nosotros shall choose the Melencolia for discussion. Melancholy is represented past a large winged female figure sitting disconsolately on the ground, surrounded by the instruments and symbols of the arts, both liberal and mechanical. She seems to express the futility and hopelessness of man knowledge, especially theoretical knowledge divorced from practice. She may also symbolize the artist'south ain mental state a longing for a perfection of knowledge which he knows he can never reach.

A disquisitional change in Drer's life, which strongly affected his art, was his conversion in 1519 to Lutheranism. Thereafter he concentrated importantly on religious subjects, and adopted a more austere mode, which conveyed a deeper emotional expression.

Another of import German artist was Hans Holbein the Younger, but so much of his piece of work was done in England that we can discuss him in connection with that land.

ENGLAND: HOLBEIN

A number of strange artists, many of them from the Low Countries, were active in England during the sixteenth century. The greatest of them was the High german Hans Holbein the Younger (1497 1543). Holbein, born in Augsburg, came from a family of painters, including his father, the elder Hans, his uncle Sigismund, and his blood brother, Ambrosius. While nonetheless in his teens, he was working in Basel, where he became acquainted with Erasmus. From these years came his delightful illustrations to The Praise of Folly. At this early appointment he was already painting portraits, a field in which he was to prove i of the greatest geniuses. He painted 3 portraits of Erasmus by 1523; the ane reproduced here (Analogy folio 447) perhaps brings out better than any other the character and personality of the great humanist and scholar. He too worked for publishers, producing woodcuts to be used in their books. It is likely that he made an Italian journeying.

In 1526 he went to England, with messages of introduction from Erasmus to William Warham, the archbishop of Canterbury, and to Sir Thomas More than. This voyage to England lasted eighteen months, afterwards which he returned to Basel. The religious disorders in that location, which culminated in the triumph of the Reformation in 1529, made his work difficult. He, therefore, left Basel for good in 1532, and spent the rest of his life in England. He left behind abandoned his married woman and children.

In England Holbein produced the remarkable serial of drawings and paintings that bring the great figures of the reign of Henry VIII vividly earlier us. Henry VIII patronized him from 1536. Holbein'due south portraits are noteworthy, among other things, for their objectivity and detachment; he does not identify with his subjects, nor does he conceal their weaknesses.

Among native artists may be mentioned Nicholas Hilliard (1547 1619), who was a goldsmith and painter of miniatures. He was the favorite painter of Queen Elizabeth, and by majestic patent received a monopoly on painting portraits of the queen.

Christ Carrying the Cross by Hieronymus Bosch Bulloz

It was architecture rather than painting or sculpture that nigh engaged the interests of the English language, particularly the upper classes. Many of the noble and wealthy had a passion for edifice, and some of their bully houses still stand. In the reign of Henry VIII, 1 of the various factors that led to the downfall of Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, involved his grandiose building plans. William Cecil, Lord Burghley, built more than than 1 great house. The redoubtable Bess of Hardwick, countess of Shrewsbury, was deeply interested in edifice. Hardwick Hall, designed for her past Robert Smythson in the 1590s, is an imposing structure. Like other cracking English houses of the period, it is nonetheless somewhat medieval in advent. Although English language builders were familiar with the writings of Continental theorists on architecture, English language building was far backside the times compared to the most avant-garde work on the Continent.

THE LOW COUNTRIES

The smashing medieval artistic tradition of the Low Countries was continued in the Renaissance. Of the numerous important artists who worked in that location, two tin exist mentioned here: They are Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, both of whom retained strong medieval elements in their work.

Bosch (c.1450 1516), a Dutchman, is i of the about fascinating and puzzling of painters, and it is incommunicable to decipher all the meanings in his works. Some of his paintings are fairly straightforward, and seem to reveal a distinctly pessimistic view of human nature. This is true of his many works dealing with aspects of the Passion, such equally the Crowning with Thorns, the Mocking of Christ, or Christ Carrying the Cross. (Illustration page 431) In this work, we can see how the gentle, suffering face of the Savior, although placed in the eye of the limerick, is more or less overshadowed by the hideous, grotesque faces of his persecutors.

Bosch had a wild and pulp imagination, which in some of his works expresses itself in all sorts of fanciful monsters and apparitions. Devils abound, as do visions of Hell, with its ghastly lurid temper illuminated by flames. There seems to exist a satirical and moralistic strain in Bosch, even though his exact meaning is sometimes far from clear. He is untouched past many of the characteristics of the Italian Quattrocento, such equally mathematical perspective and the conscientious written report and representation of the human body. In his works, the human figures are flat and sketchily outlined, and perspective is ignored, although Bosch is important as a landscape painter. He departs even from the native Netherlandish tradition in not being skillful at portraiture or perhaps merely uninterested in it. On the other hand, he is frequently much concerned with precision of detail. Thus he is essentially a medieval creative person in many means, but at that place is no denying his power and artistic greatness. One of his admirers was Male monarch Philip Two of Spain, an avid collector of Bosch's works.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c.1525 69) was referred to past some critics as a second Bosch, because many of his works exercise reflect Bosch's influence, but this description of him would be very incomplete. Equally misleading is the view that sees him largely as a painter of amusing scenes from peasant life. He is now regarded equally one of the greatest creative geniuses of his age, and a greatly serious creative person. Though his career was unfortunately brusque, he left a substantial body of paintings and drawings.

Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Though there was a tradition that he was of peasant origin, his birthplace is not known; it may have been the city of Breda. He was in Italy in 1552 and 1553. He worked for some years in Antwerp, the artistic uppercase of the Low Countries, and subsequently moved to Brussels. He was in touch with a circle of Erasmian humanists who were affected past some of the advanced religious idea of the time; we should call back that the Netherlands had been the birthplace of some radical thought on religious matters. Bruegel was deeply concerned with human vice and follies, and expressed this concern in his works. Thus he was no uncomplicated peasant, but a highly sophisticated and learned man with a similar-minded group of friends, and possessed of a deep moral concern. To these qualities he added bully artistic power and a superb technique.

Some of his paintings are filled with figures, as the Netherlandish Proverbs, above, in which the people are interim out about a hundred current proverbs. Hither Bruegel has a bully opportunity to annotate on homo wickedness and foolishness, as did Sebastian Brant and Erasmus in their writings. In this painting, a adult female is putting a bluish hood over her married man, which ways that she is making him a cuckold. A human being is filling the well after the dogie has been drowned, as nosotros would speak of locking the barn door after the horse is stolen. A man bites a pillar, which shows that he is a hypocrite, and so on.

Throughout all his piece of work was the same sharp ascertainment and criticism of human weakness. His two paintings of the building of the Belfry of Boom-boom show the folly and futility of pride. The Wedding Dance and The Wedding Feast, far from being merely representations of merrymaking among the peasants, show the effects of lust and gluttony respectively. In his great painting of The Parable of the Blind we see all men as lost, hopeless and without good leadership.

The inexhaustible interest in Bruegel'southward works is partly due to the richness and precision of his detail; there is ever something more to see. He was also a master of mural and one of the great figures in the development of that field of painting. He was non a portraitist, just this was not his intent. The people in his paintings often accept round, bare, heavy faces, expressionless, mindless, sometimes malicious; they are types rather than individuals, and their purpose is to convey a bulletin.

SPAIN

Patronage of artists and collections of works of art was a characteristic of the Hapsburgs, and of none more than and so than Philip 2. In the midst of the arduous labors of governing his vast dominions, he found time to build an important library, supervise the construction of the slap-up palace of the Escorial, collect works of art, and patronize artists. Nosotros have mentioned his interest in buying the works of Bosch. He continued the patronage of Titian, which had been begun by his begetter, Charles V. Strange influences, and then advisedly barred from the land in other fields, entered freely in the earth of art, particularly from Italy and Flemish region. Strictly speaking, of course, these influences could not be considered altogether foreign since Italy was largely dominated past Spain in the time of Philip, and the Low Countries were a role of his dominions. Even later the defection of the Netherlands, Flanders remained under Spanish dominion.

And nonetheless the most important Spanish artist of the flow was a Greek, born on the island of Crete. Domenikos Theotokopoulos is, in fact, more often than not known as El Greco (1541 1614). In spite of his Greek origin and the fact that he lived and worked in Venice and Rome until he was near thirty-six, he seems to us the near Spanish of painters. He received a couple of commissions from Philip Two, but the male monarch rejected 1 of his paintings because it failed to please him.

1 can run into why. To an center unaccustomed to his piece of work, El Greco'south fine art must have seemed strange. He deliberately distorts and elongates his figures, sets them ofttimes in a lurid, unearthly temper, uses an agitated, flickering lite, ignores the rules of perspective, and heightens the effect by areas of vivid colour. His painting is commonly religious, and its consequence is to express, in visions that seem to disregard the bulwark between the natural and supernatural, a mystical intensity that is a fitting expression of the Spain of the Counter Reformation. (Illustration Burial of Count Orgaz page 448) Though he spent his concluding years in poverty and left great debts behind him, he has been granted the posthumous recognition that is accorded to smashing artists who dared to depart from the accepted usages of their age.

CONCLUSION AND CAUTION

In a book of this sort, information technology is possible to mention merely a few of the artists and works of fine art of the period. This inevitable and unfortunate oversimplification must not be allowed to obscure the fact that the creative product of Northern Europe in the sixteenth century was vast, rich, and complex. Though the changes and upheavals of the historic period may have produced atmospheric condition inimical to artistic development, they could non quench information technology.

Readers must also be careful not to attempt to reduce and so vast a field of study to a few easy generalizations. It is convenient to allocate art and artists co-ordinate to schools and trends, only these are, after all, nothing more than conveniences. An artist or a grouping of artists, a piece of work of art or a group of works, may be called medieval, Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, Mannerist, and so along; but each artist, each flick or statue or building is unique. One slap-up work for case, a painting by Bruegel or an etching past Drer can provide textile for almost endless report and reflection. The report or appreciation of the work of one of the great masters can occupy a lifetime. Madonna, Portal of the Chartruse de Champol

by Claus Sluter and Shop

Mystic Admiration the Lamb, Ghent Altarpiece

by Hubert(?) and Jan van Eyck

Arnolfini Nuptials Portrait

by Jan van Eyck

Escorial Deposition

by Rogier van der Weyden

Charles the Bold

by Rogier van der Weyden

Nymphs, Fontaine des Innocents

by Jean Goujon

Francis I

by Jean Clouet

Martin Luther

past Lucas Cranach the Elder

Emperor Maximilian I

by Albrecht Dürer

Self-Portrait (1500)

by Albrecht Dürer

Melencolia I

by Albrecht Dürer

Erasmus 1523

by Hans Holbein the Younger

Burying of Count Orgaz

El Greco

---

• Return to Carrie Home Page
• Render to the Carrie Donated E-Books Habitation Folio
• RETURN TO Tabular array OF CONTENTS
• RETURN TO CHAPTER TWENTY-1
• Proceed TO CHAPTER 20-Three

echevarriaanterevell.blogspot.com

Source: http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/gilbert/22.html

Share this post