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 The Birth of Venus (c. 1484–1486) byBotticelli |
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TheNorthern Renaissance was theRenaissance that occurred in Europe north of theAlps, developing later than theItalian Renaissance, and in most respects only beginning in the last years of the 15th century. It took different forms in the various countries involved, and theGerman,French,English,Low Countries andPolish Renaissances often had different characteristics.
Early Netherlandish painting, especially its later phases, is often classified as part of the Northern Renaissance. Rapidly expanding trade and commerce and a new class of rich merchant patrons in thenBurgundian cities likeBruges in the 15th century andAntwerp in the 16th increased cultural exchange between Italy and theLow Countries; however in art, and especially architecture, lateGothic influences remained present until the arrival ofBaroque even as painters increasingly drew on Italian models.[1]
In France,King Francis I importedItalian Renaissance art, and commissioned Italian artists (includingLeonardo da Vinci), building grand palaces at great expense, starting theFrench Renaissance. In England also, the first signs of Renaissance art and architecture were the result of patronage by a small circle of patrons at the royal courts ofHenry VII of England and his sonHenry VIII (Nonsuch Palace), and courtiers such as CardinalThomas Wolsey, who builtHampton Court Palace.
Universities and the printed book helped spread the spirit of the age through France, the Low Countries and theHoly Roman Empire, and then toScandinavia andBritain in the early 16th century. Writers and humanists such asRabelais,Pierre de Ronsard andDesiderius Erasmus were greatly influenced by the Italian Renaissance model and were part of the same intellectual movement. During theEnglish Renaissance (which overlapped with theElizabethan era) writers such asWilliam Shakespeare andChristopher Marlowe composed works of lasting influence. The Renaissance was brought to Poland directly from Italy by artists fromFlorence and the Low Countries, starting thePolish Renaissance.
In some areas the Northern Renaissance was distinct from the Italian Renaissance in itscentralization of political power. While Italy and Germany were dominated by independentcity-states, most of Europe began emerging asnation-states or even unions of countries. The Northern Renaissance was also closely linked to theProtestant Reformation with the resulting long series of internal and external conflicts between variousProtestant groups and theRoman Catholic Church having lasting effects.
Feudalism was on the decline at the beginning of theRenaissance. The reasons for this decline include the post-Plague environment, the increasing use of money rather than land as amedium of exchange, the growing number of serfs living as freemen, the formation of nation-states withmonarchies interested in reducing the power of feudal lords, the increasing uselessness of feudal armies in the face of new military technology (such asgunpowder), and a general increase in agricultural productivity due to improving farming technology and methods. As in Italy, the decline of feudalism opened the way for the cultural, social, and economic changes associated with the Renaissance in Europe.
Finally, the Renaissance in Europe would also be kindled by a weakening of the Roman Catholic Church. The slow demise of feudalism also weakened a long-established policy in which church officials helped keep the population of the manor under control in return for tribute. Consequently, the early 15th century saw the rise of many secular institutions and beliefs. Among the most significant of these,Renaissance humanism would lay the philosophical grounds for much ofRenaissance art,music,science andtechnology.Erasmus, for example, was important in spreadinghumanist ideas in the north, and was a central figure at the intersection of classical humanism and mounting religious questions. Forms of artistic expression which a century ago would have been banned by the church were now tolerated or even encouraged in certain circles.
The velocity of transmission of the Renaissance throughout Europe can also be ascribed to the invention of theprinting press. Its power to disseminate information enhancedscientific research, spread political ideas and generally impacted the course of the Renaissance in northern Europe. As in Italy, the printing press increased the availability of books written in bothvernacular languages and the publication of new and ancientclassical texts inGreek andLatin. Furthermore, theBible became widely availablein translation, a factor often attributed to the spread of the Protestant Reformation.
One of the most important technological development of the Renaissance was the invention of thecaravel. This combination of European and North African ship building technologies for the first time made extensive trade and travel over theAtlantic feasible. While first introduced by the Italian states and the early captains, such asGiovanni Caboto,Giovanni da Verrazzano andColumbus, who were Italian explorers, the development would end Northern Italy's role as the trade crossroads of Europe, shifting wealth and power westwards toPortugal,Spain,France,England, andthe Netherlands. These states all began to conduct extensive trade withAfrica andAsia, and in theAmericas began extensive colonisation activities. This period of exploration and expansion has become known as theAge of Discovery. Eventually European power spread around the globe.
Early Netherlandish painting often included complicatediconography, and art historians have debated the "hidden symbolism" of works by artists like Hubert andJan van Eyck.
The detailed realism ofEarly Netherlandish painting, led byRobert Campin and Jan van Eyck in the 1420s and 1430s, is today generally considered to be the beginning of the early Northern Renaissance in painting. This detailed realism was greatly respected in Italy, but there was little reciprocal influence on the North until nearly the end of the 15th century.[2] Despite frequent cultural and artistic exchange, theAntwerp Mannerists (1500–1530)—chronologically overlapping with but unrelated to ItalianMannerism—were among the first artists in the Low Countries to clearly reflect Italian formal developments.
Around the same time,Albrecht Dürer made his two trips to Italy, where he was greatly admired for hisprints. Dürer, in turn, was influenced by the art he saw there and is agreed to be one of the first Northern High Renaissance painters. Other notable northern painters such asHans Holbein the Elder andJean Fouquet, retained aGothic influence that was still popular in the north, while highly individualistic artists such asHieronymus Bosch andPieter Bruegel the Elder developed styles that were imitated by many subsequent generations. Later in the 16th century Northern painters increasingly looked and travelled to Rome, becoming known as theRomanists. TheHigh Renaissance art ofMichelangelo andRaphael and the late Renaissance stylistic tendencies ofMannerism that were in vogue had a great impact on their work.
Renaissance humanism and the large number of surviving classical artworks and monuments encouraged many Italian painters to explore Greco-Roman themes more prominently than northern artists, and likewise the famous 15th-century German and Dutch paintings tend to be religious. In the 16th century,mythological and other themes from history became more uniform amongst northern and Italian artists. Northern Renaissance painters, however, had new subject matter, such aslandscape andgenre painting.
AsRenaissance art styles moved through northern Europe, they changed and were adapted to local customs. In England and the northern Netherlands theReformationbrought religious painting almost completely to an end. Despite several very talentedartists of the Tudor Court in England, portrait painting was slow to spread from the elite. In France theSchool of Fontainebleau was begun by Italians such asRosso Fiorentino in the latest Mannerist style, but succeeded in establishing a durable national style. By the end of the 16th century, artists such asKarel van Mander andHendrik Goltzius collected inHaarlem in a brief but intense phase ofNorthern Mannerism that also spread toFlanders.
