NORTHERN
EUROPE AND SPAIN,1500-1600
GARDNER CHAPTER 23-1
PP. 625-632
EUROPE IN THE 16TH CENTURY
Dissolution of Burgundy in 1477
France, Holy Roman Empire and Spain are the great powers of the 16th century
Centralizing monarchies
Luther and Protestantism
Counter-Reformation
Northern Humanists = Christian Humanists
Wars of Religion
MATTHIAS GRUNEWALD MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD,
Isenheim Altarpiece (closed), Crucifixion (center panel), from the chapel of the Hospital of Saint Anthony, Isenheim, Germany, ca. 1510–1515. Oil on panel, center panel 9' 9 1/2” x 10’ 9”, each wing 8’ 2 1/2” x 11’2’
Placed in a monastery hospital
Saint Sebastian on left panel
Saint Anthony on right panel
Crucifixion in center panel
Lamentation in the predella
MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, Isenheim Altarpiece (open), center
Carved wooden center shrine
Left – meeting of Saints Anthony and Paul
Right – Temptation of Saint Anthony
Befitting its placement the altar includes depictions of suffering and disease -> but also miraculous healing
Ergotism -> disease caused by fungus on rye -> symptoms were convulsions and gangrene -> this led to amputations
Main panel -> Christ’s amputated legs; opening left panel severs his arm as well
The iconography of his altarpiece meaningful to viewers at hospital
Saint Anthony and Christ endured intense suffering -> but both represent miraculous healing and redemption as well
Themes of pain, illness, and death + themes of hope, comfort, and salvation
HANS BALDUNG GRIEN
HANS BALDUNG GRIEN, Witche’s Sabbath -> chiaroscuro woodcut = involving two carved blocks of wood
Night scene in the forest -> coven of nude witches gathered around a fuming secret potion
One young witch rides through the night sky on a goat -> sits backward -> suggest witchcraft is the inversion of Christianity
ALBRECHT DURER
ALBRECHT DURER Self-Portrait at 28. 1500. Oil on panel
“the Leonardo of the Northern Renaissance”
The central figure in the German Renaissance was Albrecht Dürer, a painter and graphic artist, one of the most outstanding personalities in the history of art
One of the first N. European artists to travel to Italy to study art and theory
Christ like pose -> not blasphemous -> human creativity as a reflection of God’s creativity
GREAT PIECE OF TURF
ALBRECHT DÜRER, The Great Piece of Turf, 1503. Watercolor, approx. 1’ 4” x 1’ 1/2”
Durer visited Italy twice -> shared Leonardo’s belief that sight reveals scientific truth
Botanists have been able to identify each plant and grass variety in this watercolor
FALL OF MAN
ALBRECHT DÜRER, The Fall of Man (Adam and Eve), 1504. Engraving, approx. 9 7/8” x 7 5/8”
Influenced by classical sculpture
Ideal image of humans before the fall of man
Contrapposto figures -> Italian Renaissance influence
Animals = cat/angry, rabit/energetic, elk/sad, ox/lethargic =the four humors -> in balance before fall
Northern European devotion to details
KNIGHT, DEATH, AND THE DEVIL
ALBRECHT DÜRER, Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513. Engraving, 9 5/8” x 7 3/8”
A knight is impervious to the threats of Death(a crowned, decaying cadaver) and the Devil (the hideous, horned creature) because he has “put on the whole armor of God that he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,” as urged by St. Paul ‘s Epistle to the Ephesians (Eph: 6:11)
FOUR APOSTLES
ALBRECHT DÜRER, Four Apostles, 1526. Oil on panel, each panel 7’ 1” x 2’ 6”
John and Peter on left; Peter represented the pope in Rome -> Durer, a Lutheran, places him behind
Mark and Paul on the right -> Paul was a favorite of protestants
Focus on the reading of the Bible -> key Protestant idea
THE FOUR HORSEMN OF THE APOCALYPSE
ALBRECHT DÜRER, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Adam and Eve), 1504. Engraving, approx. 9 7/8” x 7 5/8”
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are the forces of man's destruction described in the Christian Bible in Chapter Six of the Book of Revelation. The four horsemen are traditionally named after the powers they represent: War(sword), Famine(scales), Pestilence(bow), and Death(pitchfork)
Riding over the dead
LUTHER AND THE REFORMATION
Martin Luther’s goal was significant reform and clarification of major spiritual issues, but his ideas ultimately led to the splitting of Christendom
Despite religious conflict, Humanism filtered up from Italy and spread throughout northern Europe. Northern humanists focused more on trying to reconcile humanism with Christianity & are therefore often referred to as Christian humanists
The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation had enormous consequences on Northern European art. Catholics embraced church decoration as an aid to communicating with God. Protestants believed such imagery could lead to idolatry and distracted viewers from focusing on the real reason for their presence in church -- to communicate directly with God
VISUAL IMAGERY AND THE REFORMATION LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER,
Allegory of Law and Grace, ca. 1530. Woodcut, 10 5/8” x 1’ 3/4”
