Chapter 16 Painting and Printmaking in Northern Europe

Map of Germany and the NorthernCountries

General Facts about Northern Art Most important northern artists were painters from Germany and Netherlands Many travelled to Italy and were influenced by Renaissance humanism North less comfortable with Classical forms than Italy International Gothic persists as a style Less interest in chiaroscuro, modeling, and Venetian painterly qualities

Context Martin Luther—from Germany Erasmus--humanist from Netherlands Humanism and Protestantism CLASH with Inquisition 1487 German Inquisitors had published Witches Hammer, i.e., characteristics and punishment of witches 1604 Holland Karel van Mander publishes a biography of artists Humanism is BIG, though not maybe Classical forms Significance of the Proverb—Classical origin but maintained as a way of educating people 1524 Peasant Revolt against the nobility in SW Germany

Hieronymus Bosch Lived in Hertogenbosch Believed in pervasiveness of sin, esp. sensual kind Most important Netherlandish artist at the turn of the 16th century Corruption in the Catholic Church—led to Reformation—and human folly become important subjects for art Satire and moralizing Self Portrait of Hieronymous Bosch from a detail of the Hell panel of the Garden of Earthly Delights, Oil on wood.

Hieronymus Bosch, Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things, painted tabletop, 1475 or Oil on wood. Life on earth is a mere reflection of heavenly perfection God is both creator and eye Eye is a mirror-- variation on convex mirror of Arnolfini and Parmigianino Center is risen Christ Outer circle are reflections of daily life illustrating the seven deadly sins— The 4 outside circles— reminder of mortality and rewards or punishments that await us after death

Death, Last Rites

Judgment

Glory

Hell

Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights, Triptych: L Garden of Eden, C World Before the Flood, R Hell. L/R 7’2” X 3’, C 7’2” X 6’4”; Madrid

Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights panel in closed position Detail upper left corner

Eden Panel

Central Panel: Garden of Earthly Delights

Hellscape and Divine Punishment

Bosch, The Cure for Folly, c. 1490s Oil on panel; 18 9/10 X 13 ¾ “ Master cuts out the stones….. Folly –lack of good sense; foolishness

Genre Painting and Still Life Painting Allegorical-- picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Condemns greed and exalts honesty--moralizing Not about profession; uses daily life and vanity of life to contrast with Christian symbols Mirror-- a device to link spaces; shows man with Bible and a church steeple Scales, book of devotional prayers Detailed depiction; material vs. spiritual realms Quinten Massys, Money Changer and His Wife, Oil on panel; 2’ 3 ¾” X 2’ 1/8”.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, c Oil on panel.

Foremost painter of 16c Netherlands Travelled to Italy Significance of landscape; nature is source of life, exploration and Petrarch’s humanism Folly and hubris, pride and unrealistic ambition, turns the world upside down Peasant painter “No plow stops for a dying man” Proverb Antiquity and Christian moralizing

German taste for linear quality Travelled to Italy and worked under a painter in Nuremberg, a center of humanism Studied theories of proportion and wrote a book of advice to artists: Four Books of Human Proportion---science and art, reason Influenced by Leonardo— Status of the artist—signature Important for transition from late Gothic to Renaissance in N Europe Albrecht Durer, Self-Portrait, Oil on panel; 20 ½ X 16 in.

Albrecht Durer, Self-Portrait, Oil on panel; 26 ¼ X 19 ¼ in. Reminiscent of frontal images of Christ and saints in Byzantine icons Softened Idealized Khan Academy

1498 Durer produces the Apocalypse, first book to be designed and published by an artist Full text of Book of Revelation—Second Coming of Christ and Judgment—in Latin and German (vernacular) Illustrated with woodcuts by Durer Durer’s interest in line is most apparent in his prints, woodcut and engravings

Death

Famine, War and Plague