 Italian Renaissance = mainly secular  Northern = a mixture of secular and Christian attitudes.  Northern Humanism- Tried to unite classical learning and Christian faith, called Christian humanist.  Hated the worldliness of church excess  wanted a balance of afterlife and secular concerns  emphasized bible readings  wanted to reform church, but also maintain church.  Will lead to Luther’s reformation  Christian Humanist used education to rescue church.  Printing Press- Gutenberg invented movable type. Printed mainly the bible…help spread Renaissance ideas along trade routes throughout Europe…except Russia

WritersWriters  Erasmus- ( ) ‘prince of the humanists’ and ‘voice of moderation’. Wrote ‘Praise of Folly’ (1512) that ridiculed society’s attitudes, such as ignorance, greed and superstition. Famous intellectual…called for tolerance. ‘Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched.’…books placed on the ‘Index of Prohibited Books’  Thomas More- greatest English humanist. Wrote ‘Utopia’ about a flourishing society with no private ownership, ignorance or superstition. A satire of 16th C Europe about living better. Very radical!!!  William Shakespeare- wrote about entire range of human experience and emotions.  Cervantes-wrote ‘Don Quixote’…’greatest novel ever written’… about medieval chivalry.  Rabelais- wrote ‘Gargantua' about giants who believed in unrestrained lives and having many pleasures.  Montaigne- wrote ‘Essay’ about religious skepticism and human behavior.

Renaissance Art in Northern Europe  Should not be considered an appendage to Italian art.  The differences between the two cultures:  Italy  change was inspired by humanism with its emphasis on the classical antiquity.  Northern Europe  change was driven by religious reform, the return to Christian values, and the revolt against the authority of the Church. Tendancy toward realism.  Both have an attention to details.  Northern Renaissance focused on religious scenes, portraits, peasants and landscapes.

Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife (Wedding Portrait) Jan Van Eyck 1434 (1395 – 1441) 1434

Jan van Eyck - Giovanni Arnolfini & His Wife (details)

Massys’ The Moneylender & His Wife, 1514

Chateau Fontainebleau, Gallery [right] by Rosso Fiorentino & Francesco Primaticcio,

Albrecht Dürer ( ), The greatest of German artists.,  Self-Portrait at 26, 1498.

Dürer – Self- Portrait in Fur-Collared Robe, 1500

Dürer The Last Supper woodcut, 1510

Hans Holbein, the Younger ( ), One of the great German artists who did most of his work in England.  Erasmus Writing, 1523 , Henry VIII was his patron from 1536.

Artist to the Tudors Henry VIII (left), 1540 and the future Edward VI (above), 1543.

Anne of Cleves

Holbein’s, The Ambassadors, 1533 A Skull

The English Were More Interested in Architecture than Painting Hardwick Hall, designed by Robert Smythson in the 1590s, for the Duchess of Shrewsbury [more medieval in style].

Burghley House for William Cecil The largest & grandest house of the early Elizabethan era.

Bruegel’s, Hunters in the Snow, 1565

Bruegel’s, Winter Scene, 1565

Bruegel’s, The Harvesters, 1565

El Greco Christ in Agony on the Cross 1600s

El Greco Portrait of a Cardinal 1600

El Greco’s, The Burial of Count Orgaz,

El Greco’s, The Burial of Count Orgaz, (details)

El Greco The View of Toledo