1. Chapter 17.2: The Northern Renaissance

2. Ch.17.2 Essential Questions:
What were the origins and characteristics of the Northern Renaissance?
What was the impact of the Renaissance on German and Flemish painters?
Who were some of the key Northern Renaissance writers?
What were the origins of the Elizabethan Age?
How did printing and publishing affect social reforms?

3. Where are we talking about?
Northern Europe; specifically-
England
France
Germany
Flanders (present day Netherlands and part of northern France)

4. When are we talking about?
By about the mid to late 1400s, the Renaissance had begun to spread from Italy northward.
There are several reasons for this.

5. Why did it spread?
Travelling artists brought their ideas and innovations with them.
Wars between France and Italy, though destructive, allowed northern Europeans to view the explosion of creativity going on in Italy
The invention of the printing press quickened the spread of ideas

6. Why did it spread? (continued)
Population grew quickly now that the bubonic plague had passed (for the most part!)
The Hundred Years War ended in 1453; as a result, cities grow rapidly
No war means more money is available for other goods and luxuries (like artwork)

7. It’s also more religious there.
The tone of the Northern Renaissance, however, is different from what was seen in Italy. But is it really a Renaissance (rebirth) in the true sense of the term?
While wealthy merchants and rich, independent city-states led the way in Italy, this was not the case in the north.
Due in part to the plague and the Hundred Years War, northern Europe had strong centralized power structures in the form of monarchies. They didn’t have uppity city-states.
Thus, it was mainly the kings and some nobles who were responsible for the Renaissance’s spread there, not wealthy patron families (although there were wealthy Flemish merchants who were patrons).
It’s also more religious there.
While the Italian Renaissance was not strictly secular, it was more so than the Northern flavor.

8. Art. https://www. youtube. com/watch. v=uF4zhg9lkxk Rick Steves Art
Art Rick Steves Art @41: History
Art followed the Italian techniques and used a lot of perspective and realism.
German Artists:
Albrecht Durer- known for woodcuts; engravings; religious subjects and classical myths
Hans Holbein the Younger- portrait painter in photographic detail (patrons included Henry VIII)
Flemish Artists:
Jan van Eyck- used oil paints/main layers, a technique still used today; use of realistic detail
Pieter Breugel the Elder- known for realistic detail and portrayal of the individual even in large crowds; painted everyday scenes of life.

9. Albrecht Durer- Self Portrait

10. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

11. Hans Holbein (the Younger)
The Ambassadors

12. Look at the detail:
Sir Thomas More

13. Jan van Eyck
The Ghent Altarpiece- A tryptic (3 panels)

14. The Arnolfini Wedding

18. Pieter Breugel the Elder
Peasant Wedding

19. Tower of Babel

20. Fall of Icarus

21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZuI-dR9pfU at 21:30
Census at Bethlehem

22. Literature
Writing also goes humanist, but, like with the rest, with a Christian bent, giving rise to Christian Humanism.
Human freedom and individualism are compatible with Christianity.
Human existence isn’t valued merely in itself.
The main idea was to reform society
Education was important- schools for boys and girls were founded

23. Christian Humanists
-Erasmus (the “Father of Humanism”); wrote The Praise of Folly- pokes fun at corrupt priests and greedy merchants.

24. Christian Humanists
Thomas More, author of Utopia- tried to portray a model society, free of greed and vice

25. Women’s Reforms
Christine de Pizan called for women to be educated. Spoke out against different treatment for boys and girls

26. The Elizabethan Age mid-1500s England
Named after the reign of Queen Elizabeth I ( )
Patron who did much to support English art and literature

27. William Shakespeare Greatest playwright of all time
Revered the classics and used them in his plots (ex: Julius Caesar)
Cleverly revealed human nature in scenes of dramatic conflict by exposing the human flaw
Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear

28. Gutenberg and the printing press
The printing press is one of the greatest inventions in history.
It was invented by Johann Gutenberg in 1440
Previously, literary works had to be transcribed by hand, usually by monks.
It was tedious, time-consuming work and made books very expensive.
The printing press allowed works to be cheaply mass-produced. Suddenly the written word could be accessible to the masses.
In three years, a monk could produce one Bible… Gutenberg, 180

30. The press actually derived from a modified olive press.
It’s big thing was the durable types used and the ability to easily move around the letters.
One of the first projects Gutenberg undertook was printing 200 copies of the Bible with 42 lines per page. Some were on vellum (calf skin).
There are currently 11 complete copies on vellum and 48 relatively intact copies on paper. They can be sold for millions (but aren’t sold that often).

31. Legacy of the Renaissance
1.Changes in the Arts
Imitated art techniques/styles from classical Greece and Rome
Painting/sculptures become more realistic/lifelike
Artists incorporate both religious and secular subjects into their work
Writers write in the vernacular
Arts once again praised individual achievement

32. Legacy of the Renaissance, continued
2. Changes in Society
Impact of the printing press similar to modern day impact of the internet and world-wide web
Published works of new discoveries, maps and charts led to further discoveries in a variety of fields
Published laws and court records made the people much more aware of their rights
Christian humanists attempted reforms in society
People began to QUESTION political structures and religious practices