Transcript northern europe and spain, 1500-1600

NORTHERN
EUROPE
AND SPAIN,
1500-1600
GARDNER CHAPTER 23-1
PP. 625-632

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
EUROPE IN THE 16TH CENTURY
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”