Transcript The Northern Renaissance - Hackettstown School District

Chapter 17.2: The Northern
Renaissance
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?
Where are we talking about?
• Northern Europe;
specifically–
–
–
–
England
France
Germany
Flanders (present day
Netherlands and part
of northern France)
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.
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
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)
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 citystates 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.
A big mover and shaker was France’s King Francis I, who
reigned from 1515-1547.
• Francis became known as
the Father and Restorer
of Letters. He was quite
the humanist.
• The two previous French
kings had warred with
(and therefore interacted
with) Italy, but Francis
was the first one to really
embrace the new ideas.
• He sponsored a lot of art, and even lured Leonardo de
Vinci to France.
• It was near the end of de Vinci’s life and he wasn’t
that productive, but he brought his stuff with him –
including such pieces as the Mona Lisa, which is why
France has it and not Italy.
• He was a great reader, a good poet, and greatly
expanded the royal library. He even opened it up to all
scholars.
• He did a lot with architecture.
The Chateau de Chambord
Chateau de St. Germain-en-Laye
Château de Fontainebleau
Rebuilt the Louvre
Art
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF4zhg9lkxk Rick Steves Art
@41:00
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.
• Albrecht Durer- Self
Portrait
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
• Hans Holbein (the Younger)
The Ambassadors
Look at
the detail:
Sir Thomas More
• Jan van Eyck
The Ghent Altarpiece- A tryptic (3 panels)
The Arnolfini Wedding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U38V_
XwaRxM
Peasant Wedding
Pieter Breugel the Elder
Tower of Babel
Fall of Icarus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZuIdR9pfU at 21:30
Census at Bethlehem
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
Christian Humanists
• -Erasmus (the “Father
of Humanism”); wrote
The Praise of Follypokes fun at corrupt
priests and greedy
merchants.
Christian Humanists
• Thomas More, author
of Utopia- tried to
portray a model
society, free of greed
and vice
Women’s Reforms
• Christine de Pizan
called for women to
be educated. Spoke
out against different
treatment for boys
and girls
The Elizabethan Age
mid-1500s England
• Named after the reign
of Queen Elizabeth I
(1558-1603)
• Patron who did much
to support English art
and literature
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
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
• 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).
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
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