Transcript The Northern Renaissance Begins

The Northern Renaissance
The Northern Renaissance
Begins
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By 1450 the population of Northern Europe was
recovering from the Bubonic Plague
 1453- 100 years war between France and England
was over
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England and France under strong monarchs who
sponsored the arts (i.e. Francis I of France invited da Vinci
to retire in France and hired Italian artists to rebuild his
castle at Fountainebleau
 As ideas left Italy, they mingled with northern
traditions- so, own character developed
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Northern humanists more interested in religious ideas
than secular Italy- some developed plan for social reform
based on Christian values
Artistic Ideas Spread to
Germany
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1494 French king claimed the throne of Naples and
launched an invasion through northern Italy- this led many
Italian artists and writers to flee north
  German painters
• o Albrecht Duerer- son of a goldsmith, who decided to
become a painter. Went to Italy to study. Made woodcuts
and engravings. His work inspired other German artists
• o Hans Holbein the Younger – specialized in painting
portraits that are almost photographic in detail – had great
success in England
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And to Flanders…..
• Flemish Painters
• o Similar to Italy, wealthy merchant families liked the
emphasis on individualism and worldly pleasures and paid
for art
• o Jan van Eyck – used oil-based painting (which doesn’t
dry quickly and lends itself to blending)- very realistic
subjects and portrayals
• o Pieter Bruegel the Elder – interested in people, painted
everyday life, or anger at Spanish rule over them
Northern Writers try to reform
society
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Christian humanists- adapted humanism and gave it a
more religious slant
  Desiderius Erasmus
• o Holland- born in Rotterdam
• o Wrote The Praise of Folly, which poked fun at greedy
merchants, heartsick lovers, quarrelsome scholars, and
pompous priests
• o Believed in Christianity of the heart- everyone should
read the Bible
 § Thomas More
• o 1516 Utopia about an imaginary land of peace-loving
people (in Greek utopia means “no place” but in English
its meaning changed)
Francios Rebalais and William
Shakespeare
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Wrote in vernacular French instead of Latin (like More and
Erasmus)
• o Gargantua and Pantagruel- poked fun at society
• o Believed people were basically good and should live by their
instincts instead of religious rule
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 § William Shakespeare
• o 1564 born in Stratford-upon-Avon, by 1592 living in London and
writing plays and poems
• o His work shows a deep understanding of human beings – Macbeth,
Hamlet, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dreamall show human flaws
Elizabethan Age
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Renaissance England is also called the
Elizabethan Age, for Queen Elizabeth I,
who reigned from 1558 – 1603- she was
well-educated, knew many languages, and
patronized the arts
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Printing Spreads Renaissance
Ideas
  Chinese had invented block printing
• o 1045 Bi Sheng invented movable type
(but not practical for Chinese because they
had so many characters)
• o By 13th century block-printed items
reached Europe
Johann Gutenberg
§ a craftsman from Mainz, Germany,
reinvented movable type around 1440
• o Then went on to invent the printing press
(which was easy for European languages
which don’t have that many letters in their
alphabets)
• o 1455 printed the Gutenberg Bible- first
full-size book printed with movable type
Printing Spreads Learning
• o Printer could produce hundreds of copies
• o Books are cheap- so more people buy them
• o By 1500 presses in 250 cities had printed 9-10
million books
• o Spread of new ideas increased
• o Encouraged learning and led to rise in literacy
• o Writing in the vernacular- more people read the
Bible themselves- ultimately leads to church
reform