Northern

RenaissanceESSENTIAL QUESTION: HOW DID THE WORK OF

NORTHERN EUROPEAN ARTISTS DIFFER FROM

THOSE OF ITALIAN ARTISTS?

Northern Renaissance

• The artists of norther Europe wanted to show the world

realistically just like Italians did.

• They had a different approach because the Gothic

style cathedrals were decorated with stained glass

windows and did not have large blank spaces for fresco

painting.

• This led them to focus on small scale art like wood

panels, book illustrations, and literature.

• Flemish masters of painting used

shadows to create depth and a

sense of realism.

• They also put the subjects of

their paintings in every day

settings.

• Van Eyck is known for

the varnish he made using nut

oils that created vibrant colors

and fine details.

• Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and

his Bride (1434)

Jan Van Eyck

• He was a German artist of the early 1500s who made

several trips to Italy to learn about the technique of

perspective.

• He tried to combine the northern technique of

examining minute details of daily life with the

Italian use of ideals.

• He is most known for his woodcuts showing biblical

scenes like the series of Apocalypse.

Albrecht Durer

• Literature flourished during

the Renaissance

• This can be greatly attributed

to Johannes Gutenberg and

his invention of the printing

press.

• In 1455 Gutenberg printed

the first book produced by

using moveable type, which

increased speed of

production.

• The Bible was among the first

he printed.

Literature

Francesco Petrarch

• Petrarch is called he "father of Renaissance humanism"

because dedicated his life to finding forgotten Latin

manuscripts in monasteries around Europe.

• Humanism was an intellectual movement that studied

the old Greek writings and to revitalize culture.

• Petrarch believed intellectuals should then use this

knowledge to live an active civil life. He was also a

passionate writer of poems like the odes to Laura.

• Machiavelli served as an

adviser Lorenzo de'

Medici and studied his

use of political power.

• He wrote his observations

in a kind of guidebook

called “The Prince.”

• In it he argues a ruler

should be willing to do

anything to maintain

control without worrying

about conscience.

Niccolò Machiavelli

Sir Thomas More• English Humanist who

believed men and

women live in harmony.

• Wrote Utopia. A book about

a perfect society

• No private property, no one

is lazy, all people are

educated and the justice

system is used to end crime

instead of executing

criminals.

Desiderius Erasmus

• Used humor to show

the immoral and

ignorant behavior of

people, including the

clergy.

• He felt people should

be open minded and

be kind to others.

• The Praise of Folly

ComparingItalian Renaissance Northern Renaissance

• Humanism revived Greek

though about philosophy

and society

• The Gutenberg Bible helped

spread ideas of Christianity

and revive the faith .

• Art was small-scale and

focused on details of daily

life

ComparingItalian Renaissance

• individualism –

emphasis on person as

individual rather than

part of a group

• Secularism – focus on

worldly themes instead

of religious.

• Art was large-scale and

mainly fresco or

sculpture

Northern Renaissance