When you hear about the Renaissance, immediately you think of Italy. But there was also a Renaissance north of the Alps in France, Germany, the Low Countries, Prague, and Poland. "Renaissance" is a French word meaning "rebirth." The Northern Renaissance brought an appreciation for art, music, and philosophy to its regions. So, what happened during the Northern Renaissance, and how did it differ from the Italian version?
Fig. 1 - Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Peter Brueghel the Elder, 1558.
Northern Renaissance Time Period
The Northern Renaissance took place during the mid-fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It began with northern artists such as Albrecht Dürer visiting Italy and bringing back Italian painting techniques. The Northern Renaissance merged into the Reformation period in the early sixteenth century, which began with Martin Luther nailing his ninety-five theses calling for Catholic Church reform in 1517.
Characteristics of the Northern Renaissance
The Northern Renaissance is best characterized by the genres of art, music, and especially philosophy. Humanism profoundly impacted the north leading to questions about how to use classical works to improve society.
Renaissance humanism was a school of thought that brought back Greek and Roman ideas.
The Northern Renaissance began in Flanders, which was part of the Dutch Netherlands (now Belgium), via trade routes to Italy. Flanders had a city-state structure similar to Italy, which saw a rising merchant class eager to invest in art and cultural enterprises. Owning great art improved the merchant's social standing because it conveyed the impression that they were cultured and civilized. Kings in France, England, Prague, and the Holy Roman Empire also endorsed artists and philosophers for similar reasons. This cultural focus is a departure from feudal Europe during the Middle Ages, which placed the highest value on military prowess and the Church.
Art
Artistic styles in the Northern Renaissance reflected the influence of their Italian counterparts but created their unique counterparts. Northern Renaissance art never wholly departed from the Gothic style that dominated the Middle Ages but instead incorporated it into the Renaissance style of Mannerism. Many artistic works featured landscapes and classical figures emphasizing natural beauty.
Mannerism
Unlike High Renaissance art, which focuses on realistic proportions of the human body, Mannerism took those proportions and exaggerates them. For example, Mannerist figures are often depicted with long necks or long, graceful limbs to accentuate the beauty of the human form. Mythological figures such as the goddess Diana were popular subjects for the Mannerist style.
Low Countries
The early Renaissance in the Low Countries featured religious narrative works, such as the bizarre and macabre paintings of Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516). Bosch showcased deep-set fears and anxieties about sin and Hell, which matched the style of sermons and religious literature.
Low Countries comprise Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Around 1550, art shifted focus toward nature and beauty but remained darker in tone than its Italian neighbors. Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-1569) is considered the most significant artist of the new style from this region. Many of his prints and paintings feature rural peasants engaged in regular daily activities such as:
- farming
- hunting
- children playing games
Fig. 2 - The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, c. 1500.
Holy Roman Empire
The Germans focused on
- woodcuts
- engravings
- book illustrations
to accompany their invention of the printing press in 1440. However, the most significant artist of the German Renaissance was Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), who produced paintings in addition to woodcuts and engravings. Dürer traveled to Italy in the late fifteenth century and brought Italian influence back to Germany, where he excelled at the Renaissance concept of realistic proportion. Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I was one of his patrons.
Fig. 3 - Self-Portrait at 26 by Albrecht Dürer, 1498.
France
French Renaissance art flourished during the reigns of King Francis I (1515 to 1547) and King Henry II (1547 to 1559). France invaded Italy in the late fifteenth century and imported Italian artistic styles. Francis I brought Leonardo Da Vinci to France in 1516, where he spent the remainder of his life. French painting reflects the Italian Mannerist style, featuring allegorical figures with long, graceful bodies.
Significant French Renaissance artists include Jean and François Clouet, and Jean Fouquet.
Fig. 4 - King Francis I by Jean Clouet, c. 1530.
Music
The Franco-Flemish School dominated the music scene during the Northern Renaissance. Composers produced polyphonic music for the first time, primarily for religious services.
Polyphonic music involves two or more melodies happening simultaneously.
The most popular styles were the motet and the hymn.
French composer Josquin des Prez (c. 1450-1521) is one of the most significant examples of the Franco-Flemish School.
He wrote over one hundred motets during his lifetime. Protestant leader Martin Luther called him "the master of notes."1
Motet
A motet is a piece of music that features more than one voice with words. Motets were primarily religious and sung in Latin at church services throughout Europe. The earliest motets originated from the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris during the twelfth century. Some composers still write motets even today.
Secular music also flourished during the Northern Renaissance.
The English Madrigal School, which lasted from roughly 1588 to 1627, is a prime example of the movement.
The subject matter is typically light as opposed to the more somber motet. Significant composers from the English Madrigal School include William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons.
Madrigals are secular songs that are sung a capella or without accompaniment.
Northern Renaissance Humanism
Fig. 5 - Desiderius Erasmus by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1523.
Humanist thinking focused on the improvement of the individual utilizing ancient scholars such as:
Northern Renaissance humanism also sought to improve society. University education began to feature poetry, philosophy, rhetoric, and grammar, in addition to already established theological studies.
The most significant Northern Renaissance humanist is Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), a Dutch Catholic priest from Rotterdam.
Erasmus openly criticized the Catholic Church in his writings, pointing out clerical corruption and the Church's reliance on superstition in works such as In Praise of Folly and the Enchiridion Militis Christiani, or "handbook of a Christian soldier."
Yet, despite his criticisms, he expressed the need to reform the Catholic Church and not break away from it entirely like his contemporary Martin Luther.
A second influential Northern humanist was Sir Thomas More (1478-1535). More was an English scholar, lawyer, and statesman, although he was deeply committed to the Catholic Church.
More's best-known work, Utopia, outlines problems with his society and contrasts them with an idyllic land ruled by order and reason. More emphasized the need for structure in society through tradition and order.
Northern Renaissance vs. Italian Renaissance
Fig. 6 - Kitchen Interior with the Parable of the Great Supper by Joachim Wtewael, 1605.
The Northern Renaissance began much later than the Italian Renaissance, emerging in the late fifteenth century. In many ways, it was influenced by the Italian Renaissance. However, it was independent of its Italian counterpart, particularly in art and humanist thought.
Northern European painters did not discard the Gothic style completely. Many paintings were still religious as opposed to the more secular approach of the Italian Renaissance. Artists were more interested in images of nature and rural life instead of portraits. However, several influential portrait painters did emerge in the north, including Hans Holbein the Elder, who painted the English Tudors, and François Clouet, who painted the French royal family.
Unlike the Italian Renaissance humanists, the northern counterpart did not focus on improving the individual for public service. Instead, it focused on using classical texts to reform society and reinterpret Christian doctrine. However, these humanists should not be considered the founders of the Protestant Reformation because they did not wish to break from the Catholic Church, only reform it from within.
Furthermore, the invention of the printing press enabled Northern Renaissance humanism to spread at an unprecedented rate. The Italians did not start using the press until the end of the century. By 1500, there were presses across Europe printing millions of texts ranging from the classical works of Plato to treatises on Church reform from Erasmus and Martin Luther. The latter increased access to information and was one of the main causes of the Protestant Reformation.
End of the Northern Renaissance
Fig. 7 - The Seven Liberal Arts by Marten de Vos, 1590.
The Northern Renaissance ended in the mid-sixteenth century with the rise of the Protestant Reformation. Humanists who called for societal and Church reform from within paved the road for theologians such as Martin Luther to break with the Church entirely and found a new branch of Christianity. The new Protestant sects denounced religious art as idolatrous. In response, many northern religious artists from Germany and the Low Countries fled to Catholic strongholds in France and the South.
The Mannerist style flourished in the north until the early seventeenth century when it was replaced by the Baroque. Landscapes and paintings featuring classic or historical figures were the dominant subjects. One of the last Northern Mannerist artists was Jacques Bellagne (c.1575–1616), who produced etchings and paintings in the present-day French region of Lorraine.
Northern Renaissance - Key takeaways
- The Northern Renaissance occurred in Europe north of the Alps from the late fifteenth century through the mid-sixteenth century. It flourished in the Low Countries, the Holy Roman Empire, France, and England.
- The Northern Renaissance differed from the Italian Renaissance, and its art focused on landscapes and rural life.
- Humanism was important to the Northern Renaissance. Thinkers such as Thomas More and Desiderius Erasmus used humanism to address societal reform rather than simply individual improvement.
- The Northern Renaissance merged into the Protestant Reformation, which saw religious art as idolatrous, ending much of the north's artistic output. Scholars such as Martin Luther interpreted humanist calls for reform as a need to entirely break away from the Catholic Church.
References
- Burkholder, J. Peter; Grout, Donald Jay; Palisca, Claude V., A History of Western Music (9th ed.), 2014.
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