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16th-Century Art Northern Europe and Spain In Italy, monuments of Classical antiquity could be seen everywhere. Italian artists were readily inspired by the classical examples and knowledge. Thus Italy moved in a very different direction than the north.
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16th-Century Art Northern Europe and Spain In Italy, monuments of Classical antiquity could be seen everywhere. Italian artists were readily inspired by the classical examples and knowledge. Thus Italy moved in a very different direction than the north. They moved toward the further discovery and assimilation of Classical culture. In the 14th century, Florence had already identified itself with the ancient Roman Republic. By 1400 we are on the threshold of the Florentine Renaissance. In the north, there were far fewer artistic or architectural remains of ancient Rome. Thus Gothic principles of design lingered almost a century longer in the north than in Italy.
16th-Century Art Northern Europe and Spain In the 16th century, Northern Europe became increasingly aware of Italian Renaissance developments in painting. There was some interchange of ideas that occurred through artists who traveled between North and South. There were also Italian artists who came to the North. In addition, Northern artists learned through the numerous Italian engravings that circled throughout northern Europe. The impact of Italian art varied widely with time, place and artists. Many never abandoned existing local traditions; others frequently
Piero Della Francesca, Resurrection, 1463-65, Mural in fresco and tempera, 225 x 200 cm, Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro
The Galitzin Triptych, 1485. Tempera, transferred from wood to canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington
Albrecht Altdorfer, The Battle of Alexander, 1529. This is the most famous painting of Altdorfer. Its subject is the victory of the young Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. over the Persian army of King Darius in the battle of Issos. The battle in fact took place in Turkey, however, on this painting it is shown in the rocky environment of the Alps with German cities in the background.
Altdorfer, Saint George in the Forest,1510 Parchment on lime panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Landscape was an interest of German artists of the beginning of 16th century. Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Altdorfer had discovered the beauty of the Alpine districts around the Danube and developed a kind of romantic landscape painting and etching, often enlivened by dramatic effects of light. An interest in dramatic nocturnal scenes is also apparent in the works of Dürer's follower, Hans Baldung Grien.
ALTDORFER, Albrecht (1480-1538) Danubian Landscape1520-25, Parchment on wood, 30 x 22 cmAlte Pinakothek, Munich With a sentimental note and an intuitive science of light and coloring, the masters of the Danube school, Altdorfer and Huber, gave free rein to their lyricism in scintillating mythologies and religious scenes, in which the landscape acquires an importance never before equaled, and vibrates with a completely personal communion with nature.
Joachim Patinir Rocky Landscape with Saint Jerome,Oil on wood, 47.2 x 37.3 cmMuseum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp
Joachim Patinir, Rest during the Flight to Egypt, Panel, 121 x 177 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid
Joachim Patinir (1480-1524), The Baptism of Christ, Oil on oak 59.5 x 77 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Joachim Patinir,St Jerome in the Desert, c. 1520. Oil on wood, 78 x 137 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
St Jerome in Rocky Landscapec. 1520Oil on oak, 36,5 x 34 cmNational Gallery, London
CRANACH, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553), The Judgment of Paris, 1512-14, Limewood, 43 x 32,2 cm, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne This mythological theme was very popular with the humanist-educated bourgeoisie as well as the court and Cranach the Elder painted it often. Cranach was one of the most versatile artists of the Northern Renaissance, a staunch patron of the Reformation, and a close friend of Martin Luther. He painted didactic religious paintings, but he also produced his own erotic ideal of the female nude.
Although his style, unlike that of Dürer, borrowed little from the Italians, he favoured mythological and classical subjects and painted the story of the Judgment of Paris many times during the course of his career. Here the artist has chosen a German version of the story, in which Mercury presents the three goddesses - Juno, Venus, and Minerva - to Paris in a dream. Cranach signals Venus's victory by placing Cupid, her son, in the upper left, aiming in her direction as she points to him. CRANACH, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553) The Judgment of Parisc. 1528, Oil on wood, 101,9 x 71,1 cm, MMOA.
GRÜNEWALD, Matthias (1480-1528) Isenheim Altarpiece (first view), c. 1515, Oil on wood, Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar
The picture shows the predella of the Isenheim Altarpiece. The expressivity of its figures have made Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece one of the most famous works of early German painting. Until his death in 1524, Holbein's father worked in the same Antonite monastery that had commissioned Grünewald's altarpiece. Holbein the Younger will also have known the work in the original, as Isenheim is not far from Basle and so is easy to reach from there.
Mary and St John the Evangelist St John the Baptist with the lamb
St Antony the Hermit St Sebastian
Isenheim Altarpiece (second view), c. 1515, Oil on wood, Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar
Grünewald's unsurpassed technique in painting coloured light is epitomized in the figure of the rising Christ; his dramatic use of writhing forms in movement is also seen here in the figures of Christ, the arriving angel, and the Madonna.
Concert of Angels and Nativityc. 1515, Oil on wood, 265 x 304 cm, Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar
Sts Paul and Antony in the Desert The Temptation of St Antony
St. Anthony of Egypt (251-236), born in Upper Egypt. While still young he got rid of all his possessions and lived among the local ascetics, and then withdrew into the desert, where he lived in solitude and was repeatedly tempted by the devil. Remaining steadfast, he attracted a number of disciples to a hermit's life in the desert and a small monastery was formed at the place. St. Anthony was reputed to be a miracle-maker. Anthony lived a long and righteous life and died at the age of 105.
It is inscribed: `I have thus painted myself. I was 26 years old..' Since the artist turned 27 on the 21 May, the picture must date from the beginning of the year. The artist's pose is self confident, showing him standing upright and turning slightly to lean his right arm on a ledge. Dürer's figure fills the picture, with his hat almost touching the top. His face and neck glow from the light streaming into the room and his long curly hair is painstakingly depicted. Unlike his earlier self portrait, he now has a proper beard, which was then unusual among young men. Albrecht Dürer,Self-Portrait at 261498, Oil on panel, 52 x 41 cmMuseo del Prado, Madrid
Dürer: Self-Portrait in a Fur-Collared Robe1500, Oil on lime panel, 67,1 x 48,7 cmAlte Pinakothek, Munich
Dürer,Paumgartner Altar, c. 1503. Oil on lime panel, 155 x 126 cm (central), 151 x 61 cm (each wing). Alte Pinakothek, Munich. On stylistic grounds, the Nativity was painted a few years later than the wings, probably in 1502 or soon afterwards. The tiny body of Christ is almost lost in the composition, surrounded by a swarm of little angels. Although traditionally a night-time scene, it is brightly illuminated by a ball of light in the sky.The small figures at the bottom corners of the central panel are the Paumgartner family with their coats of arms. They were painted over in the seventeenth century, when donor portraits went out of favour, and were only uncovered during restoration in 1903.
Dürer,Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman, 1505, Oil on elm panel, 32,5 x 24,5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The central scene represents the Nativity. Mary and Joseph are kneeling in the foreground of an architectural scene constructed according to the laws of central perspective, which opens out to the rear onto a broad landscape; next to them the numerous small figures of the donor family are kneeling before the newborn Christ Child. From the back, two shepherds seen in a perspectival foreshortening are climbing up to the place of Christ's birth, and on the left two more are watching the events. The centre of the composition are Mary and the Christ Child, and they are additionally emphasized by the baldachin-like roof. The Star of Bethlehem is emblazoned in the sky, and in the background an angel is announcing the birth of the Savior to the shepherds.
Among Dürer's works, there is not a more beautiful portrait of a woman. Indeed, it has led one to think that there was a rather intimate relationship between the artist and the model. Some see the woman as a courtesan, others define her as an instinctive, languorous, and melting beauty. This charm is also shown in the movement in the double rows of pearls, interrupted by the darker shapes of doubled cones, making the pendant curve slightly from the neck. Dürer,Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman, 1505, Oil on elm panel, 32,5 x 24,5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Dürer,Christ Among the Doctors, 1506Oil on panel, 65 x 80 cm, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid
Albrecht Dürer Study of Hands1506, Pen and ink heightened with white on paper, 206 x 185 mm, Blasius Collection, Braunschweig. Dürer's painting Christ among the Doctors (1506) was based on a number of careful studies, including this one.
Albrecht Dürer Study of an Apostle's Hands (Praying Hands), c. 1508 Brush drawing on blue primed paper, 290 x 197 mm, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
Albrecht Dürer Head of an Apostle, 1508. Brush on Paper, 31.7 x 21.2 cm. Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna.
Albrecht Dürer Portrait of the Artist's Mother, 1514, Charcoal drawing on paper, 421 x 303 mm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
Albrecht Dürer The Stork, 1515Pen drawingMusée d'Ixelles, Brussels
The subject of Adam and Eve offered Dürer the opportunity to depict the ideal nude human figure (aim is not to depict the Biblical figures). Painted in soon after his return from Venice, the panels were influenced by Italian art. His coloring is muted, and he models the bodies with the help of light and shadow. Adam and Eve are noticeably slimmer than in his engraving of three years earlier. The two figures represent the earliest known life-size nudes in Northern art. Though identical, they are intended to be separate paintings. Dürer,Adam and Eve, 1507, Oil on panel, 209 x 81 cm (each panel), Museo del Prado, Madrid
Albrecht Dürer The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand, 1508, Oil on canvas transferred from panel, 99 x 87 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The altarpiece depicts the legend of the ten thousand Christians who were martyred on Mount Ararat, in a massacre perpetrated by the Persian King Saporat on the command of the Roman Emperors Hadrian and Antonius. Although Dürer had never before tackled a painting with so many figures, he succeeded in integrating them into a flowing composition using vibrant colour.
Albrecht Dürer The Adoration of the Trinity1511. Oil on lindenwood, 135 x 123,4 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The Trinity is depicted with Christ on the Cross being supported by angels, the focal point of the heavenly gathering of saints. The crowd of martyrs on the left is led by Mary, and the group of Old Testament prophets and kings on the right by St John the Baptist. Clergymen and laypersons following the heads of the State and Church form the lowest horizontal zone in heaven. The artist depicts himself in the earthly zone at the bottom right.
Albrecht Dürer The Adoration of the Trinity, 1511. To the right is a figure, easily identifiable from his armor, as Landauer's son-in-law, Wilhelm Haller, a mercenary captain. In the lower part of the painting, almost to contrast the suspended scores of saints and men and women, Dürer offers us, from a slightly raised perspective, the vision of a landscape passage. This one, even more than the one in the Heller Altar, disappears into an infinite background, illuminated by a most gentle evening light that also shimmers against the clouds. In this deserted terrestrial kingdom, Dürer painted himself, the only human being. He is set apart toward the right margin, dressed as usual in a rich fur cloak, and indicative of an ancient styled tablet with the inscription: ALBERTVS DVRER NORICVS FACIEBAT ANNO A VIRGINIS PARTV[M] 1511.
Albrecht Dürer, Emperor Maximilian I[of Austria, 1459-1519], 1519. Oil on lindenwood, 74 x 62 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. M was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1508. He was a learned ruler with a strong interest in the arts. Dürer painted it with great care. Instead of an orb, the Emperor holds a broken pomegranate, a symbol of the Resurrection and Maximilian's personal emblem. At the top of the picture is the Habsburg coat of arms with the double-headed eagle and a lengthy inscription on Maximilian's achievements. The Emperor looks aloof and withdrawn, an expression of his dignity.
Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of Jakob Muffel, 1526, Oil on canvasl, transferred from panel, 48 x 36 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
Dürer was renowned for his ability to paint details, such as hair, realistically. Giovanni Bellini visited him in 1505 or 1506 and asked Dürer for one of the brushes which he used to execute his painstaking portraits. Dürer handed Bellini a brush identical to ones the Venetian artist already used. `I do not mean this, I mean the brushes you use to paint several hairs with one touch,' Bellini responded. Dürer picked up the brush and demonstrated how he painted. Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of Hieronymus Holzschuher, 1526, Oil on panel, 51 x 37 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin