The Northern Renaissance

people, terms, and concepts:  transparent naturalism, hidden symbolism, oil paint, woodcut, engraving

This topic examines the spread of Renaissance beyond Italy to Northern Europe, especially Flanders and Germany.

     •     How is Northern Renaissance art similar to Italian Renaissance art? How is it different?

     •     Why did Northern Renaissance artists develop the use of oil paint as a medium, as opposed to the earlier media of tempera and fresco?

     •     How is engraving different from woodcut as a printmaking technique? Which technique allows the artist to produce more naturalistic images, and why?

     •     What is hidden symbolism? Why is it said to be ‘hidden’? Why did Northern Renaissance artists use ordinary objects as symbols of spiritual things?

The Master of Flémalle, The Merode Altarpiece, Northern Renaissance, c. 1425-30s (detail below)

What is the subject of the central panel of this work? How do the side panels relate to it? What hidden symbols does the artist use and how do those symbols help convey the significance of the work’s subject? How does the artist make the painting as naturalistic as possible, and why? What is not naturalistic about the work?

The Master of Flémalle, The Merode Altarpiece, Northern Renaissance, c. 1425-30s

Jan van Eyck, The ‘Arnolfini Wedding’, Northern Renaissance, 1434

What is the subject of this work? What hidden symbols does the artist use, and how do those symbols help convey the significance of that subject? How does the artist make the painting as naturalistic as possible, and why?

Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve (engraving), Northern Renaissance, 1504

What is the subject of this work? What hidden symbols does the artist use, and how do those symbols help to convey the significance of the work’s subject? What is the difference between the engraving and woodcut printmaking techniques, and how how does the artist’s use engraving help to make the work more naturalistic?