Science and Culture in the Age Realism

Northern Renaissance Art by Rachel Kim (I know the title says Science and Culture In An Age Of Realism, Sorry!)

I. Major Characteristics

• Very detailed art
• focused on religious emotion especially in alter pieces
• realistic imitation of nature led to empirical observation and not use of perspective

II. Major Artists
A. Jan van Eyck (Flemish)

• Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride (1434) - unbelievable realistic details
• Very symbolic

B. Albrecht Durer (German)

• One of the first artists to use watercolor
• Self Potrait - depicts himself in a Christ-like pose
• The Knight, Death, and Devil - shows his "Northern- Renaissance" upbringing
• Influenced by Italian Renaissance; interested in the balanced body proportions and perspective of Italian Renaissance
• Wrote Adoration of the Magi which he wrote about the Italian Renaissance and how to incorporate more harmonious details into his paintings

C. Hans Holbein (German)

• Strict to Northern Renaissance styles
• Mostly a court painter
• King Henry VIII

D. Pieter Brueghel (Netherlands)

• Focused on everyday peasant lives
• Conveys a moral theme to each painting
• The Wedding Dress
• The Peasant Dance

E. Hieronymous Bosch (Netherlands)

• Most famous work - Garden of Earthly Delights
• Shows the difference between Heaven and Hell
• Influencial to later 20th century Surrealist artists

F. Matthais Grunewald

• Also influenced by fantasy
• Cruxifiction of Christ is one of the most gruesome portrayals of Christ on the cross

www.robinurton.com/history/**Renaissance**/northrenaiss.htm
www.artcyclopedia.com/history/**northern**-**renaissance**.html