The Renaissance in the North

Germany

Netherlands

Flanders

France

England

Remember the Plague?

• Far less farm workersLess foodDemand for higher wagesMove to cities for artisans jobs

• Landowning class was weakened• Merchants and artisans grew in

influenceLess business competition so higher pricesHigher prices meant richer people

• A new Middle class began• Could pay more for artists’ work so they

could afford to just “be artists.”

The Renaissance in the North

The Printing Revolution

Johann Gutenberg produces the first complete Bible using a printing press

Books are more readily available

Printed books are cheaper and easier to produce

More people learn to read

The Renaissance in the North

Flemish Painter Jan van Eyck portrays towns people and religious scenes in realistic

detail

Artists and Writers

The Arnolfini portrait Portrait of a man, 1433

The mirror is painted with

almost miraculous skill. Its carved frame is inset with ten

miniature medallions

depicting scenes from the life of Christ. Yet more remarkable is the mirror's

reflection, which includes van

Eyck's own tiny self-portrait,

accompanied by another man

who may have been the official witness to the

ceremony.

Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel uses vibrant colors to portray scenes of peasant life

Artists and Writers

Netherlandish Proverbs, 1559

The Wedding Feast, the Netherlands, 1568

Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens blends realistic tradition of Flemish painters with classical themes of the

Italian Renaissance

Four Philosophers

Artists and Writers

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

German painter Albrecht Durer applies painting techniques to engraving

Artists and Writers

DurerWoodcut

Dürer exerted a huge influence on the artists especially in print making the medium through which he was best known (his paintings were mainly in private collections located in only a few cities)

His Most Famous Woodcut

His most fascinating wood cut…A comment on how depressing (melancholic) it was to be creative in a “science”

world.

Melancholia

• How “measuring the world has put the artist in a “funk.”

• Cluttered with measuring instruments.

• Even though there is wealth, ability to make and do good, everyone is “depressed!” (even the cow!!)

• To attract positive vibes from astrology, water cress and a Jupiter Square.

• Durer included the year of painting and his signature…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxJLTZyxX1M&safe=active

The Humanists

• Humanists stress education and classical learning to bring religious and moral reform

• New money from trade and the new printing press made more people want

to read

• Writers began to write not only in the language of the church—Latin—but in vernacular—the

common language of the people.

Desiderius Erasmus

• Dutch priest• Writer• Called for a

translation of the Bible into the vernacular

• Felt people should be open minded and good to one another.

• Was disturbed by corruption in the Church.

Sir Thomas More• Friend of Erasmus• Was more interested in

social reform• Wanted to set up an

ideal society• Everyone would live in

harmony• No one idle, all

educated• Justice would end

crime• It would be called

“Utopian”

Today a Utopian society means a perfect society.

It sounds good, but doesn’t work.

Francois Rabelais

• French priest, doctor, scholar, author

• Used humor in writing to get across more serious messages of religion and education

• Questioned the corruption in the Church

Book name:Gargantua and Pantagruel

What’s-his-name• “Greatest” of all English playwrights and poets.

• Wrote in the vernacular of the time so was VERY popular

• 37 plays—still performed

• Wrote about things everyone identified with

o loveo familyo powero war

William Shakespeare

Rabelais’ Writings used humor to make his points

King Lear• We will watch the

play King Lear. • One of Shakespeare’s

great plays about family (and power!!)

• You will write a summary at the end.• A BRIEF description of the story.• A list of the most important characters (Lear =

father)• What you thought the main point was…• Do you recommend it…