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The 16th Century in Northern Europe saw the Renaissance in full swing. Artists were refining and experimenting with the styles that were revived in the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as with new ideas around what art meant in society. Artists such as Dürer and Bruegel were heavily involved in redefining the meaning art. Artists in the Spanish regions such as El Greco were busily mastering and evolving some of the disciplines coming from the Northern Italian city-states. The 16th century was arguably one of the most inventive periods of the renaissance.

One of the most important developments in the arts in the Renaissance was the move away from artists as tools for the wealthy to a model where the artist themselves were seen as important thinkers. This idea was adopted and fostered in no small part by artists like Dürer and Schäufelein.  According to Stokstad and Cothren, in his youth Dürer traveled through Europe to Italy where he was introduced to the idea of the Artist as an independent creative thinker. He brought these ideas back to Germany with him and found kinship in the ideas of Martin Luther. He built his career as an artist who was able to make his fortune with prints that he created of his own volition and sold independently.

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The Wing of a Blue Roller
Albrecht Dürer
1512
Watercolor and gouache

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In “The wings of a Blue Roller” we can see Dürers talent for fine detail and interest in anatomy. This painting was not one of Dürers masterworks, but it represents the ability of an artist such as himself to be able to paint complex interest pieces like this while maintaining his financial standing. Dürer did not make his money from paintings, rather he was able to find success through selling woodblock prints of his drawings. In any other time he would have had to find benefactors to commission his work and would not have had the ability to produce work such as this.

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The Harvesters
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
1565
Oil on wood

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Artists in Italy had long been finding more and more inspiration in art from the classical eras of Greece and Rome. One of these art forms was something called pastoral poetry, which came from the Idylls from Greece. According to Camara, pastoral poetry “…extols the rustic world of the simple shepherd. It celebrates the physical, sensory beauty of the natural world…”. This kind of poetry saw a resurgence in the Northern Italian renaissance, and the ideals presented by it spread through the north as well. The elements of pastoral art include a focus on the natural landscape as an ideal and the romanticization of rural life. More importantly however, it marks one of the early developments of art for abstract purposes. Often, the subject matter of a pastoral painting does not involve a recognizable story or purpose other than as a collector’s piece for wealthy art collectors of the 16th century. As we saw in the video “Secular Genres and the Modern Art Market” this kind of arrangement meant that artists such as Bruegel, Dürer or even Shäuferlein were sometimes able to focus on more secular topics. We also see the beginnings of comparatively abstract subject matter, such as landscapes, unknown characters, even in some cases slightly surreal depictions.

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Portrait of a Man
Hans Leonard Schäufelein
1507
Oil on panel

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Peasant Couple Dancing
Albrecht Dürer
1514
Engraving

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One can see this influence in Dürer print “Peasant Couple Dancing” and in Bruegels “The Harvesters”. There are no known stories being told here, the art exists for aesthetic reasons. One can interpret any number of narratives out of these images. Both works also focus on the common man, the laborers in the fields and the peasants. In Shäuferleins “Portrait of a Man” we see a similar theme, the man in the painting is unknown to history which indicates that he was not a wealthy or important man. This painting was most likely created for aesthetic reasons only. These pieces follow the humanist belief that man is created in the image of God and is therefore worth depicting in of itself.

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The Disrobing of Christ
El Greco
1577–1579
Oil on canvas

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This wasn’t the only direction artists were taking though and we can see this is El Grecos, “The Disrobing of Christ”. The frenetic composition and dramatic imagery mirror more closely the Italian style of mannerist art. According to Stokstad and Cothren, El Greco was still however, aligned with the humanist movement and believed that the artists goal should imitate nature, and that an over-reliance on math and faithful anatomy had hindered the Italians. El Greco has chosen to value the composition and feeling of the image with loose brushstrokes and vibrant colors, over the accuracy of each reflection and texture in this painting. The imagery in El Greco’s paintings is still largely religious due to his popularity with the reformers in the Spanish catholic church.

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We know turn to our section on the influences on the artwork we have seen thus far.

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An Aedicule with Two Studies of Saint Christopher
Unknown
1340
Pen and black ink with black wash on vellum

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In “An Adicule with Two Studies of Saint Christopher” we can see the very beginnings of renaissance art. This work does indeed share more characteristics with medieval European drawings with its stylized, simplistic figures and lack of any complex foreshortening. However, we can see some of the early hallmarks of interest such as the primitive one-point perspective in the structure on the left. As well as the clear emphasis on the exploration of anatomy and posing within the two versions of Saint Christopher.

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Saint George and the Dragon
Rogier van der Weyden
ca. 1432-1435
Oil on panel

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The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin
Jan van Eyck
ca. 1430-1435
Oil on panel

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Rogier van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck are today known as some of the most influential early renaissance painters. Their focus on realism in color, texture and vibrancy elevated the art form. However, they were still painters of their time and in contrast to the later renaissance artists, are remembered for their religious paintings and portraits. In his painting “Saint George and the Dragon”, we can see van der Weyden’s focus on realistic reflections and texture. From the reflections in the armor to the luster of the robes on the left. In “The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin”, van der Eyck demonstrates his attention to minor details and rich colors. While many artists in the 16th century eventually found inspiration in different subject matter, as we can see in “The Disrobing of Christ” and “The Wing of a Blue Roller” artists still borrowed from these artists techniques to achieve rich color and realistic reflections.

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The Tribute Money
Masaccio
1425
Fresco

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Moving on to the Italian influences, in Masaccio’s “The Tribute Money” we are treated to a well-formed one-point perspective that centers on and draws the eye to the head of Christ. We are even able to see perhaps the early signs of a landscape being allowed to cover more of the empty space than usual for the time. Masaccio was known amongst his contemporaries to use atmospheric perspective to great effect, to create even more realistic senses of depth. Something that we can see used in Bruegel’s “The Harvesters” with the far-off landscape being slightly dimmer and slightly blue-shifted compared to the foreground. Also notice the cast of the shadows in the scene, the way the light seems to fall into the scene from the right, creating a chiaroscuro effect that enhances the dimensionality of the figures in Masaccio’s painting.

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Pastoral Scene
Jacopo Bassano
1568
Oil on canvas

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Bassano was known to produce similar pastoral work and his “Pastoral Scene” is a prime example. However, the influences we can see here are more in the mannerist elements. The animals in the scene are layered over each other in haphazard, almost surreal ways, as if they had all been tossed together like a salad. The landscape rendered in loose, flowing impressions of brushstrokes similar to El Greco’s style adds even more dynamism to the piece. Also similar to Bruegel, Bassano often depicted rural life, the life of the laborer. The work is now no longer tied to any meaning beyond abstract appreciation for the scenery being depicted.

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The Holy Family
Agnolo Bronzino
ca. 1527-1528
Oil on panel

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This kind of abstract subject matter was expanded upon and central to the Mannerist movement which truly embraced the abstract and surreal. One thing that is immediately noticeable is the high contrast, almost acid like colors. A common element also is the surreal proportions of the figures. In "The Holy Family", we see elongated necks bulge, bodies stretched, and figures are posed as if frozen in each of their own stories. According to the National Gallery of Art in an article on Mannerism, “Works appear strange and unsettling, despite their superficial naturalism”. There is a clear parallel to be drawn here to the secular movement in Northern Italy at the time. The anatomy of each figure is painstakingly realized but the proportions make no sense. This again is an evolution of the classical fascination with realistic yet heightened anatomy.

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“The Harvesters.” Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435809.

Mannerism, www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/mannerism.html#slide_1.

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Watt Cothren. Art History. Pearson, 2018.

Muller, Jurgen. “Albrecht Dürer's Peasant Engravings: A Different Laocoön, or the Birth of Aesthetic Subversion in the Spirit of the Reformation.” Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art, 12 Oct. 2017, jhna.org/articles/albrecht-durer-peasant-engravings-different-laocon-birth-aesthetic-subversion-spirit-reformation/.

Murray, Andrew. “Introduction to Fifteenth-Century Flanders (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/northern-renaissance1/beginners-guide-northern-renaissance/a/introduction-to-fifteenth-century-flanders.

“Saint George and the Dragon.” Art Object Page, www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.50662.html.