Albrecht Altdorfer, Battle of Issus - (1529 CE)

Matthias Grnewald, Isenheim Altarpiece - Chapel of the Hospital of Saint Anthony, Isenheim,
Germany - (1510-1515 CE)
The Pre-Reformation: early 16th century
Matthias Grnewald: (Neithardt) 2. Isenheim Altarpiece
Holy Roman Empire; employed by the archbishop of Mainz
1510-1515; oil on panel; Saxony; monastic Hospital of Saint Anthony
Commissioned by administrator, Guido Guersi; adjacent church choir
2 hinged pairs of wings; exterior closed & then opened one at a time
Exterior: Crucifixion with Virgin Mary, Saints John the
Evangelist & the Baptist with MM & the Lamb; Saints Sebastian & Anthony; Lamentation inpredella; amputation imagery
Opened exterior wings: Annunciation; Angelic Concert; Madonna and Child; Resurrection; use of architecture; color; not in
text
Message of warning & comfort: earthly suffering & hope of salvation
Nikolaus Hagenauer: Center wooden shrine; gilded, polychromed statues of Saints Anthony Abbot, Augustine, & Jerome;
carved
Last Supper in predella; 1505; paint & gilt limewood; disease & cures
2nd pair of open wings with shrine: Meeting of Saints Anthony and Paul the Hermit &Temptation of Saint Anthony; grotesque
images;
fed on by birds & comforted by vision of Christ; illness & healing (hope)
Albrecht Drer, Fall of Man (Adam and Eve) - (1504 CE)
Northern European
Renaissance, contd.
Albrecht Drer:
5. The Fall of Man

Albrecht Drer, Four Apostles - (1526 CE)

The Protestant Reformation: early 16th century
Albrecht Drer:
7. Four Apostles; 1526
Oil on 2 panels
Gift to Nuremberg
John & Peter (L)
Mark & Paul (R)
Personal features
In sympathy with Luther
Legible Bible: Word
Quotations from Gospels
in books & at bottom
Details of clothing
& attributes; color; light
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Law and Gospel - (1530 CE)
The Protestant Reformation: early 16th century
Lucas Cranach the Elder: 8. Law and Gospel or Allegory of Law and Grace
1530; woodcut print; use of allegory
Catholic good works versus Protestant grace; friend of Luther
Low-key images for devotional aids; educational
Inexpensive; widely circulated; numerous copies; prints
Catholic OT image (L)
of Judgment Day & Moses

(Adam and Eve); 1504

Protestant NT image (R)

of Gods grace (2 Christs)

Vitruvian theory of
human proportions

(on cross; coming from tomb)

(arithmetical ratios)

Adam and Eve

1528; biblical nude

2 classicized nude
figures in forest (detail)

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Judgement of Paris - (1530 CE)

Engraving; contrapposto
4 humors: choler (cat);
melancholy (elk); sang
(rabbit): phlegm (ox)
Hippocrates theory of
physiology; cat & mouse
Signed plaque; parrot
angry, sad, cheerful, calm Animal symbols of the four humors
Jan Gossaert, Neptune and Amphitrite - (1516 CE)
16th-century Northern
European Art/Netherlands
Jan Gossaert (Mabuse):
15. Neptune and Amphitrite
1516; Oil on panel
Just over 6 ft. x just over 4 ft.
Inspired by Drer
Modeling; drawing; nudes
Trident, laurel wreath,
conch shell; classicized myth
Contrapposto stances
Doric/Ionic elements/columns
Egg-and-dart capitals
Bucrania (ox skulls)
Philip, Bastard of Burgundy;
admiral & bishop/commission
Quinten Massys, Money-Changer and His Wife - (1514 CE)
16th-century Northern European Art/Netherlands
Duchy of Burgundy divided between France & HRE; 17 provinces (Holland, Belgium, & Luxembourg)
Commercial center; ships/port shift from Bruges to Antwerp
Ruled by Spain: Charles V
& Philip II; Calvinisms growth
Dutch Republic revolt of 1579
Catholic south (Belgium)
Quinten Massys: Antwerp; 16.
Money-Changer and His Wife
Oil on panel; 1514; Louvre
Businessman & wife
Objects of trade & of religion
Vignette scenes/figures
Inscription on original frame
Leviticus 19:36; genre painting
Conflict in life of worldly existence & religious piety; moral lesson
Union of Utrecht 10 (Dutch Republic/Netherlands)
Union of Arras 7 (Belgium)

Northern European Renaissance, contd.

Lucas Cranach the Elder:
9. Judgment of Paris
1530; oil on wood; small panel
Repeated wide range of themes
Aristocratic Saxon patrons
Classical, suggestive myths
2nd-century Roman author, Lucian
Contest among goddesses
German landscape; Saxon castle
Shepherd & Mercury as knights
Nude competitors with veils, hat, & jewelry (Three Graces)
Slender limbs, small breasts & heads; Venus dancing
Possible humor with horse; cupid

16th-century Northern European Renaissance Art

History painting/Commemoration; used by Nation-States: Albrecht Altdorfer: 10. The Battle of Issus; oil on panel; 1529; classical
subject & contemporary event
Defeat of Darius III by Alexander the Great; 333 BCE
Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavarias launch of a military campaign against the Turks (1528) (commissioned by the duke)
Western Greeks against Eastern infidels (Persians)
Contemporary armor, banners, & military alignments
Latin inscription featured to label the paintings content
Birds-eye view of extraordinary landscape derived from historical account (Johannes Aventinus) & maps
View from Greece to the Nile: mountains, water, clouds
Sun represented Greeks & moon represented Persians
Compare Alexander Mosaic & Battle of San Romano
Monumental bettle painting. Birdseye view even though they didnt have that back then
Hans Holbein the Younger, The French Ambassadors - (1533 CE)
16th-century Northern European Art
Hans Holbein the Younger: 11. The French Ambassadors/Double Portrait of Jean de Dintevilleand Georges de Selve; (noble,
bishop)1533; father as teacher
Oil & tempera on panel; National Gallery of Art (London)
Famous for portraits & religious subjects; Flemish tradition
Color & enamel texture; detailed objects; sculptural form
Composition; linear patterning; textiles; tiles; realism
Friend of Desiderius Erasmus & Sir Thomas More
Left Basel for England; travel; court painter of Henry VIII
Objects reflect humanist interests; Lutheran texts; technology
Perspective; anamorphic image: memento mori (skull); hat medallion; crucifix on wall at left; religious conflict; music
Elegance & virtuosity: jewelry design, court entertaining
Lutheranism is really popular and a lot of people are switching to it. He ended up in London.
Scull is an anamorphic image which means it changes itself depending on the angle you look at it. Also a symbol of mortality to
show that everyone ends up the same way (Dead)
Jean Clouet, Francis I - (1525-1530 CE)
16th-century Northern European Art/France
Patronage of Francis I
His competition with
Charles (Spain & HRE) & Henry VIII (England)
Invitations to Leonardo & Benvenuto Cellini
Religious wars/Huguenots
Jean Clouet:
12. Francis I (Valois)
Tempera & oil on panel
1525; textiles; dagger
Order of Saint Michael
Formalism (iconic)
Flattened modeling
Disproportion: head & neck
Fontainebleau: Italians
Chteau de Chambord - Chambord, France - (begun 1519 CE)
16th-century Northern European Art/France
13. Chteau de Chambord; 1519; country house
Central square; 4 corridors; cross (X); central staircase
Apartments; corner round towers; 3 stories; for hunting
Horizontal molding; window alignment; moat; wings
Jumbled dormers, chimneys, & lanterns; Gothic

Levina Teerling, Elizabeth I as a Princess - (1559 CE)

16th-century Northern Europe/Netherlands
Levina Teerlinc: 19. Elizabeth I as a Princess
ca. 1559; Oil on oak panel; Royal Collection; Windsor
Bruges; miniatures; English court painter from 1545
Arrived after death of Hans Holbein the Younger (1543); no rivalry
Daughter of Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn
Brocade gown & expensive jewelry & book
Anne Boleyn (mother) headdress; life-size
Attribution question; Queen Elizabeth: 26 in 1559 & queen
for a year; problem with dating seen here! Teenager?
Probably done during reign of Edward VI (1547-1554); 1549?
Northern European Royal Women as Patrons (status); collections & commissions
Margaret of Austria; Mary of Hungary (Hapsburg)
Mary I (1554-1558); Elizabeth I (1558-1603) (Tudor); aesthetic pleasure, status, & cultural sophistication
Joachim Patinir, Landscape with Saint Jerome - (1520-1524 CE)
16th-century Northern Europe/Netherlands
Joachim Patinir: 20. Landscape with Saint Jerome (L) (Landschaft)
1520; oil on panel; Prado Museum; saint, lion (thorn), hut, skull, crucifix
Landscape painting (rocks, water, fields); biblical scene; villages
Use of color in portrayal of depth in painting; sky; special genre
Saint Jerome in a Rocky Landscape; National Gallery of Art, London; 1515-1525: Workshop (R)
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Netherlandish Proverbs - (1559 CE)
16th-century Northern Europe/Netherlands
Pieter Bruegel: 21. Netherlandish Proverbs
1559; oil on panel; The Elder; Berlin; complexity
Birds-eye view; disarray; diverse community
Combined illustrations of over 100 proverbs; detail
Question of morality; study of human condition
Travel; further political upheaval embittered the artist
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hunters in the Snow - (1565 CE)
16th-century Northern Europe/Netherlands
Pieter Bruegel the Elder:
22. Hunters in the Snow (Vienna)
1565; oil on panel; landscapes with high horizons
Humans in nature; 5th
of 6: series of seasonal
changes of the year
Peasant activities
Like Books of Hours
Alpine mountains
Diagonal perspective
Line; shape; tone
Compare to classical
Chinese works (!)
Pierre Lescot, Cour Carr of the Louvre - Paris, France - (begun 1546 CE)
16th-century Northern European Art/France
Pierre Lescot & Jean Goujon: 14. Louvre
Henri II; Italian influence, architects, & travel
Paris: medieval palace & fortress redesigned
Classical renovation; 1546; architect & sculptor
Square Court (Cour Carr) west faade shown
3 decreasing-height stories; classical orders/capitals
Ground floor recessed arcading provides depth
2nd-story pilasters; overall horizontal effect
Console-supported alternating curved & angular pediments: 2nd-story windows
Projecting cornice; steep roof; Catherine de Medici
Jutting pavilions with double-columned framed niches & sculpture; vertical lines here

Pieter Aertsen, Butcher's Stall - (1551 CE)

16th-century Northern Europe/Netherlands
Pieter Aertsen: 17. Butchers Stall (moral lesson)
Oil on panel; 1551; genre scene (everyday life)
Depicts side of hog, chickens, sausages, stuffed intestine, pigs feet, meat pies, cows head,
hogs head, & hanging entrails; Meat Still-Life
Fish, pretzels, cheese, butter
Religious images: Holy Family in background; alms
Spiritual food: crossed fish, bread (pretzels), wine
Worldly images: sea food (shells)
Party scene in rear; artist from Antwerp
Salvation versus gluttony, lust, & sloth
Caterina van Hemessen, Self-Portrait - (1548 CE)
16th-century Northern Europe/Netherlands
Caterina van Hemessen:
18. Self-Portrait
1548; Oil on panel
Growing popularity of
portraiture among Dutch
First known northern
European self-portrait by
a woman/female artist
Artists tools (maulstick)
Direct gaze at viewer
Identification inscription
Trained by father, Jan Sanders van Hemessen

El Greco, Burial of Count Orgaz - (1586 CE)

16th-century Spanish Art & Architecture
El Greco/Domnikos Theotokpoulos:
25. The Burial of Count Orgaz
1586; oil on canvas; San Tom, Toledo; 16 ft. x 12 ft.
Born in Crete; studied in Venice & Rome
Influence of Titian & Tintoretto; settled in Toledo
Late Byzantine & Italian Mannerist style; emotion, fervor, piety; force; portraits; foreshadowed Baroque
Color & light use; movement; not Spanish; hybrid
13th-century legend of Saints Stephen & Augustine & armor-clad count; benefactor of San Tom; Earthly,
real sphere miraculously inhabited by heavenly figures: burial
Courtiers in black; saints/clergy in elaborate vestments
Saint Francis; probable son of Count Orgaz: own son?
Celestial sphere: Christ, Virgin, & Saint John; elongation; undulation; cloud; light; drapery; motion; angel & soul;
saints attend; religious passion; Philip II
There is no record of the identity of all the sitters, but a self-portrait of El Greco is third from the left, looking out at
the viewer immediately above the head of Saint Stephen. Andrs Nez,
the parish priest and a friend of El Greco's, who was responsible for the commission, is the figure on the extreme
right. El Greco's son appears as the young page at the front left. The signature of the artist appears
on the handkerchief in the boy's pocket, followed by the date "1578" - the year of Jorge Manuel's birth, not the
date of the painting. The boy points to the body of the deceased, thus bringing together birth and death.

Albrecht Drer, Self-Portrait - (1500 CE)

Northern European Renaissance/The Reformation
Albrecht Drer: Renaissance art celebrity
Traveled in Flanders, Germany, Italy; promoted own works
International reputation; friend of Erasmus & Bellini; family
Master: oil, watercolor, woodcut, & engraving; praying hands
Writer: treatises (published), letters, diary; earned great wealth
Nuremberg; goldsmith training from his father
4. Self-portrait; 1500; oil on wood
13-year-old image; silverpoint drawing
2 later ones; Italian style; view; window
Frontal Christ-like figure; beard; right hand
Monogram; date; lines about portrait
Fur-trimmed coat; hair; dark background
Humanist view of artists genius
Traveled in Flanders, Germany, Italy; promote his own works
International