Art Chapter 22

Protestant Reformation

Albrecht Dürer The Four Apostles demonstrates the artist's Lutheran beliefs. An inscription on the frame warns viewers not to follow "false prophets" but to follow the word of the Bible. It led the way for the possibility of Protestant visual art. 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era

Albrecht Durer

Based in Nuremberg, he traveled to Switzerland, Italy, and Strasbourg to further his studies. His first print publication, The Apocalypse, appeared in German and Latin editions. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse shows the figures from Revelations in a compact, overlapping group. As early as 1494, he began to engrave metal plates himself. Adam and Eve is one such work that identifies ideal human proportions based on Roman copies of Greek sculpture. The four humors, or temperaments, are symbolized in the content of the work. rendered his subjects with lifelike representation, using mathematical perspective and a reasoned canon of proportions

El Greco

Domenikos Theotokopoulos was the most famous painter at the end of the sixteenth century. Depicts saints in earthly and heavenly realms, affirms Catholic Christendom Remarkable for number of portraits in picture The Burial of Count Orgaz captures a miraculous ascent of Orgaz into heaven. It utilizes a Mannerist composition, dramatic expressions, figurative distortions, unnatural light.

Albrecht Durer brought a lot of Italian influence

Italian influence

The west wing, or Cour Carrée, of the Louvre incorporated Renaissance ideals of balance and regularity with Classical architectural details.

Northern Renaissance style

Hieronymus Bosch

captured imaginative visions and was considered a social critic was a superb colorist and technician, creating unsettling paintings like the Garden of Earthly Delights.

Matthias Grunewald

continued paintings with medieval mysticism and emotional spirituality. His best known work is the shutters attached to the carved Isenheim Altarpiece above. On weekdays, a scene of the Crucifixion and Lamentation were viewable. The tortured body of Jesus was covered with horrific details.

Hans Holbein the Younger

created a series of portraits of nobles and diplomats associated with the Tudor court. Details in textures and the intellectual gifts displayed around these two men emphasizes his technical skill.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

imitated the works of Hieronymus Bosch early in his career. After having traveled Italy, he did not record the ruins of Rome but rather the landscapes of Alpine valleys. Note his use of illusionistic devices, including orthogonal and atmospheric perspective His Cycle of the Months depicts nature in all seasons and moods. Landscape is featured subject

had no overt religious content, but they could be seen as glorifying God's works on Earth

landscape paintings

Hieronymus Bosch GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS; Has Bosch invented a new kind of secular triptych? One that functions like a Renaissance home theatre package for wealthy patrons? Two important reformers were Desiderius Erasmus in Holland, and Martin Luther in Germany. Increased literacy and widespread use of the printing press allowed many Europeans to enter religious debate. Years of political and religious strife had a grave impact on artists. There was a mass destruction of works.

religious versus secular subjects in art