THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
more interested than Italians in religious reform & educating laity Religious questions were an important focus of northern humanists Christianity had arrived later, ppl. looking for ways to deepen faith printing press with movable type: Gutenberg, Mainz, mid-15th c. precursors: rise of universities & literacy (demand for books); invention of cheap paper rulers in church & state now had to deal with more educated & critical public; also powerful tool of religious/political propaganda in Reformation Catholic humanist reformers pave the way for Protestantism: Erasmus: most famous northern humanist; Catholic educational & religious reformer Thomas More: best-known English humanist; Utopia William Shakespeare: literary giant of the Northern Renaissance
Art of the Northern Renaissance 4 Major Themes of Northern Renaissance Art: Realistic portraits Religious themes Landscapes Scenes of daily life
Albrecht Durer Praying Hands, 1508
Albrecht Durer Young Hare, 1502
Jan van Eyck Ghent altarpiece, 1432
Pieter Brueghel Peasant Dance, 1568