Mannerism in Italy

Born as a reaction against naturalism, order and balance of the High Renaissance “Maniera” (Italian) - style, stylishness Intellectual sophistication – work directed towards a small audience who understands art It’s art based on art, not art based on nature Artificial, highly theatrical, dramatic lighting effects, exaggerated emotions, elongated figures, etc. Mannerism (In Italy , everywhere else - lasted until 17 th Cent.)

Mannerism Entombment, Pontormo,

Northern Renaissance

Is the term used to describe the Renaissance in Northern Europe (England, France, Germany, Netherlands). North. Renaissance –

Universities, the printed press and the development of trade helped to spread ideas throughout Europe. North. Renaissance –

Northern Renaissance - Medium: Oil on panel (used due to wet, cold climate) Brighter, richer and deeper colors, smoother transitions, more realistic 3D rendering Small scale wood panels - are easy to transport & view in a private, domestic setting - helped the middle class to create an illusion of wealth and high social status Panels were treated as precious objects that are part of the spectator’s world and at the same time set off from the mundane world of everyday existence.

Italy - Subject matter: Classical mythology and religious iconography, portraiture much less common than in Netherlands Northern Europe - Subject matter: Domestic interiors, portraits and religious scenes Italian vs Northern Renaissance

Jan Van Eyck Was an official court artist in Brugges (Belgium) Is known for a microscopic- telescopic vision: an exceptionally realistic style of painting Invented oil paint His is full of religious symbolism Man in a Red Turban (Self-Portrait), Jan van Eyck, tempera and oil on panel, 1433

Jan Van Eyck “Jan van Eyck painted the world as if everything in it were both knowable and perfectly known... His aim was not representation, but reconstruction”- Panofsky. Each object, is spiritualized by its almost total detail: his scrutiny goes beyond the concrete and waits for our symbolic imagination to catch up with it. Portrait of Margaret van Eyck, Jan van Eyck, oil on panel, 1439

Petrus Christus Christus was born near Antwerp, Belgium. He is considered to be a student and a successor to Jan van Eyck.AntwerpJan van Eyck Portrait of a Carthusian is a painting in oils on oak panel. It depicts apanel three-quarter portrait of anonymous Carthusian monk captured in mid-turn, gazing directly at the viewer. The Monk is bathed in intense light, setting his figure dramatically against the space that he occupies. The complex lighting scheme is the reason why the portrait appears fully 3-dimensional and realistic.Carthusianmonk3-dimensional The painting has a Trompe l’oeil fly on its lower right-hand corner. Many art historians believe that the fly has connotations of sin, corruption, mortality.Trompe l’oeilflysinmortality

Portrait of a Carthusian, Petrus Christus, oil on panel,

Italy - Style & Technique: 1.Artists study from nature (learn anatomy, etc.) 2.Space is constructed using 1-point linear perspective 3.The ideal of beauty and harmony is based on classical art 4.Frequent use of symmetry and balance 5.Desire to make the images of the visible world more believable and accessible. The view of reality is more generalized, not fragmented like in the Netherlands.

Italian Renaissance vs Northern Renaissance In Italy, the realism was based on the use of science (anatomy) and math (linear perspective and geometry). The realism of the Northern Renaissance was based on a very close observation of the world.

Italy - Style & Technique Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, Raphael, 1504

North - Style & Technique: 1. Exquisite and minute surface detail, microscopic view of the world 2. Naturalism, use of illusionistic tromp l’oil effects 3. Northern works are smaller scale, private, psychologically intimate

was part of the guild of the goldsmiths in Tournai and a teacher of Rogier van der Weyden Campin produced a number of paintings for the bourgeoisie of Tournai that combine domestic imagery and religious iconography. rather rugged style of realism: –crowded spaces –holy figures are same weight as material objects (no differentiation between various levels of reality) –folds, contrived to mark out the geometric bulk of the body –not much unity in symbolism and setting –bulky, not very proportioned figures Robert Campin

Style & Technique Merod Altarpiece, Robert Campin, oil on panel, 1426, (25” x 24” center, 25” x 10” each wing)

Northern - Style & Technique: 4. Often combined multiple perspectives in 1 painting to emphasize different realities: religious and secular. 5. Artists had insistent interest in the individual, with all its quirks and peculiarities. They refused to generalize and simplify. 6. Full of symbolic iconography, which awakens emotions of the pious (everyday objects symbolize spiritual ideas).

Albreht Durer –Was a German painter, printmaker and theorist, born in Nuremberg in 1471 –He became very famous by his mid-twenties. –Dürer painted his 1 st self- portrait for his fiancé. Self-portrait, Albrecht Durer, oil on panel, 1493 (left) – before his trip to Italy

Albreht Durer –The second self-portrait was painted after his trip to Italy, where he studied with the great masters in Venice, Padua, etc. Self-portrait, Albrecht Durer, oil on panel, 1500 (left) – after his trip to Italy

The Protestant Reformation –The movement began with Martin Luther in 1517 as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church –Protestants considered the Catholic Church to be corrupt: abusing its power, etc. –Protestants believed the Catholic church encouraged idol worship. –“The kingdom of God is the kingdom of hearing, not of seeing” – Martin Luther

Genre Painting Peasant Wedding, Pieter Bruegel The Elder, oil on panel, 1568

Genre Painting The Hunters in the Snow, Pieter Bruegel The Elder, oil on panel, 1565

Exercise: Compare these artworks Portrait of a Youth, Sandro Botticelli, 15 th cent. (left) / Portrait of Margaret van Eyck, Jan van Eyck, oil, 15 th cent. (right)

Northern or Italian Renaissance?

Exercise: Compare these artworks Mid 13 th century (left) / mid. 15 th century, Fra Angelico’s Annunciation, San Marco, Florence (right)

Exercise: Compare these artworks Virgin & Child, Ravenna, 6 century (left) / Madonna & Child, Rafael, early 16 th century (right)

Exercise: Compare these artworks Madonna With Child, Piero della Francesca, 15 th century (left) / The Deposition from the Cross, Pontormo, 16 th century (right)