Impacts of Protestant Reformation in Northern Europe

            The Protestant Reformation had an impact on the visual arts in northern Europe.  As the art in southern Italy became more chaotic and stylized, which can be seen in the Mannerist paintings of Pontormo’s “Descent from the Cross” and Parmigianino’s “Madonna with the Long Neck”, art in Northern Italy turned away from Catholic art.  Instead artists were interested in secular scenes of landscapes that often depicted the everyday lives of peasants and workers.

           

The main interest in Northern Europe turned to secular scenes. Artists started specializing in different types of art, such as graphic artists who would often depict moralizing and satirical scenes.  Some artists depicted scenes of the common laborer and showed people at work or performing actions found in their daily lives.  Landscapes also became popular in Northern Italy and they would often incorporate these scenes of common people.  Ironically it was wealthy and sometimes aristocratic patrons that would commission these paintings and place them in their homes.  This characteristic showed a continued interest in classicism, and was based on the ancient Roman interest in decorating their country villas with landscapes. 

Even though Pieter Bruegel the Elder started in prints, he specialized in landscapes.  His painting “Return of the Hunters” and “The Harvesters” are examples of an interest in landscapes, especially by humanists and those still interested in the Classics.  They both show the Northern European interest in naturalism and an interest in details.  “The Harvesters” show the figures in the foreground and who are at work and at rest in a field of grain.  The field of grain is a warm golden color that draws the eyes and seems to reach far into the background.  The field is interrupted by swaths of green trees that seem to reach even further into the background and seem to fade away in a smoky haze, which shows a continued interest in atmospheric perspective and naturalism.  The golden fields are repeated in the background on the left side of the scene and really help to draw the viewer’s eye into the scenery and to notice the minute details of the houses figures in the background.  His painting “Return of the Hunters” shows naturalistic figures in the foreground, who diminish in size as they walk further into the background.  It also opens up into an expansive landscape.  There are many small details of houses and figures ice-skating, which again shows the Northern interest in small details.  The eye is also drawn to the craggy mountains that he depicts in the background, which helps to lend a naturalistic sense of depth and scale.  This painting and the harvester painting were part of a series of six large paintings that were commissioned to show landscapes of the different months.  This depiction of the months and of the seasons ties into the Northern tradition of calendars and Books of the Hours.

            Patronage interest in religious art waned in Northern Europe.  There were still some religious works produced, such as Hieronymus Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights”, which is quite fantastical and full of allegories about human sin.  The painting that was separated into three different sections like a triptych, shows the transition from the first people of Adam and Eve, to the human centered pleasures of the flesh in the central panel.  The central panel and the right panel, which depicts the torture of hell, depart from the carefully rendered realism during the Renaissance period.   Instead the panels show an imaginative and fantastical world.  The scenes are chaotic in the middle and right panel, with figures gathered in huge groups and circles with no real focal point.  The pictures are almost claustrophobic with so many figures and abstract structures and creatures.  Bright colors have been used to show the sinful fruits, and the dark color of the water in the middle panel, and the sky in right panel, contrast with the pale skin of the human beings who are depicted paying for their sins in hell in the right panel.

Catholic art went from the High Renaissance style of showing realism and great attention to detail, with classical reference to humanism, the use of pyramidal and linear perspective in Southern Italy, and the use of intuitive perspective in the North, to a more chaotic and stylized style during the Mannerist period.  The Mannerist artists did not always have an obvious focal point, which was common with Renaissance art where the viewer new the focus by the pyramidal or triangular composition which would lead the eye to the main focus.  Mannerist paintings, such as Pontormo’s “Descent from the Cross” often have figures that are not even facing the viewer sometimes leading the eye away from the main subject or focus of the painting.  The figures too were highly stylized, often with elongated fingers and hands, their bodies were often contorted and twisted in unrealistic poses, and sometimes they seemed off balance or about to fall.  They were sometimes depicted in unusual and unrealistic colors, such as the front figure on his toes in the foreground of Pontormo’s painting.

Where religious Italian art showed the growing unease and unrest with the Protestant Reformation through their expressive and chaotic use of different manneristic styles of off balance figures, often stylized, and sometimes contorted and twisted in different positions, the Northern European style went to mainly secular interests.  There starts to be an interest in landscapes and this classical interest can be seen in Bruegel’s landscape paintings.  There was also an interest in art that showed morals and a humanist view of trying to teach a lesson to improve oneself, such as Bosch’s painting showing the consequences of human sin.

Looking at “The Origin of the Cornucopia” and “Leda and the Swan” and How they Fit in with the Mannerist Style

            The two works of art found at the Seattle Art Museum, “The Origin of the Cornucopia” by Abraham Janssens and “Leda and the Swan and Her Children” by Vincent Sellaer, show the stylization and characteristics found during the Mannerist period of the Late Renaissance.  Both paintings depict elegant but confusing scenes, and the composition and stylization of the figures within the scenes are similar in style to other paintings done in the Mannerist style.  We can fit these paintings within the realm of Mannerism through the composition and the stylization of the figures, and by comparing the paintings with others from the time period that share similar characteristics in composition and the stylization of the figures. 

            Starting with “The Origin of the Cornucopia” from Abraham Janssens we see an unusual composition.  The viewer’s eyes are drawn to the center of the painting by following the lines of the arms that are being extended by the somewhat central figure in yellow and the right figure in blue.  Instead of drawing the eye to one of the forward figures, instead the two figures and their arms, the one in yellow and the one in blue, frame two smaller figures in the background.  And, yet, these figures don’t seem to be the main focus of the scene, they seem to be involved in their own work and maybe conversation with one another.  Instead, the viewer’s eye is drawn to the figure in blue’s hand, which seems to be pointing back toward, and to the left, of the viewer.  It is hard to tell if she means to point towards the squash on the ground or to something that is off the canvas.  The figures seem to barely fit the size of the canvas and they seemed scrunched or folded to fit within the scene.  We see a similar effect done with the Venus in Bronzino’s Allegory with Venus and Cupid.  She too seems folded and fit into the scene by her unusual posture and her folded legs.  Some of the figures in the painting of the cornucopia seem to be tensed and not quite balanced.  The figure in red, on the viewer’s left, who is stretching down to reach for the squash, seems to be leaning forward towards the viewer as well, giving a sense that he might topple forward, especially since his left leg is outstretched and not braced on the ground.  This unstable position of the figures is characteristic of Mannerist paintings and can be seen in the figures in Pontormo’s “Entombment” and in the figure of Venus in the allegory painting.

The composition of Vincent Saellaer’s painting of “Leda and the Swan and Her Children” is unusual as well.  The composition of the figures causes the eye to move in a circular movement within the scene.  Starting with the swan and Leda’s head, the eye is drawn to her eyes and her hand, both of which are directed to one of her son’s on her left side.   He is looking back at her but his arm points to her side and abdomen, and not to another figure.  His arm also forms a cross with her left arm, which seems to reach down to another son who is leaning or crawling from behind her leg.   Her left leg seems to be contorted back at an unrealistic and unnatural angle, or it’s reaches down into some hidden hole in the ground where her son appears to be crawling from.  The circular composition is interrupted by her very large leg which seems to come out at the viewer.  On the left side of the scene we have her other son who is leaning and reaching outside the scene.  The unusually large looking swan with the artificial curve of the neck, which can only be achieved if the swan was to raise it’s body up and be in a more vertical position, brings the eye back to the figure of Leda whose arm is resting unnaturally on the neck of the swan.  This circular composition is somewhat similar to Pontormo’s Entombment where the eye is drawn to the figures that form a circular composition, and where the arms point to a “dead space” in the center.

The stylization of the figures can be seen in both the paintings.  In the cornucopia scene, the figure on the right is so muscular in the arms and the shoulders, that at first it appears to be a man.  The head seems small in proportion to the body and the neck seems to be at an odd unnatural angle.  The arms seem to be very large and elongated.  The leg that can be seen looks huge with a very muscular calf.  The central figure in the foreground, her right arm seems large and her left hand on top of the cornucopia has very elongated fingers.  The figure on the left side of the scene, again has very large muscular arms, and the legs seem very long compared to the length of the torso.  All three of the main figures have unnaturally bright pink cheeks, and where the two side figures are very pale, the central figure is almost the same pink as the robe in the background.  In the Sellaer’s painting of Leda, Leda’s neck seems elongated slightly and her shoulders look somewhat small compared to her head.  She too has the elongated fingers and the enormous leg that seems to reach into the viewer’s space.  The elongated fingers and disproportionate front leg can also be viewed in Parmiagianino’s Madonna with the Long Kneck.  The Madonna’s leg is very large in comparison to the size of her torso.

We can see through the composition and the stylization of the figures of the paintings of Janssens and Sellaer that they both fit into the Mannerist style, even though Janssen’s The Origin of the Cornucopia wasn’t done until the 17^th century.  The both have unusual composition that reflect similar characteristics found in the painting of Pontormo’s Entombment from the period.  They also share stylization of the figures, the elongation of the fingers and hand, the disproportionate large or long limbs, and the unusual colors that can be seen in the paintings of Bronzino’s Allegory with Venus and Cupid and in Parmigianino’s Madonna with the Long Neck.

A comparison of the Last Supper by Andrea del Castagno during the Early Renaissance period and of the “Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci during the High Renaissance period

            The scene of the Last Supper, which portrays Christ’s Last Supper with his followers and disciples, was painted during the Early Renaissance period by Andrea del Castagno and during the High Renaissance period by Leonardo da Vinci.  Although they both share the same subject matter, and they were painted to encourage the monks and nuns “to see that their daily gatherings for meals were almost a sacramental act rooted in biblical tradition” (Stokstad p.614), in Leonardo’s work we see the start of the “dynamic unity” of the High Renaissance, which is lacking in Castagno’s work.

            Dynamic unity, which was a characteristic of High Renaissance artwork, involved compositions in sweeping arcs that were energized with figures in a variety of poses and gestures.  In Leonardo’s painting we can see the dynamic figures of Christ’s disciples that are reacting to the news of Jesus’s announcement that one of them will betray them.  We can see that the figures have been individualized with different expressions and clothing and hairstyles.  Some of the bodies (third man from the right and fourth man from the left) are shown reaching over to speak in confidence to another figure, while others are twisting their bodies and necks to listen to the others talking around them.  The elongated lines of the bodies gives a sense of movement and tension to the figures, and the bodies also overlap into each other’s space, which also helps to create flow and movement of the eye within each group of figures and helps move the eye to the next group.

            In comparison in Castagno’s depiction of the “Last Supper” the figures of the disciples don’t seem as dynamic.  Most of the figures, except for St. John who is asleep with his head on the table, are sitting upright and somewhat rigid and solemn.  The gestures of the hands and body are very contained compared to the figures in Leonardo’s painting of the “Last Supper”, they do not extend very much into the space of the figures near them.  There isn’t the dynamic placement of the bodies or the exaggerated expressions of the men at the table, which gave a feeling of tension and excitement to Leonardo’s work.  Looking at Castagno’s figures, they are fairly evenly divided into their own spaces, except for Judas by himself on the one side of the table and the figure of Christ, who’s triangular shaped body seems to take up a little more space than the rest, and they all appear at the same height.

Leonardo also cleverly separated the figures into groups of three that helped create areas of interest, and it also helped to create individual scenes of drama and movement that helped draw the viewer into the painting but at the same time draw the eye towards the central figure of Christ.  Instead, in Castagno’s work the eye is drawn to the central figure of Christ through the framing of the colorful marble panels and the lines on the ceiling and the lines of the floor tiles.  Movement of the eye relies more on the decorative elements within the piece rather than the figures themselves.  There is very much a use of geometric shapes and patterns, which can be seen decorating the floor, walls, and the ceiling. 

There are definitely strong classical elements that can be found throughout both paintings.  In Castagno’s painting the scene of the Last Supper is placed in a palacial home with marble panels (which remind me of the painted marble panels found in Roman homes during the Early Empire period) lining the walls and is riddled with Roman motifs.  Some of the motifs include a geometric frieze that runs above the panels, the sphinxes that flank the disciples, the urns which are carved into the benches, and the appearance of what look almost like columns at the end of the walls, which are decorated with acanthus leaves at the top.  The figures are wearing Roman style clothing, which doesn’t seem to be the case with all of the figures in Leonardo’s painting.  In his painting we see the use of the arch above Jesus’s head and it helps form an architectural halo and replaces the use of the round halos that can still be seen in Castagno’s painting.

There is an interest in modeling in both paintings.  In Castagno’s painting there is modeling done on the figures in the area of the head, neck, arms, and in the drapery of the clothing.  In Leonardo’s painting we see the modeling taken a step further, which is a characteristic of the High Renaissance period.  He uses shading extensively on the figures to make them more realistic and he uses sfumato, which means smoky, which is shading that gives the affect of haze and creates subtle transitions of light and dark in the shading.

The composition is very stable and balanced in Castagno’s Last Supper and with the disciples balanced on either side of Christ, and the figure of St. John and Judas help to form a triangular shape in the center around Christ that was common in work from the Early Renaissance.  Leonardo’s work shows Christ balanced as well with an equal number of figures on both sides of him.  He also forms a natural triangular shape in the center of the picture, instead of the pyramidal shape which come to characterize the High Renaissance period.

Linear perspective was used in the orthogonal lines in the rafters of Leonardo’s painting and there is a suggestion of atmospheric perspective in the background through the windows we can see that the mountains appear smoky and further in the distance.  In the other painting, there is some linear perspective in the lines of the ceiling tiles, but the lines of the orthogonals don’t converge into a single point.  There isn’t any atmospheric perspective, the only windows in the scene face to the side and the background is filled with a brick wall which prevents any view into any scenery.

In summary, Castagno’s “Last Supper” utilizes some of the styles of the Early Renaissance with the use of Classical elements, the use of modeling and an interest in naturalism with the figures, the triangular composition that is balanced with the central figure of Christ in the middle, and the attempt at some linear perspective.  Leonardo’s “Last Supper” is share some similar characteristics of the triangular balanced composition, the use of linear perspective, and the use of modeling.  His painting, though, shows the dynamic unity of energetic and expressive figures to create interesting movement within the picture.

An Analysis of Botticelli's "Primavera"

Botticelli’s “Primavera” or “Spring” is an ethereal piece that encompasses love and spring through the style of early Italian Renaissance.  It’s a fun piece that has many complex details throughout the scene and is a good example showing the characteristics of the early Italian Renaissance.  The artists uses a color and light to create contrasts, uses texture to add more realism to the figures and adds contrast between different fabrics, and uses composition to draw the eye to the central figure of Venus in the center.  It also helps depict the interest of artists of that period in humanism, which is a celebration of the human form and human accomplishments, and their interest in perfection, harmony and balance.

The painting is rather large in size, 6’ 8” by 10’ 4” and was painted on wood with tempura.  The large size, which is more typical of tapestries, would make the figures seem more real and lifelike to the viewer.  Tempura, which is pigment suspended in a type of binder such as egg yolk, was usually applied thinly and multiple layers were built up to create more saturated colors.  There doesn’t appear to be any texture of brush strokes to the painting but there is the illusion of texture that is given to the figures and to the surroundings in the painting.  The hair on the women is very textured with individual strands blowing in the wind and this detail helps add to the realism of the figures and add the illusion of wind.  The figure of Venus doesn’t show this type of detail, which might mean she is wearing a type of veil.  The flowers in the foreground help to add texture to the ground and makes the figures appear more grounded.  The different textures of the garments add lines and curves that help to draw the eye and draws attention to the anatomy of the human forms underneath the garments.

           

The colors of the painting help to form a contrast between the background and the figures in the foreground.  The dark green and brown background of orange trees creates a dark almost silhouetted pattern in the background where only some blue of the sky is allowed to show through the branches of the trees.  They form an arch like pattern around the Venus figure in the middle, which helps to emphasize her importance in the scene.  The ground although landscaped with colorful and lifelike flowers, is dark and contrasts with the pale and glowing skin of the figures.  The figures, along with having very light, almost white skin, except for the figure of Zephyrus, also have very light or bright colored clothing.  There also seems to be an unnatural light that can be seen in the highlights of the clothing and the skin and makes the figures glow in this otherwise dark setting.

The composition of the figures is very triangular.  The placement of the figures starting with the chubby figure of Venus’s son Cupid at the top of the painting, then going to the central figure of Venus, and then spreading outward and down to the other figures in the scene form a triangle.  The triangular composition is a characteristic of early Italian Renaissance, along with the balanced composition as well.  Venus is centrally located in the scene and is balanced by the light skinned figures of the women and by the male gods who are both darker in color and flank the group of female goddesses.

The early Italian Renaissance artists were interested in naturalism but it was often coupled with idealism.  The face of Venus is very smooth and idealized, it seems youthful and doesn’t really show individualized characteristics of scars, or wrinkles, or even tan lines. She appears to be very composed and calm compared to all the others who are in different poses of action.  Her garments although they seem naturalistic with the folds and lines that suggest texture, they don’t appear wrinkled or blown around by the wind, which seems to be affected the garments of the other figures in the scene. 

There are efforts of naturalism through the modeling of the arms, neck, and draperies of her clothing.  We can also see some suggestion of her anatomy through the thin dress at the knee and draping over her curved belly.  We can see the Greek influence of the contrapposto stance in her pose.  Her right foot bears her weight, while her left foot is bent and relaxed, which causes her hip to jut out to the left.  Her arms though have the active raised arm on her right side of the body and the relaxed arm on her left.  Her head seems to curve to the left to help balance her body, and we can see the s-curve used during the Hellenistic period and during the Gothic period. 

Stylization can be scene in the other figures and include the rounded bellies of the women, the somewhat elongated figures, the rounded chubby figure of cupid, and of course the blue figure of the flying god of wind.  The plants also seem stylized.  The orange trees in the background all seem to have perfectly straight trunks, and with the sky peeking in between the trunks, they look like pillars.  The unnatural arrangement of branches that help to form an arch around Mary adds to the illusion of architecture.  The canopy of perfectly idealized oranges adds the illusion of a roof.

We can see the artist’s interest in humanism with the almost nude forms of the women, which can be seen as an almost sexual celebration of the female form.  There is some interest in showing the male form as well.  There is suggestion of muscles in the arms and on the chest of Hermes on the left side of the picture, which suggests strength and the health of the figure’s body.

This scene of spring, which shows a renewed interest in Greek figures (Venus, Hermes, Flora, etc.) and styles (contrapposto stance), and ideas, such as humanism, also integrates many of the characteristics and ideas of the Early Italian Renaissance.  These characteristics included naturalism coupled with idealism,  which could be seen in the figures of the gods and goddesses, and of balance and harmony through the use of colors, light and dark, and with the grouping of people.

Artistic Style and Valued Ideas of the Northern Renaissance

            The northern Renaissance was a revolution in paining and in sculpture.  It was a time of looking to the past, to the Romans, and incorporating ideas of realism to their own techniques and methods.  There was a transition from the courtly style of luxury objects, such as tapestries and small sculptures made of sumptuous materials, to an emphasis on realism and an involved interaction between the viewer and the artist’s work.

           

            At the start of the Renaissance, the courtly style involved pieces of art that incorporated rich materials and labor intensive objects.  Many of these included rich tapestries made with gold and silk thread and that often depicted religious scenes or scenes of victory.  Miniature sculptures were made of gold and jewels that were soon melted down to make new items.  With the works of Jan Van Eyck in painting and Sluter in sculpture, naturalism and the illusion of a real world start to characterize the style of the Northern Renaissance.

           

Jan Van Eyck paintings evoke a naturalistic world through the use of minute details, his technique of layering oil paints and oil veneers to create luminous paintings rich in color and seem to glow with reflected light.  One of his great, said to start the revolution of art during the Northern Renaissance, is his great altar piece at Gent.  His figure of Adam shows many naturalistic details including the translucent quality of his skin, the veins that are just visible just beneath the surface, the detail of hair on the legs, the tan color added to his skin, and the way his foot is raised so it seems like he is about set foot outside of his frame.  What’s truly amazing is his incorporation of the altar piece with it’s surroundings.  He made the light in the painting seem to reflect off the actual light of the altars location.  The direction of light can be seen in the reflection of Adam’s eye compared to Eve, who faces the opposite direction, and whose eyes don’t show any reflection.  The jewels on the crowns reflect the direction of the light as well. 

His paintings showed such illusions of reality that they almost seemed like a mirror to the people of that time who viewed the paintings.  There seemed to be an interaction of that world with the real world that was emphasized by his use of light and reflective surfaces in his paintings.  They seemed like windows into another world.

This illusion of another world can be seen in the book of hours.  Eyck was a master at creating an illusionary landscape within a minute amount of space.  Paintings were no longer boxed in, but they framed by “windows” that showed whole new worlds and realistic miniatures.  It opened landscapes into a three dimensional world and made an intimate relationship between the art and the viewer. 

            Sluter’s sculpture of the well of Moses in Dijon shows the sculptors freedom from sculptures constrains of architecture and instead an emphasis on naturalism.  Each figure is sculpted in the round and each figure shows individualized characteristics, which help to give each figure a gravity and presence.  The individualized details can be seen in their clothing, difference in shoes, differences in the details of the face (the deep wrinkles apparent in the brow of Moses) and the facial hair (Moses has a big curly beard compared to King David and Jeremiah).  They also appear to lean out and come out at the viewer, almost forcing interaction and an intimacy with the viewer.

            One main idea that was valued during the Northern Renaissance and that had a profound effect on artists, was the idea of artists taking credit for their works of art.  Personal skill became highly prized, especially in the courts of the Duke of Burgundy, and artists were starting to make a name for themselves and starting to gather fame.  One very skilled and famous painter, Jan Van Eyck, was known to leave signatures, dates, personal mottos, even portraits of himself in his paintings.

            Another idea of the period included ideas of consistency.  If an artist used a certain medium, such as oil paints, then there was a an idea that the consistency of that medium would be preserved and there wouldn’t be any incorporation of foreign objects such as jewels and gold foil.  Gold foil was often used to represent the halos in pictures of the saints and it was used to represent their rich clothing and royal crowns.  Instead, Jan Van Eyck used techniques of layering oils to produce luminous objects and jewels in his paintings.  According to documentary, “Northern Renaissance”, whatever is in the picture appears consistent with the world in which we inhabit.  Consistency helps to preserve the illusion of reality.

My thoughts on the renaissance period

            The Renaissance is known as a time of change and advancement in Western European art.  The period is famous for many works of art from Italian artists that are still held in high regard today.  Many of these artists looked to the past and became influenced by ancient Roman art and architecture.  They incorporated Roman ideas of proportions and perspective to their art.  Architects looked to make buildings and structures bigger and grander then their predecessors, as can be seen by Brunelleschi and the dome of the Florence Cathedral.  There was also the incorporation of philosophical ideas of humanity, science, and mathematics that would have an influence on the art of the Renaissance period. 

            We see the Renaissance period as a flourish of movements in art, science, philosophy, religion, and technological advancement.  There becomes interest in the studying the world around us and a return of humanism (a celebration of the human body) and an interest in anatomy.  We also see the art from the 15^th and 16^th century to be a return to the realistic and idealized form of classical Greek art.  Our culture seems to admire those with the skill to achieve realism in art (even if it is an idealized realism), such as the ancient Greek artists, but I think people feel a stronger connection with the renaissance artists because they are not so far in the past, and so much of their art is still present to this day.

            We tend to focus on big name artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael because they produced works art that were unique for their time and in ours.  They are also used so often in examples in art books, posters, magazines, and ads.  There are so many common references to their art work and much of it has become franchised and become part of our culture.  I had a friend once who had a magnet on her refrigerator of the Donatello’s “David” and of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”.  The David came with a set of clothes that you could put on him, including jeans and a Hawaiian shirt.