The Renaissance of Northern Europe and Italy

Artists during the Renaissance from Northern Europe and from Italy approached art in both similar and distinct ways. The Renaissance as a social and cultural era is defined in Italy as being the return to classical and ancient ideals in art and in other aspects of life. This meant the rediscovery of certain aesthetic and intellectual habits of ancient Greek and particularly Roman use of naturalism and a precision of human anatomy. This revival of "classicism" was expressed through new techniques including sfumato, chiaroscuro and perspective. One of the main innovators of perspective in painting was Massachio, whose Tribute Money (1426-27) shows the use of architecture on the right to direct the eye out into the depth of the image and down to the movement of the figures. The use of architecture to direct the eye and the subject of the biblical scene are common features of the Italian Renaissance. As well, the admiration of the classical ideal of beauty is seen in this painting. The figures here are made to look more like marble statues than people. This beauty and treatment of Christianity can also be seen in Michelangelo's David (1504), which was made with the classical medium of white marble. David contains within him the poise, s-curve, curly hair and facial features of a classical man. However, he is slimmer, sleeker and less anatomically correct than a classical sculpture, and he has eyeholes, meaning he would not have been painted. This is what makes Renaissance sculpture independent, as his long arms, slim physique and suggestive stare to somewhere else give him a fresh mystique, personality and youthfulness. It is clear that the preoccupation is with naturalism and personality as opposed to complete realism. Leondardo Da Vinci would innovate early on in spatial placement of figures and on the technique "sfumato", which blurred the lines between the background and the foreground, giving the main figures predominance and providing us with a very wistful effect, as seen in his Madonna by the Rocks (1483-86). Da Vinci, in his Last Supper (1495-98), would also use the triangle and the horizon as a means of placing emphasis on the Jesus figure, and also arranging other objects in the space both horizontally and vertically.

For painting, the medium and preoccupation changed, thanks to the Van Eyke brothers, in Northern Europe. They invented a form of painting made from pigments and oil as opposed the former egg-based tempura paint. This allowed for much more versatility in the range and depth of details and colour, as well as the ability to layer multiple tones one on top of each other. This also allowed more leeway for the artist in terms of correcting a mistake, as oil doesn't dry as quickly as egg does. This meant that the artist could take more time to focus on his work. This medium caught on in Italy as well, creating a virtual revolution in painting. In Northern Europe, it was used to great effect by artists like Jan Van Eyke, who, in his painting of Arnolfini Wedding (1434), attempts to capture, in a relatively small frame, a sort of photorealism unseen in much previous work. The conceit here isn't in creating statuesque, ideal humans, but average, everyday humans. The camera effect is foreseen early on in Northern European Renaissance painting, which attempts to capture texture, detail and, in this case, an employment of perspective and light comparable to Italian art. As well, Northern European art has more of an inclination toward hidden religious symbolism. This can be seen in small details on the back wall (the rosary) and in the chandelier (the crosses) in Arnolfini Wedding. The use of hidden symbolism can also be seen in Robert Campin's The Merode Altarpiece (1426). Again, the employment of classical beauty in the characters is not a preoccupation of this painter, and perspective is not a main feature of this painting in the least. The objects in the three frames look oddly or poorly placed, almost as though they were superimposed. However, they were put there deliberately, in order for us to be bombarded with numerous hidden religious symbols. The art from this part of Europe centered much more on painting than sculpture, and in it we can see the influence of the High Gothic, as opposed to Roman. Both paintings call for an abundance of fine, busy details. This art contains in it elements of architecture and perspective used to denote depth, space and movement, but it is not a main feature of this image the way it was in Italy, and the use of mathematical rule, idealism and naturalism is not as pronounced.

1. Urton, Robin, The Northern Renaissance, Art History Pages

http://www.eyeconart.net/history/Renaissance/northrenaiss.htm, October 21st 2009