Northern Renaissance

The spiritual awakening of Europe, which began at the end of the XII century, was a consequence of the rise of medieval urban culture and was expressed in new forms of activity - intellectual and cultural. In particular, the heyday of scholastic science, the awakening of interest in antiquity, the manifestation of self-identity in the religious and secular sphere, in art - the Gothic style.

This process of spiritual awakening went in two ways (due to socio-economic, national and cultural characteristics):

1. development of elements of a secular humanistic worldview
2. development of the ideas of religious “renewal”

Both of these currents often adjoined and merged, but in fact they nevertheless acted as antagonists. Italy followed the first path (see the Renaissance , with its anti-coking and realistic tendencies), Northern Europe followed the second, with forms of mature Gothic, with its general spiritualistic spirit and naturalism of details ^[1] .

The Italian Renaissance had virtually no influence on other countries until 1450. After 1500, the style spread throughout the continent, but many late Gothic influences persisted even before the Baroque era.

The main differences: greater influence of Gothic art, less attention to the study of anatomy and ancient heritage, a thorough and detailed writing technique. In addition, the Reformation was an important ideological component.

The most prominent examples of Northern Renaissance art are Flemish-Dutch and German paintings.

In the Netherlands and Flanders it is, first of all, Jan van Eyck , Hubert van Eyck , Robert Kampen , Hugo van der Hus , Rogier van der Weyden , Hans Memling . Masters of the "second tier" - Gertgen that Sint Jans , Quentin Masseys , Bernard van Orley . Examples of a later period are the works of Bosch and Brueghel , as well as Joachim Patinir , Adrian Isenbrant , Jan Provost , Jan van Skorel , Cornelis Engelbrechtsen , Artgen van Leiden .

In Germany - Albrecht Dürer , Matthias Grünewald , Lucas Cranach Sr. , Albrecht Altdorfer , Hans Holbein , Hans Baldung, Wolf Huber , MS Master and others (See also Danube School of Painting )

In Switzerland - Hans Holbein (Basel period, 1515-1532), Nicklaus Manuel , nicknamed Deutsch (Deutsch), Hans Leu Jr. , Hans Frieze and Urs Graf .

In France - the artists Jean Fouquet , Jean Clouet , Francois Clouet , Jean Goujon , Marc Duval , Francois Kenel , representatives of the dynasty of court artists Dumourier : Daniel Dumourier , Cosm Dumouste , Geoffroy Dumouste , Etienne Dumouste early Rogier van der Weyden . The original representative of the era that does not fit into the traditional framework of ideas about styles was Jean Duve . By his experiments on the verge of music, cryptography and painting, the composer Bod Cordier is known.

In the UK - William Shakespeare , famous for his sonnets, tragedies and comedies, miniature painter Isaac Oliver .

• French renaissance
• en: English Renaissance
• German Renaissance
• Renaissance in Poland
• Spanish Renaissance
• en: Renaissance in the Low Countries

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