Monday Morning Museum: The Northern Renaissance

The Northern Renaissance - Germany and the Netherlands in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

The Northern Renaissance is the Renaissance that occurred in the European countries north of Italy. Before 1497 Italian Renaissance humanism had little influence outside Italy. From the late 15th century the ideas spread around Europe. This influenced the German Renaissance, French Renaissance, English Renaissance, Renaissance in the Low Countries, Polish Renaissance and other national and localized movements, each with different characteristics and strengths. – Wikipedia.org

In addition to Jan van Eyck (see art example below), other artists of the Northern Renaissance are Robert Campin, Rogier van der Weyden, Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel and Hans Holbein.

The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, by Jan van Eyck (circa 1395-1441)

This work is a portrait of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, but is not intended as a record of their wedding. His wife is not pregnant, as is often thought, but holding up her full-skirted dress in the contemporary fashion. Arnolfini was a member of a merchant family from Lucca living in Bruges. The couple are shown in a well-appointed interior.

The ornate Latin signature translates as 'Jan van Eyck was here 1434'. The similarity to modern graffiti is not accidental. Van Eyck often inscribed his pictures in a witty way. The mirror reflects two figures in the doorway. One may be the painter himself. Arnolfini raises his right hand as he faces them, perhaps as a greeting.

Van Eyck was intensely interested in the effects of light: oil paint allowed him to depict it with great subtlety in this picture, notably on the gleaming brass chandelier. – The National Gallery, London

Last Monday’s Art – The Renaissance
Next Monday’s Art – The Rococo Style

Top of post: “The Northern Renaissance” graphic created by Adrean Darce Brent
Below: “Monday Morning Museum” logo created by Adrean Darce Brent