Consider the influence of oil painting on painting in Northern Europe. Examine the rich colour, minute detail and use of atmospheric perspective. Note the importance of symbolism in religious subject matter.
Compare the features that clearly distinguish these paintings from those in Italy of the same period.
The Humanism of Florence and Classical Greek and Roman culture had little or no influence on the Northern Renaissance, so painting developed in quite a different manner. Jan van Eyck perfected the technique of oil painting, but he and other artists also borrowed the techniques of perspective, naturalistic observation and a realistic approach to painting from Italy. However, patrons and artists had a very different idea of beauty to that of the Italians: northern Humanism was more austere, with a strong spirit of reform.
Printmaking and the mass production of images was an exciting opportunity for artists. Books, prints, engravings and pamphlets also facilitated the distribution of the ideas of the Reformation.
Fur er Research
www.artstor.org – Search for ‘The many questions surrounding Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait’ for a closer look at the details of the Northern Renaissance masterpiece
1. What important symbols are seen in The Arnolfini Portrait?
2. Why do you think this picture was painted? 3. Describe the technique of oil painting.
4. Why do you think illusionism and symbolism had such an important role in Northern Renaissance paintings?
5. Describe and discuss the use of fine detail and illusionistic techniques in a Northern Renaissance work of art. Compare this to another artist’s work of the same period or later.
6. Why do you think Italian Humanism and Erasmus’s ideas of Humanism affected art in such different ways?
7. What opportunities did the development of printing present for artists?
8. Why do you think Albrecht Dürer’s printmaking is so much more widely known than his painting?
