Protestant Reformation Impact the Arts in the Western Cultural Tradition

The Northern Renaissance

Before 1450, Renaissance humanism had piddling influence outside Italian republic; after 1450, these ideas began to spread throughout Europe.

Learning Objectives

Describe how the Northern Renaissance differed from the Italian Renaissance

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Humanism influenced the Renaissance periods in Germany, France, England, holland, and Poland. There were also other national and localized movements, each with different characteristics and strengths.
• Northern painters in the 16th century increasingly looked to Rome for influence, and became known every bit the Romanists . The Loftier Renaissance fine art of Michelangelo and Raphael and the stylistic tendencies of Mannerism likewise had a great impact on their piece of work.
• Although Renaissance humanism and the large number of surviving classical artworks and monuments in Italy encouraged many Italian painters to explore Greco-Roman themes, Northern Renaissance painters developed other field of study matters, such as landscape and genre painting.

Central Terms

• Romanists: A group of artists in the late 15th and early 16th century from kingdom of the netherlands who began to visit Italia and started to incorporate Renaissance influences in their work.
• Northern Renaissance: The Northern Renaissance describes the Renaissance every bit it occurred in northern Europe.

The Northern Renaissance describes the Renaissance in northern Europe. Before 1450, Renaissance humanism had niggling influence outside Italy; however, afterwards 1450 these ideas began to spread across Europe. This influenced the Renaissance periods in Germany, French republic, England, holland, and Poland. There were as well other national and localized movements. Each of these regional expressions of the Renaissance evolved with dissimilar characteristics and strengths. In some areas, the Northern Renaissance was distinct from the Italian Renaissance in its centralization of political power. While Italian republic and Germany were dominated by independent metropolis-states , parts of central and western Europe began emerging as nation-states. The Northern Renaissance was as well closely linked to the Protestant Reformation , and the long series of internal and external conflicts between various Protestant groups and the Roman Catholic Church had lasting effects.

As in Italian republic, the decline of feudalism opened the manner for the cultural, social, and economical changes associated with the Renaissance in northern Europe. Northern painters in the 16th century increasingly looked to Rome for influence, and became known as the Romanists. The High Renaissance art of Michelangelo and Raphael and the stylistic tendencies of Mannerism had a significant impact on their work. Although Renaissance humanism and the big number of surviving classical artworks and monuments in Italy encouraged many Italian painters to explore Greco-Roman themes, Northern Renaissance painters developed other subject field matters, such as landscape and genre painting.

Danae past Jan Mabuse: One of the nigh well-known Romanists was January Mabuse. The influence of Michelangelo and Raphael showed in the use of mythology and nudity in this particular piece.

As Renaissance art styles moved through northern Europe, they were adapted to local customs. For example, in England and the northern Netherlands, the Reformation nigh ended the tradition of religious painting. In France, the School of Fontainebleau, which was originally founded past Italians such as Rosso Fiorentino, succeeded in establishing a durable national style. Finally, by the cease of the 16th century, artists such as Karel van Mander and Hendrik Goltzius nerveless in Haarlem in a cursory but intense phase of Northern Mannerism that as well spread to Flanders .

Affect of the Protestant Reformation

The Reformation was a religious movement in the 16th century that resulted in the theological divide between Roman Catholics and Protestants.

Learning Objectives

Depict the Protestant Reformation and its effects on Western European art of the 16th century

Fundamental Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• Art that portrayed religious figures or scenes followed Protestant theology by depicting people and stories accurately and clearly and emphasized salvation through divine grace, rather than through personal deeds, or by intervention of church hierarchy.
• Reformation art embraced Protestant values , although the amount of religious art produced in Protestant countries was hugely reduced. Instead, many artists in Protestant countries diversified into secular forms of art similar history painting , landscapes, portraiture, and still life .
• The Protestant Reformation induced a wave of iconoclasm , or the destruction of religious imagery , among the more radical evangelists.

Fundamental Terms

• Protestant Reformation: The 16th century schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestants; characterized by the objection to the doctrines, rituals, and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Cosmic Church building and led to the creation of Protestant churches, which were outside of the control of the Vatican.
• iconoclasm: The conventionalities in, participation in, or sanction of destroying religious icons and other symbols or monuments, commonly with religious or political motives.

The Protestant Reformation and Art

The Protestant Reformation was a religious move that occurred in Western Europe during the 16th century that resulted in the theological separate between Roman Catholics and Protestants. This motion created a N-South split in Europe, where by and large Northern countries became Protestant, while Southern countries remained Catholic. Protestant theology centered on the individual relationship between the worshiper and the divine, and accordingly, the Reformation'south creative movement focused on the individual'southward personal relationship with God. This was reflected in a number of common people and twenty-four hour period-to-day scenes depicted in art.

The Reformation ushered in a new artistic tradition that highlighted the Protestant belief system and diverged drastically from southern European humanist art produced during the Loftier Renaissance . Reformation art embraced Protestant values, although the amount of religious art produced in Protestant countries was hugely reduced (largely because a huge patron for the arts—the Cosmic Church—was no longer active in these countries). Instead, many artists in Protestant countries diversified into secular forms of art like history painting, landscapes, portraiture, and notwithstanding life.

Art that portrayed religious figures or scenes followed Protestant theology by depicting people and stories accurately and conspicuously and emphasized salvation through divine grace, rather than through personal deeds, or by intervention of church bureaucracy. This is the straight influence of ane major criticism of the Catholic Church building during the Reformation—that painters created biblical scenes that strayed from their true story, were difficult to identify, and were embellished with painterly effects instead of focusing on the theological bulletin. In terms of subject thing, iconic images of Christ and scenes from the Passion became less frequent, as did portrayals of the saints and clergy. Instead, narrative scenes from the Bible and moralistic depictions of mod life became prevalent.

The Protestant Reformation also capitalized on the popularity of printmaking in northern Europe. Printmaking immune images to exist mass produced and widely available to the public at low toll. The Protestant church was therefore able to bring their theology to the people through portable, inexpensive visual media . This immune for the widespread availability of visually persuasive imagery. With the neat evolution of the engraving and printmaking market in Antwerp in the 16th century, the public was provided with accessible and affordable images. Many artists provided drawings to book and print publishers.

Iconoclasm and Resistance to Idolatry

All forms of Protestantism showed a degree of hostility to religious images, especially sculpture and big paintings, considering them forms of idol worship. Subsequently the early years of the Reformation, artists in Protestant areas painted far fewer religious subjects for public display, partly because religious art had long been associated with the Cosmic Church. Although, there was a conscious effort to develop a Protestant iconography of Bible images in book illustrations and prints. During the early Reformation, some artists made paintings for churches that depicted the leaders of the Reformation in ways very similar to Catholic saints. Afterwards, Protestant taste turned away from the brandish of religious scenes in churches, although some connected to be displayed in homes.

There was too a reaction confronting images from classical mythology, the other manifestation of the High Renaissance at the time. This brought near a style that was more than directly related to accurately portraying the present times. For instance, Bruegel'due south Wedding Feast portrays a Flemish-peasant wedding ceremony dinner in a befouled. It makes no reference to any religious, historical, or classical events, and merely gives insight into the everyday life of the Flemish peasant.

Bruegel'southward Peasant Wedding : Bruegael's Peasant Wedding ceremony is a painting that captures the Protestant Reformation artistic tradition: focusing on scenes from modern life rather than religious or classical themes.

The Protestant Reformation induced a wave of iconoclasm, or the destruction of religious imagery, among the more radical evangelists. Protestant leaders, specially Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin, actively eliminated imagery from their churches and regarded the great bulk of religious images as idolatrous—fifty-fifty manifestly crosses. On the other paw, Martin Luther encouraged the display of a restricted range of religious imagery in churches. For the near part, however, Reformation iconoclasm resulted in a disappearance of religious figurative art, compared with the amount of secular pieces that emerged.

Iconoclasm: Catholic Altar Piece: Chantry slice in St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht, attacked in the Protestant iconoclasm in 1572. This retable became visible once again later on restoration in 1919 removed the false wall placed in front of it.

Antwerp: A Center of the Northern Renaissance

Antwerp, located in Kingdom of belgium, was a center for art in the Netherlands and northern Europe for much of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Learning Objectives

Describe the characteristics of Antwerp Mannerism

Fundamental Takeaways

Key Points

• The Antwerp Schoolhouse for painting flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Antwerp School comprised many generations of artists and is known for portraiture, animal paintings, withal lifes, and prints.
• Antwerp Mannerism bore no relation to Renaissance Mannerism, but the name suggests a reaction to the "classic" style of the earlier Flemish painters. Although attempts have been fabricated to place individual artists, near paintings remain attributed to anonymous masters.
• Antwerp was an internationally meaning publishing center, with prodigious product of old primary prints and book illustrations. Furthermore, Antwerp animaliers, or animal painters, such as Frans Snyders, Jan Fyt, and Paul de Vos, dominated fauna painting in Europe.

Cardinal Terms

• Antwerp Schoolhouse: The Antwerp School is a term for the artists active in Antwerp, first during the 16th century when the city was the economic middle of the Low Countries, and and so during the 17th century when it became the artistic stronghold of the Flemish Baroque under Peter Paul Rubens.
• Antwerp: A province of Flemish region, Kingdom of belgium.

Antwerp, located in present-day Belgium, was a eye for art in the Netherlands and northern Europe for much of the 16th and 17th centuries. The so-called Antwerp Schoolhouse for painting flourished during the 16th century when the urban center was the economic center of the Low Countries, and again during the 17th century when it became the artistic stronghold of the Flemish Baroque . The Antwerp School comprised many generations of artists and is known for portraiture, beast paintings, nevertheless lifes, and prints.

Antwerp became the primary trading and commercial centre of the Low Countries around 1500, and the boost in the economy attracted many artists to the cities to join arts and crafts guilds . For case, many 16th century painters, artists, and craftsmen joined the Guild of Saint Luke, which educated apprentices and guaranteed quality. The first schoolhouse of artists to emerge in the city were the Antwerp Mannerists , a group of anonymous tardily Gothic painters active in the city from about 1500 to 1520.

Antwerp Mannerism diameter no direct relation to Renaissance or Italian Mannerism, but the name suggests a way that was a reaction to the "classic" style of the earlier Flemish painters. Although attempts take been fabricated to identify individual artists, well-nigh paintings remain attributed to anonymous masters. Characteristic of Antwerp Mannerism are paintings that combine early Netherlandish and Northern Renaissance styles, and incorporate both Flemish and Italian traditions into the same compositions . Practitioners of the style frequently painted subjects such as the Adoration of the Magi and the Nativity, both of which are by and large represented every bit nighttime scenes, crowded with figures and dramatically illuminated. The Adoration scenes were specially popular with the Antwerp Mannerists, who delighted in the patterns of the elaborate apparel worn by the Magi and the ornamentation of the architectural ruins in which the scene was set.

The Adoration of the Kings past Jan Gossaert: This painting captures the Antwerp Mannerist tradition of using religious themes, particularly the Adoration of the Magi, for inspiration.

The iconoclastic riots ("Beeldenstorm" in Dutch) of 1566 that preceded the Dutch Revolt resulted in the destruction of many works of religious art , after which time the churches and monasteries had to be refurnished and redecorated. Artists such as Otto van Veen and members of the Francken family unit, working in a late Mannerist fashion, provided new religious decoration. These also marked the get-go of economic decline in the metropolis, as the Scheldt river was blockaded by the Dutch Commonwealth in 1585 and trade restricted.

The city experienced an artistic renewal in the 17th century. The large workshops of Peter Paul Rubens and Jacob Jordaens, along with the influence of Anthony van Dyck, made Antwerp the eye of the Flemish Baroque. The urban center was an internationally pregnant publishing center, with prodigious production of erstwhile master prints and book illustrations. Furthermore, Antwerp animaliers or animal painters, such as Frans Snyders, Jan Fyt ,and Paul de Vos, dominated animal painting in Europe for at least the kickoff half of the century. But every bit the economy continued to reject, and the Habsburg nobility and the Church reduced their patronage , many artists trained in Antwerp left for holland, England, French republic, or elsewhere. By the finish of the 17th century, Antwerp was no longer a major artistic center.

Hunting Trophies: Jan Fyt, a member of the Antwerp Schoolhouse, was well known for the utilize of animal motifs in his paintings.

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