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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION IN
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY NORTHERN EUROPE
Google Earth Coordinates:
Escorial, Spain
Square court of the Louvre, Paris
Video Links:
El Greco’s Beloved City: Historic City of Toledo
Compare and Contrast
Image Flashcards
Term Flashcards
France: Courtly Tastes for Italian Forms
Key Images
Gilles Le Breton, Cour du Cheval Blanc (Court of the White Horse), Fontainebleau, p.
Materials and Techniques: Making and Conserving Renaissance Tapestries, p. 629
French patrons were deeply influenced by Italian art and architecture, brought to
France by Italian artists including Leonardo da Vinci and Benvenuto Cellini.
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Spain: Global Power and Religious Orthodoxy
Key Images
Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, Escorial, p. 632, 18.6
Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, Escorial, façade of main church, p. 632,
18.7
El Greco, The Burial of Count Orgaz, p. 633, 18.8
Chapel with The Burial of Count Orgaz, p. 634, 18.9
During the sixteenth century, Spanish patrons commissioned religious art that was
influenced by Italian works. The influence of Italian art and architecture on Spanish
Central Europe: The Reformation and Art
Key Images
Matthias Grünewald, St. Sebastian; The Crucifixion; St. Anthony Abbot; predella:
Lamentation, Isenheim Altarpiece, p. 636, 18.10
Matthias Grünewald, The Annunciation; Madonna and Child with Angels; The
Resurrection, second view of the Isenheim Altarpiece, p. 636, 18.11
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Primary Source: Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), from the journal of his trip to the
Netherlands, 1521, p. 641
The Reformation deeply influenced the art of Central Europe with the destruction of
images due to iconoclasm and a reduction in Church patronage.
England: Reformation and Power
Key Images
Hans Holbein the Younger, Henry VIII, p. 648, 18.24
Primary Source: Elizabethan Imagery, p. 649
During the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, portraiture was the main art form.
Hans Holbein the Younger s style was a mix of Northern European traditions and
Italian artistic styles. This can be seen in his portrait of Henry VIII in which he
combines the frontality of Dürer and the influence of the Italian artist Agnolo
Bronzino.
The Netherlands: World Marketplace
Key Images
Gerard David, Virgin Among Virgins, p. 650, 18.27
Jan Gossaert, Neptune and Amphitrite, p. 652, 18.28
Cornelis Floris and Willem van den Broek, Town Hall, Antwerp, p. 653, 18.29
: The Economics of Art, p. 651
Primary Source: Karl van Mander Writes About Pieter Bruegel the Elder, from The
, 1604, p. 656
With the rise of Protestantism, there were fewer commissions for religious art.
Instead, the focus was on landscape paintings, still lifes, as well as genre scenes.
Key Terms/Places/Names
marble gisants
Henry II
anamorphic
vanitas
Discussion Questions
1. How did the Reformation affect artistic visions in Northern Europe during the
sixteenth century?
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4. How would you compare and contrast the Renaissance in Northern Europe during
the sixteenth century with that in Italy during the same period?
5. In what ways did Elizabeth I control her iconography? What iconography did she
adopt?
6. What does the unicorn in The Unicorn in Captivity (18.3) symbolize?
Resources
Books
Bartrum, Giulia, Gunter Grass, Joseph Koerner, and Ute Kuhlemann. Albrecht Dürer and
His Legacy: The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2002.
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DVDs
Empires Martin Luther. (2005) PBS Paramount. 120 min.
The Dutch Masters Bruegel. (2006). Kultur Video. 50 min.