16th-Century Art

Northern Europe and Spain

In Italy, monuments of Classical antiquity could be seen everywhere. Italian artists were readily inspired by the classical examples and knowledge. Thus Italy moved in a very different direction than the north.

They moved toward the further discovery and assimilation of Classical culture. In the 14th century, Florence had already identified itself with the ancient Roman Republic. By 1400 we are on the threshold of the Florentine Renaissance.

In the north, there were far fewer artistic or architectural remains of ancient Rome. Thus Gothic principles of design lingered almost a century longer in the north than in Italy.

16th-Century Art

Northern Europe and Spain In the 16th century, Northern Europe became increasingly aware of Italian Renaissance developments in painting.

There was some interchange of ideas that occurred through artists who traveled between North and South. There were also Italian artists who came to the North.

In addition, Northern artists learned through the numerous Italian engravings that circled throughout northern Europe.

The impact of Italian art varied widely with time, place and artists. Many never abandoned existing local traditions; others frequently

Piero Della Francesca,Resurrection, 1463-65, Mural in fresco and tempera, 225 x 200 cm, Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro

The Galitzin Triptych, 1485. Tempera, transferred from wood to canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington

Albrecht Altdorfer, The Battle of Alexander, 1529. This is the most famous painting of Altdorfer. Its subject is the victory of the young Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. over the Persian army of King Darius in the battle of Issos. The battle in fact took place in Turkey, however, on this painting it is shown in the rocky environment of the Alps with German cities in the background.

Altdorfer, Saint George in the Forest,1510 Parchment on lime panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Landscape was an interest of German artists of the beginning of 16th century. Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Altdorfer had discovered the beauty of the Alpine districts around the Danube and developed a kind of romantic landscape painting and etching, often enlivened by dramatic effects of light. An interest in dramatic nocturnal scenes is also apparent in the works of Dürer's follower, Hans Baldung Grien.

ALTDORFER, Albrecht (1480-1538)Danubian Landscape1520-25, Parchment on wood, 30 x 22 cmAlte Pinakothek, MunichWith a sentimental note and an intuitive science of light and coloring, the masters of the Danube school, Altdorfer and Huber, gave free rein to their lyricism in scintillating mythologies and religious scenes, in which the landscape acquires an importance never before equaled, and vibrates with a completely personal communion with nature.

Joachim PatinirRocky Landscape with Saint Jerome,

Oil on wood, 47.2 x 37.3 cmMuseum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp

Joachim Patinir, Rest during the Flight to Egypt, Panel, 121 x 177 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Joachim Patinir (1480-1524), The Baptism of Christ, Oil on oak 59.5 x 77 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Joachim Patinir, St Jerome in the Desert, c. 1520. Oil on wood, 78 x 137 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris

St Jerome in Rocky Landscapec. 1520Oil on oak, 36,5 x 34 cmNational Gallery, London

CRANACH, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553), The Judgment of Paris, 1512-14, Limewood, 43 x 32,2 cm, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne This mythological theme was very popular with the humanist-educated bourgeoisie as well as the court and Cranach the Elder painted it often. Cranach was one of the most versatile artists of the Northern Renaissance, a staunch patron of the Reformation, and a close friend of Martin Luther. He painted didactic religious paintings, but he also produced his own erotic ideal of the female nude.

CRANACH, Lucas the Elder (1472-1553)The Judgment of Parisc. 1528, Oil on wood, 101,9 x 71,1 cm, MMOA.

Although his style, unlike that of Dürer, borrowed little from the Italians, he favoured mythological and classical subjects and painted the story of the Judgment of Paris many times during the course of his career. Here the artist has chosen a German version of the story, in which Mercury presents the three goddesses - Juno, Venus, and Minerva - to Paris in a dream. Cranach signals Venus's victory by placing Cupid, her son, in the upper left, aiming in her direction as she points to him.

GRÜNEWALD, Matthias (1480-1528) Isenheim Altarpiece (first view), c. 1515, Oil on wood, Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar

The Crucifixion, c. 1515Oil on wood, 269 x 307 cm

The picture shows the predella of the Isenheim Altarpiece. The expressivity of its figures have made Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece one of the most famous works of early German painting. Until his death in 1524, Holbein's father worked in the same Antonite monastery that had commissioned Grünewald's altarpiece. Holbein the Younger will also have known the work in the original, as Isenheim is not far from Basle and so is easy to reach from there.

Mary and St John the Evangelist St John the Baptist with the lamb

St SebastianSt Antony th

e Hermit

Isenheim Altarpiece (second view), c. 1515, Oil on wood, Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar

Grünewald's unsurpassed technique in painting coloured light is epitomized in the figure of the rising Christ; his dramatic use of writhing forms in movement is also seen here in the figures of Christ, the arriving angel, and the Madonna.

Concert of Angels and Nativityc. 1515, Oil on wood, 265 x 304 cm, Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar

Sts Paul and Antony in the Desert

The Temptation of St Antony

St. Anthony of Egypt (251-236), born in Upper Egypt. While still young he got rid of all his possessions and lived among the local ascetics, and then withdrew into the desert, where he lived in solitude and was repeatedly tempted by the devil. Remaining steadfast, he attracted a number of disciples to a hermit's life in the desert and a small monastery was formed at the place. St. Anthony was reputed to be a miracle-maker. Anthony lived a long and righteous life and died at the age of 105.

Albrecht Dürer, Self-Portrait at 261498, Oil on panel, 52 x 41 cmMuseo del Prado, Madrid

It is inscribed: `I have thus painted myself. I was 26 years old..' Since the artist turned 27 on the 21 May, the picture must date from the beginning of the year. The artist's pose is self confident, showing him standing upright and turning slightly to lean his right arm on a ledge. Dürer's figure fills the picture, with his hat almost touching the top. His face and neck glow from the light streaming into the room and his long curly hair is painstakingly depicted. Unlike his earlier self portrait, he now has a proper beard, which was then unusual among young men.

Dürer: Self-Portrait in a Fur-Collared Robe1500, Oil on lime panel, 67,1 x 48,7 cmAlte Pinakothek, Munich

Dürer, Paumgartner Altar, c. 1503. Oil on lime panel, 155 x 126 cm (central), 151 x 61 cm (each wing). Alte Pinakothek, Munich. On stylistic grounds, the Nativity was painted a few years later than the wings, probably in 1502 or soon afterwards. The tiny body of Christ is almost lost in the composition, surrounded by a swarm of little angels. Although traditionally a night-time scene, it is brightly illuminated by a ball of light in the sky.The small figures at the bottom corners of the central panel are the Paumgartner family with their coats of arms. They were painted over in the seventeenth century, when donor portraits went out of favour, and were only uncovered during restoration in 1903.

Dürer, Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman, 1505, Oil on elm panel, 32,5 x 24,5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The central scene represents the Nativity. Mary and Joseph are kneeling in the foreground of an architectural scene constructed according to the laws of central perspective, which opens out to the rear onto a broad landscape; next to them the numerous small figures of the donor family are kneeling before the newborn Christ Child. From the back, two shepherds seen in a perspectival foreshortening are climbing up to the place of Christ's birth, and on the left two more are watching the events. The centre of the composition are Mary and the Christ Child, and they are additionally emphasized by the baldachin-like roof. The Star of Bethlehem is emblazoned in the sky, and in the background an angel is announcing the birth of the Savior to the shepherds.

Dürer, Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman, 1505, Oil on elm panel, 32,5 x 24,5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Among Dürer's works, there is not a more beautiful portrait of a woman. Indeed, it has led one to think that there was a rather intimate relationship between the artist and the model. Some see the woman as a courtesan, others define her as an instinctive, languorous, and melting beauty. This charm is also shown in the movement in the double rows of pearls, interrupted by the darker shapes of doubled cones, making the pendant curve slightly from the neck.

Dürer, Christ Among the Doctors, 1506Oil on panel, 65 x 80 cm, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid

Albrecht DürerStudy of Hands1506, Pen and ink heightened with white on paper, 206 x 185 mm, Blasius Collection, Braunschweig.Dürer's painting Christ among the Doctors (1506) was based on a number of careful studies, including this one.

Albrecht DürerStudy of an Apostle's Hands (Praying Hands), c. 1508 Brush drawing on blue primed paper, 290 x 197 mm, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

Albrecht DürerHead of an Apostle, 1508. Brush on Paper, 31.7 x 21.2 cm. Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna.

Albrecht DürerPortrait of the Artist's Mother, 1514, Charcoal drawing on paper, 421 x 303 mm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Albrecht DürerThe Stork, 1515Pen drawingMusée d'Ixelles, Brussels

The subject of Adam and Eve offered Dürer the opportunity to depict the ideal nude human figure (aim is not to depict the Biblical figures). Painted in soon after his return from Venice, the panels were influenced by Italian art. His coloring is muted, and he models the bodies with the help of light and shadow. Adam and Eve are noticeably slimmer than in his engraving of three years earlier. The two figures represent the earliest known life-size nudes in Northern art. Though identical, they are intended to be separate paintings.

Dürer, Adam and Eve, 1507, Oil on panel, 209 x 81 c

m (each panel), Museo del Prado, M

adrid

Albrecht DürerThe Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand, 1508, Oil on canvas transferred from panel, 99 x 87 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The altarpiece depicts the legend of the ten thousand Christians who were martyred on Mount Ararat, in a massacre perpetrated by the Persian King Saporat on the command of the Roman Emperors Hadrian and Antonius. Although Dürer had never before tackled a painting with so many figures, he succeeded in integrating them into a flowing composition using vibrant colour.

Albrecht DürerThe Adoration of the Trinity1511. Oil on lindenwood, 135 x 123,4 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna The Trinity is depicted with Christ on the Cross being supported by angels, the focal point of the heavenly gathering of saints. The crowd of martyrs on the left is led by Mary, and the group of Old Testament prophets and kings on the right by St John the Baptist. Clergymen and laypersons following the heads of the State and Church form the lowest horizontal zone in heaven. The artist depicts himself in the earthly zone at the bottom right.

Albrecht DürerThe Adoration of the Trinity, 1511. To the right is a figure, easily identifiable from his armor, as Landauer's son-in-law, Wilhelm Haller, a mercenary captain. In the lower part of the painting, almost to contrast the suspended scores of saints and men and women, Dürer offers us, from a slightly raised perspective, the vision of a landscape passage. This one, even more than the one in the Heller Altar, disappears into an infinite background, illuminated by a most gentle evening light that also shimmers against the clouds. In this deserted terrestrial kingdom, Dürer painted himself, the only human being. He is set apart toward the right margin, dressed as usual in a rich fur cloak, and indicative of an ancient styled tablet with the inscription: ALBERTVS DVRER NORICVS FACIEBAT ANNO A VIRGINIS PARTV[M] 1511.

Albrecht Dürer,Emperor Maximilian I[of Austria, 1459-1519], 1519. Oil on lindenwood, 74 x 62 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.M was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1508. He was a learned ruler with a strong interest in the arts. Dürer painted it with great care. Instead of an orb, the Emperor holds a broken pomegranate, a symbol of the Resurrection and Maximilian's personal emblem. At the top of the picture is the Habsburg coat of arms with the double-headed eagle and a lengthy inscription on Maximilian's achievements. The Emperor looks aloof and withdrawn, an expression of his dignity.

Albrecht Dürer,Portrait of Jakob Muffel, 1526, Oil on canvasl, transferred from panel, 48 x 36 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Albrecht Dürer,Portrait of Hieronymus Holzschuher, 1526, Oil on panel, 51 x 37 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Dürer was renowned for his ability to paint details, such as hair, realistically. Giovanni Bellini visited him in 1505 or 1506 and asked Dürer for one of the brushes which he used to execute his painstaking portraits. Dürer handed Bellini a brush identical to ones the Venetian artist already used. `I do not mean this, I mean the brushes you use to paint several hairs with one touch,' Bellini responded. Dürer picked up the brush and demonstrated how he painted.

DÜRER, Albrecht (1471-1528), The Four Apostles, 1526, Oil on lindenwood, 215 x 76 cm (each panel), Alte Pinakothek, Munich These are Dürer's last known oil paintings, done when he was 55. They represent his spiritual testimony and are among his most powerful works. He was finally able to reconcile the two opposing tendencies of northern naturalism and southern monumentality that had struggled for dominance in his entire oeuvre. These four embody the four temperaments: John would be the sanguine, Peter the phlegmatic, Paul the melancholic, and Marco the choleric. From left to right:

John the Evangelist, Peter, Mark, and Paul

the head of St Peter

the head of St Mark

The head of St Paul.

Albrecht Dürer,The Revelation of St John: 4. The Four Riders of the Apocalypse, 1497-98, Woodcut, 399 x 286 mm, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Kunsthalle, KarlsruheThe four horsemen are 1) The `conqueror' holding a bow; 2) `War' with. a sword; 3) `Famine' with a pair of scales; 4) `Death', on a `sickly pale' horse, closely followed by Hades, a gaping jawed Leviathan. The horsemen have been variously interpreted. To the Middle Ages the first stood for Christ and the Church; but more commonly all four are seen as the agents of divine wrath. They enter the world and bring plague, war, hunger and death to mankind. Finally, Hades, the hellish creature at the side of the Four Horsemen is swallowing everything in his enormous jaws that Death, the final rider, has passed.

Albrecht Dürer, The Revelation of St John: 2. St John's Vision of Christ and the Seven Candlesticks, 1497-98, Woodcut, 39 x 28 cm, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

Albrecht Dürer, The Large Passion: 10. Christ Taken Captive1510. Woodcut, 39 x 28 cm. Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

Adam and Eve, 1504, Engraving, 252 x 194 mm, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

This engraving is one of Dürer's most famous engraved works. It draws on the sum of his four-year study of the ideal proportions of the human body. His interest in the biblical narrative is subordinate to his depiction of Adam and Eve as ideal female and male nudes in imitation of classical sculptures. The elk, hare, cat and ox symbolize the four humours into which the human soul divided after the Fall of Man. The contrasting cat and mouse embody the tense relationship between the genders, the parrot represents Mary as a second Eve and the ibex in the background represents the infidels.

Albrecht Dürer,Knight, Death and the Devil, 1513, Engraving, 245 x 188 mmStaatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

Dürer’s greatest achievement in printmaking were the three engravings of 1513-14, regarded as his masterpieces: the Knight, St Jerome in His Study, and Melencolia I - all of approximately the same size. The extensive, complex, and often contradictory literature concerning these three engravings deals largely with their enigmatic, allusive, iconographic details. Although repeatedly contested, it probably must be accepted that the engravings were intended to be interpreted together. There is general agreement, however, that Dürer, in these three master engravings, wished to raise his artistic intensity to the highest level, which he succeeded in doing. Finished form and richness of conception and mood merge into a whole of classical perfection.

St Jerome in his Study1514, Engraving, 259 x 201 mm, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe.

Albrecht Dürer,Melencolia I, 1514, Engraving, 239 x 189 mm, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

Melencolia I is by far the most complex of the three master engravings. The winged genius, representing the figure of Melancholy, rests her head on her hand, in a reflective pose, and holds a compass. Around her are geometric shapes, including a sphere and a giant polyhedron, along with scattered wood-working tools. The tools are drawn from the field of measuring and building, in other words, architecture. The rhomboid and sphere represent geometry, the science of measurement and numbers upon which all arts are based. On the wall of the building hang a bell, an hourglass, scales and a magic square of 16 numerals (with each line adding up to 34). A dog sleeps at Melancholy's feet and a cherub sits astride an upturned millstone. A bat-like creature holds up the inscription `Melencolia I'. The dog and bat correspond to this melancholy humour. Melancholy was considered to be both a negative and positive power of the mind, as represented by the bat and writing putto. Although the precise meaning of the image is now elusive, it deals with the relationship between melancholy and creativity. While melancholy may take away enthusiasm for creativity, it is often a characteristic of the creative.

Albrecht Dürer,The Holy Family with St John, The Magdalen and Nicodemusc. 1512, Drypoint, 216 x 190 mm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin Here Dürer, for once, approaches the Leonardesque ideal of sfumato. This is technically the most successful of Dürer's drypoints

Albrecht Dürer,Agony in the Garden, 1515, Etching, 221 x 156 mm, MMOA. Christ's struggle is already over. He seems to be staring at the cup. The disciples are far in the background. The Saviour kneels, untouched by the raging storm; only His hands, ready to receive the chalice, reveal emotion.

Draughtsman Drawing a Recumbent Woman, 1525, Woodcut, 8 x 22 cm, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna In Dürer's later years he devoted an increasing proportion of his time to writing about art rather than practicing as an artist. The first book that Dürer actually finished was his Manual of Measurement, published in 1525. It deals with geometry and its importance to the artist, a subject which Dürer believed was fundamental because so many young artists lacked the necessary theoretical knowledge to become good painters. `Even if some of them acquire a good hand through constant practice, they produce work instinctively and without thought,' he wrote. The book includes practical advice on how to draw accurate pictures with the help of various devices. These included an upright grid of wires through which the artist views his subject, sketching it on a similar grid on his paper. The picture shows an illustration from the Manual of Measurement.

Albrecht Dürer, The Wire-drawing Mill, c. 1489, Watercolour and gouache on paper, 286 x 426 mm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. Dürer has lavished great care on some of the details. His coloring is reminiscent of Netherlandish landscapes, with brown tones in the foreground, greens in the middle ground and bluish mountains in the distance. The detailed composition suggests Late Medieval workshop tradition, the fine glazes, produced with thinned watercolours, already herald the freer brushstrokes of later watercolors.

Albrecht Dürer,Young Hare, 1502, Watercolour and gouache on paper, 251 x 226 mm, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, ViennaThe Young Hare was first painted in watercolour. Dürer then applied some opaque gouache on top of the watercolour, painting groups of lines which are longer or shorter, thicker or finer, depending on how the fur lies on the animal's body. Finally, he added the white highlights. The shadow helps to give the animal a three-dimensional appearance. Dürer was one of the earliest artists to tackle nature studies and this is one of his finest examples.

Unlike the extremely sylized depictions of flowers in the Middle Ages, Dürer's Large Turf already reflects a considerable degree of empiricism: all botanical details are rendered with an almost microscopic precision, and Dürer tried to give the impression that this partial view was totally accidental by showing a chaotic arrangement of grasses, leaves and meadow flowers. The plants that have been identified are daisies, yarrow, plantains, dandelions, pimpernels and cocksfoot. Symbolic aspects are not likely to be involved here.

Albrecht Dürer,The Large Turf, 1503, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 41 x 32 cm, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna.

Hans HOLBEIN the Younger Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1523, Wood, 76 x 51 cm, National Gallery, London. The background of the interior is furnished with a splendidly decorated pilaster and a shelf with books and a glass carafe, all of which help to ennoble the sitter. On the edge of the book reclining on the shelf is a Latin couplet composed by Erasmus, which asserts that Holbein would sooner have a slanderer than an imitator. That seems to mean that his outstanding art could scarcely be imitated and therefore criticism from the envious is more likely than imitation.

Hans HOLBEIN the Younger

Sir Thomas More, 1527, Tempera on wood, 74,2 x 59 cm, Frick Collection, New York. The fine drawings made prior to the painting show a new delicacy of touch prevalent in the artist's manner after his visit to France; greater attention to the texture of material, fur and velvet was the painterly consequence. The emergence of complementary red and green tonalities to stress spatial values is apparent, but is more straightforward here than its usage in Holbein's second English period.

Holbein, The Artist's Family1528, Oil on paper mounted on wood, 77 x 64 cm, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basle

The moving combination of resolution and frailty seen in this family portrait is unique in Holbein's production. The introverted mood of the work extends beyond the usual level of reticence in his English portraits, where courtly finery and the dignity inherent in status to some extent shield the private lives of the sitters. The work provokes consideration of the relationship between the painter and his wife, who was separated from him for years at a time, bringing up their four children alone. The strain of this fractured family life may be seen here in the weary resignation of Elsbeth's wan face.

Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve (`The Ambassadors')1533, Oil on oak, 207 x 209 cm, National Gallery, London. Hans Holbein's double portrait is an early example of the friendship portrait. It depicts the two French ambassadors to the English court, Jean de Dinteville (1504-1555) and Georges de Selve (1508/09-1541). Dinteville, who spent many years in London, probably commissioned the painting to record his friend's visit at Easter 1533.

The splendidly dressed 29-year-old Dinteville stands on the left of the picture, and like the 25-year-old de Selve gazes at the viewer.

The objects on the shelves refer to the intellectual interests and professional and practical activities of the sitters. The instruments and books displayed reflect the design of the cupboard itself in that those on the upper shelf would be used for the study of the heavens and heavenly bodies (celestial globe, compasses, sundial, cylindrical calendar, level and quadrant), while the objects on the lower shelf have more to do with everyday worldly matters. Thus, on the left - next to the worldly-minded Dinteville - is an open copy of Peter Apian's book of calculations for merchants (published in Ingolstadt, 1527), and on the right - near the bishop - a copy of Johann Walther's "Geystliches Gesangbüchlein" (Hymnal) (Wittenberg 1524), containing Luther's hymns. The globe itself, an exact copy of Johann Schöner's globe of 1523, documents their interest in geography, which, due to discoveries made at the turn of the century, had become an increasingly central aspect of humanist scholarship.

Holbein, Portrait of Henry VIII, 1540, Oil on panel, 88,5 x 74,5 cm, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome

This painting was one of a group of English portraits carried out by Holbein and his school. Though German, Holbein was court painter to King Henry VIII of England.

MASSYS/Metsys, Quentin (1465/66-1530), St Anne Altarpiece (Holy Kinship), 1507-08, Oil on wood, 224,5 x 219 cm (centre), 220 x 92 cm (each wing), Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. It is a work of the painter's mature period, as shown by the Italianate architecture, the suavity of the faces and the pastel colors of the garments. The altarpiece contains five scenes from the life of St Anne, and Joachim. The saint's family is represented on the central panel. Anne and the Virgin holding the Child are seated on a bench, dominating the composition. Anne's second daughter, Mary Cleophas, is seated at the Virgin's feet with her sons. Anne's third daughter, Mary Salome, is seated at her mother's feet with her two sons, James the Great and John the Evangelist, the latter identified by the inkwell attached to his waist. The four men behind the balustrade are Joachim and his sons-in-law.

Massys, St Anne Altarpiece (central panel)1507-08, Oil on wood, 224,5 x 219 cmMusées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels It is his first dated work, commissioned by the Confraternity of St Anne for their chapel in St Peter's church in Leuven. Behind the men is an architectural fantasy in the Italian style, executed in trompe-l'oeil. The overall effect is of a portrait of a rich, dignified middle-class family, with its severe patriarchs and its amiable and graceful women - a family such as one might meet among the newly-wealthy classes that had begun to proliferate in Antwerp, thanks to the development of the port, which in those days had recently established itself as the first in Europe.

Quentin Metsys (Massys), The Moneylender and his Wife, 1514Oil on panel, 71 x 68 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris The Money-changer and his Wife is an early example of the genre painting. The faces wear an expression of relative indifference. Full of their own life, on the other hand, are the still-life details - the lavishly illuminated codex through which the wife is leafing, the angled mirror, which reflects the outer world into the picture in masterly foreshortening, and the glass, accessories and coins gleaming on the table and on the shelves against the far wall. The painting marks an important step towards the pure still life. By inserting his own likeness into the painting - reflected in the convex mirror Massys recalls the use of this device by Jan van Eyck There exists several, partly different copies of the painting.

The Ugly Duchess, 1525-30, Oil on wood, 64 x 45,5 cm, National Gallery, London Massys is one of the most important portraitists of the age. His most astonishing work in this genre is certainly the Grotesque Old Woman. The old mad woman “still plays the coquette, cannot tear herself away from her mirrors", and "do not hesitate to exhibit their repulsive withered breasts.” The effects of the huge ears, wrinkles, and ape-like face, are merely emphasized by the ridiculous hat. The sitter is made even more repugnant by the rich jewels she wears and the indiscretion of her low-cut dress. This picture is a prodigious exercise in the grotesque, in which Massys proves himself not only an astute critic of human vanity, but a worthy precursor of Goya and Picasso.

GOSSAERT, Jan (Mabuse) (1478-1532)Neptune and Amphitrite, 1516, Oil on wood, 188 x 123,8, Staatliche Museen, BerlinThe painting is part of a series executed for Philip of Burgundy. The painting shows the first nudes in the history of Flemish art.

Jan Gossaert, Adam and EveWood, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Venus and Cupid, 1521Panel, 36 x 32.5 cm, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. Jan Mabuse played a significant role in the introduction of the Renaissance into the Low Countries. He was the first painter to travel to Rome in 1508 to copy the antiquities there. This was a path that many artists from the north were to undertake after him.

Jan GossaertDanaë, 1527Oil tempera on wood, 113,5 x 95 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich. In 1527, Mabuse painted his final work on a mythological subject, Danaë, a large-scale work, using sober and elegant architectural motifs as the setting for its subject.

Bartholomeus Spranger, Venus and Adonis, 1597, Oil on canvas, 163 x 104,3 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. At the end of the 16th the court of Emperor Rudolph II in Prague was one of the most important art and cultural centre of Europe. The Emperor gathered together important artists: painters, sculptors, goldsmiths. One component of the Rudolphean style was the painting of the Flemish Spranger. He worked in Parma, where Correggio and Parmigianino influenced him, then he spent 8 years in Rome and in 1575 arrived to the court of Maximillian II and became court painter of Rudolph II in 1581.

SPRANGER, Bartholomaeus:Venus and Vulcan, c. 1610, Oil on canvas, 140 x 95 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Bartholomeus Spranger, Vulcan and Maia1575-80, Oil on copper, 23 x 18 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Bartholomeus Spranger, Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, c. 1585, Oil on canvas, approx. 112 x 82 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The nymph Salmacis loved the handsome but unresponsive Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and Aphrodite. When he bathed in her spring, she forcibly embraced him. As Hermaphroditus struggled to free himself, Salmacis prayed that they never part. The gods granted her wish, and the two became a single being with both male and female sexual characteristics.

Bartholomeus Spranger, Hercules, Dejaneira and The Dead Centaur Nessus

Bruegel, The Tower of Babel, 1563Oil on oak panel, 114 x 155 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

BRUEGEL, Pieter the Elder (1525-1569). The Peasant Dance, 1568, Oil on oak panel, 114 x 164 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienn

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Triumph of Death, c. 1562, Oil on panel, 117 x 162 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Beggars, 1568, Oil on wood, 18 x 21 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris

The Procession to Calvary, 1564, Kunsthistorisches Museum at Vienna.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Harvesters, 1565, Oil on wood, 118.1 x 160.7 cm, MMOA

Gloomy Day, 1565, Oil on panel, 118 x 163 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

The Hunters in the Snow (Winter), 1565, Oil on panel, 117 x 162 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap, 1565, Oil on panel, 37 x 55,5 cm, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels Pieter Bruegel the Elder,

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, c. 1558, Oil on canvas, mounted on wood, 73.5 x 112 cm, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

Dulle Griet (Mad Meg), c. 1562, Oil on wood, 117,4 x 162 cm, Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp Pieter Bruegel the Elder,

Pieter Bruegel the Elder,Magpie on the Gallow, 1568, Wood, 45,9 x 50,8 cm, Hessisches, Landesmuseum, Darmstadt

The Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind, 1568, Tempera on canvas, 86 x 154 cm, Galleria Nazionale, NaplesPieter Bruegel the Elder,

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Netherlandish Proverbs, 1559, Oil on oak panel, 117 x 163 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Peasant wedding, c. 1568, Oil on wood, 114 x 164 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Children's Games, 1559-60, Oil on wood, 118 x 161 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. (84)

Jan BRUEGHEL the Elder, Garden of Eden, 1612, Oil on copper, 50,3 x 80,1 cm, Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome

Jan BRUEGHEL the Elder, Bouquet, 1606Oil on copper, 65 x 45 cm,Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan

Jan BRUEGHEL the Elder,Bouquet, 1603Wood, 125 x 96 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Jan Bruegel the Elder, Still-Life with Garland of Flowers and Golden Tazza1618, Oil on wood, 47,5 x 52,5 cmMusées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

CLOUET, JeanFrench painter (1485/90-1541, Paris) Portrait of François I, King of France, 1525-30, Wood, 96 x 74 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris

The painting is one of the masterpieces of Renaissance portraiture. The half length figure of the king is painted in front of a scarlet brocade background. His cap, studded with pearls, is encircled with white feathers. His magnificent black and white striped satin doublet is lavishly embroidered in gold. A medal of St Michael is suspended on a gold chain around his neck. His right hand, holding gloves, rests on a table with a green velvet cover; his left on a magnificently worked sword hilt. His narrowed blue eyes, his shrewd glance, his dark moustache and beard lend his face a singular attraction. The whole is a telling portrait of a sovereign who was an outstanding personality and a generous Renaissance patron of art.

Rosso Fiorentino and Francesco Primaticcio, Fontainebleau palace, 1530-, (under King Francis I)The famous horseshoe staircase constructed in 1632-1624 by Androuet du Cerceau.

Almost eight centuries of French history was affected by this chateau - from 1137, the year of the coronation of Louis VII, to the fall of the Second Empire in 1870. It was in the Renaissance, however, that the castle underwent its most spectacular transformation. Francois I (1494-1547) He built the entrance, the Ballroom and Saint Saturini Chapel. He also constructed the buildings encircling the current White Horse Courtyard, and the Francois I Gallery to link the two groups of buildings.

Rosso Fiorentino and Francesco Primaticcio, Fontainebleau palace ( 枫丹白露宫 ) near Paris, 1530-, (under King Francis I)The famous horseshoe staircase constructed in 1632-1624 by Androuet du Cerceau.

Château Fontainebleau

The Ballroom, Fontainebleau

The King's StaircaseFontainebleauAfter the Revolution, Napoleon (1769-1821) found the palace completely emptied of its furnishings. so he refurnished the entire palace, first to receive the Pope, that had come to crown him in 1804,  and later to make Fontainebleau into one of his favorite residences. Napoleon, from his last exile at St. Helena, recalled Fontainebleau fondly: "here was a true home of kings, the best furnished and most happily situated ancient house in Europe".

The King's Staircase

FontainebleauThe Trinity ChapelThe medieval royal hunting lodge of the 12th century was rebuilt and enlarged during the Renaissance, by King François I, in the 16th century, into the present palace. The kings Philip IV the Fair, Henry III and Louis XIII were born at the palace. In 1685 the Edict of Fontainebleau, by Louis XIV, revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598) which had defined the rights of the French Protestants (Huguenots). The palace was one of the favorite residences of Napoleon where he signed his first abdication in 1814.

Ceiling of Trinity Chapel

Theatre built in 1854,

Fontainebleau

Gallerie des Cerfs, Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau, Throne Room, with the throne of Napoleon I, originally the king's chambers

The Kings Chamber - Later the Throne

Room Throne of Napoleon

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The Emperor's Bed

Napoleon's Mechanical Desk - Style Invented by Napoleon

Chairs in Napoleon's Private Rooms Known as the "Abdication Rooms" Clock:  "The Embracing of the Universe"

The Empress's Bedchamber

Chambers of the Empress Josephine in her private apartments (1808-1809)

The Bedchamber in the Empress's Private Apartments

A Corner of the Chinese Museum

Gallery of Francis Fresco: "The Twins of Catania Saving Thei

r Parents"

Gallery of Diane, 80 meters long and 7 meters wide. It was converted into a library by Napoleon III in 1858.

Rosso Fiorentino, Decoration, 1534-36, Stucco, Galerie François I, Fontainebleau Rosso devised in a compartmented decoration, stuccoed and painted. He completed it, with the aid of numerous assistants, in 1536. Each compartment forms a self-contained composition. Framing the scene of Venus Scolding Cupid is an elaborate stucco ornament including strapwork scrolls, putti, baskets of fruit, and two graceful life-size, naked figures. At the top, in the center, appears the gilded royal emblem, the salamander. The soft, pliant modeling and the grace and femininity of the bodies are characteristic of the Fontainebleau school, representing the ideal of French Mannerism freed from the stamp of Italy.

Francesco Primaticcio, Royal Staircase (detail), 1530s, Stucco, Apartments of the Duchesse d'Étampes, Fontainebleau

Francesco Primaticcio,Italian painter and architect (1504-1570) Royal Staircase (detail), 1530sStucco, Apartments of the Duchesse d'Étampes, Fontainebleau

Influenced by Parmigianino, Primaticcio carried to an extreme the quest for grace and elegance. Lithe, slender adolescent female figures frame medallions decorated with mythological scenes. Together with the Rosso figures, these elongated and voluptuous bodies surrounded by garlands in a fantastically elegant Olympus are the masterpieces of the Fontainebleau school.

Used by the kings of France from the 12th century, the medieval royal hunting lodge of Fontainebleau, standing at the heart of a vast forest in the Ile-de-France, was transformed, enlarged and embellished in the 16th century by Francois I, who wanted to make a New Rome of it. Surrounded by an immense park, the Italianate palace combines Renaissance and French artistic traditions.

Used by the kings of France from the 12th century, the medieval royal hunting lodge of Fontainebleau, standing at the heart of a vast forest in the Ile-de-France, was transformed, enlarged and embellished in the 16th century by Francois I, who wanted to make a New Rome of it. Surrounded by an immense park, the Italianate palace combines Renaissance and French artistic traditions.

The castle is beautiful. It has beautiful gardens. It has an array of wonderful renaissance architecture. It has many round arches that contribute to the beauty. It has elaborate dining rooms and galleries. It also has many ball rooms. It is one of the most fascinating buildings in the world.

Of all the royal residences of France, and truly their name is legion, not one can rival in charm Fontainebleau.

Fontainebleau, view of the gardens and castle.

Fountain of Diana, Park of castle, Fontainebleau.

Chateau de Chambord, France, begun 1519.

The Royal Chateau of Chambord was begun for Francois I in 1520. The plan of the chateau echoes the tradition of medieval castle architecture. The elevations of the building are articulated by applied orders of renaissance character. Cortona, an Italian architect working in France, employed the classical vocabulary in a French manner. The symmetry of the plan and carefully articulated facades (classical elements) contrasts with the elaborate roofline resembling a forest of spires, an expression of the French preference for animated skylines and uncontained volumes.

Chateau de Chambord, France, begun 1519.

Chateau de Chambord, France, begun 1519. Around 1518, Francis I decided to build a château as a hunting lodge in Sologne, which was famous for its largeexpanses teeming with game. At this time, the architecture of the Loire châteaux had been strongly influenced by theItalian style for almost half a century. Chambord was therefore to be a compromise between theItalian artistic movement and the traditional medieval castle. Chambord Chateau is the largest and most dramatic of the numerous chateaus in France's Loire Valley. It has 440 rooms and hundreds of fireplaces and chimneys.

GOUJON, Jean (1510-1565)Nymphs (detail)1547-49, MarbleMusée du Louvre, ParisThese caryatid-type figures are adapted from the stucco decorations and were to become so marked a feature of French sculpture.

Nymph, 1548-49, MarbleMusée du Louvre, Paris Jean Goujon, the greatest 16th-century French sculptor, began work on his masterpiece, the Fontaine des Innocents, at the end of 1548. Its original architecture is now greatly modified. Five nymphs personifying the rivers of France are placed between pilasters. While Goujon may have been inspired by Rosso, he rejected the Mannerism of the Fontainebleau school and devoted his masterly talents to a revival of the classical purity of later 5th century Greek art, thus paving the way for modern French sculpture. In the figure reproduced, the supple, graceful gesture, admirably composed within the architectural frame, is counterbalanced by the delicate thrust of hips and breasts. The essence of Goujon's art is summarized in the fluid movements, subtle modelling, and rippling folds - here especially appropriate to the theme - combined with accurate drawing.

Jean Goujon, Diane and the Stag, 1550-54, Marble, 211 x 258 x 135 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Façade of the Cour Carrée (wing Lescot), 1550s, Stone, Palais du Louvre, Paris. It was was built by Pierre Lescot. Its sculptural decoration is the work of Jean Goujo

n.

The western wing of the Louvre was built by Pierre Lescot. Its sculptural decoration is the work of Jean Goujon.

Le Salon Carré, 1865, au Musée du Louvre by Giuseppe Castiglione, Canvas - 69 x 103 cm

Bronzino, Martyrdom of St Lawrence, 1569, Fresco, S. Lorenzo, Florence

The granite complex commemorates the first military victory of Philip II's reign, the defeat of the French at Saint-Quentin on August 10, 1557; this was San Lorenzo's Day, thus the name: San Lorenzo de El Escorial. In addition, the severely rectilinear complex, with numerous internal courtyards, is modeled on the grill on which San Lorenzo was martyred (roasted to death); the plan is a kind of gridiron.

The enormous complex (625 feet wide by 520 feet deep) has several functions. Originally it served as a monastery for the monks of the order of St. Jerome, as a royal palace, and as a college and seminary connected with the monastery. It was also designed as a final resting place for Philip II's father, the Emperor Charles V; today the Royal Pantheon contains the bodies of most of the Spanish kings since Charles I.

a section of the Monastery and gardens.

Juan Bautista de Toledo & Juan de HerreraEl Escorial (Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo): exterior, S. facade, view from SW. ca.1563-1584 A.D.

El Escorial (Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo), exterior, detail of W. facade, view from SW. ca.1563-1584 A.D.

The Basilica, with its superimposed orders and temple front, reflects the influence of Italian Renaissance architecture, particularly Palladio.

Charles V (the father of Philip II) ordered in his will that a royal pantheon be designed for the burial of Spain's kings. This mausoleum of bronze and marble holds the bodies of most of the kings since Charles V.