the northern renaissance great detail – but less interest in anatomy than the italian artists

The Northern Renaissance•Great detail – but less interest in anatomy than the Italian artists•Interest in optics and illusions•New use of landscape as genre / subject •Fantastical scenes get very elaborate

•***New types of patrons and subjects***

Jan van Eyck. Double Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife. Oil on wood panel. 1434. 33 × 22 1/2”.

Jan van Eyck. Detail of Mirror and Signature in a Double Portrait of a Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife. 1434.

Jan van Eyck. The Virgin of Chancellor Nicolas Rolin, c. 1437 (oil on panel, 66 x 62 cm), Louvre Museum, Paris.

Hans Holbein the Youngerc. 1498 - 1543

Hans Holbein the Younger. The Ambassadors. 1533. 81 1/8 × 82 5/8”.

Hans Holbein the Younger. The French Ambassadors. 1533. 81 1/8 × 82 5/8”.

Hans Holbein the Younger. The French Ambassadors. 1533. 81 1/8 × 82 5/8”.

Example of anamorphosis -- A distorted projection or representation of an image on a plane or curved surface, which, when viewed from a certain point, or as reflected from a

curved mirror or through a polyhedron, appears regular and in proportion; a deformation of an image.

Hieronymus Bosch. Garden of Earthly Delights (Closed).

Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1500, (oil on panel, approx. 7 ft 2 in x 6 ft 5 in), Museo del Prado, Madrid 

Pieter Bruegel (c. 1525-69)

Painter and Connoisseur, drawing, c. 1565

Engraving by Pieter van der Heyden, engraver's monogram lower left. Inscribed lower left: Hieronijmus Bos. inuentor; lower right: COCK. EXCV. 1557; on lower margin, in Latin: CRANDIBVS EXIGVI SVNT PICES PISCIBVS ESCA (Little fish are the food of big fish), and, in Flemish: Siet sone dit hebbe ick zeer langhe gheweten dat die groote vissen de cleijne eten. (See, son, I have known for a long time that the big fish eat the small). 

Netherlandish Proverbs (also known as The Blue Cloak), 1559 (oil on panel, 117 x 163 cm), Gemäldegalerie, Stäatliche Museen, Berlin

One shears sheep, the other pigs (one has the advantage, the other the disadvantage; or, one lives in luxury,

the other in need; “rich man,  poor man”).

Shear them but do not skin them (do not pursue your advantage at any price).

One winds on the distaff what the other spins (to spread malicious gossip).

One winds on the distaff what the otherspins (to spread malicious gossip).

He fills the well after the calf has drowned (measure taken only when an accident has occurred).

She puts the blue mantle on her husband (she deceives him; “To place horns on his head”).

The pig is stabbed through the belly (a foregone conclusion; it is irrevocable; “Things done cannot be undone”).

He carries the day out in baskets (he wastes his time; “To set forth the sun with a candle”).

To hold a candle to the Devil (to make fiiends in all quarters and to flatter everyone; to ingratiate oneself indiscriminately).

He confesses to the Devil (to give away secrets to one’s enemy).

He has to stoop if he wants to get on in the world (whoever is ambitious must be devious and unscmpulous).

To cast roses (pearls) before swine (Matthew 7:6; effort wasted on the unworthy).

Two dogs over one bone seldom agree (to quarrel bitterly over one and the same thing; “a

     bone of contention”; image of cupidity and jealousy; envy).

He has the world spinning on his thumb (everyone dances to his tune;

“He has got the world on a string”).

He who has spilt his porridge cannot scrape it all up again (once damage is done, it cannotbe completely undone;      “It is no use crying over spilt milk”).

A hatchet with a handle (the whole thing? – the meaning is unclear).

He is looking for the hatchet (he is trying to find an excuse). Here he is with his lantern (finally he has an opportunity to let his light shine — to show how smart he his).

He can barely reach from one loaf to the other (he cannot live within his budget).

He yawns against the oven.

To put a spoke in someone’s wheel (to put an obstacle in the way).

They pull to get the longest end (a tug-of-war; everyone seeks his own advantage).

He bangs on tightly; rather: Love is on the side where the money bag bangs.

He ties a flaxen beard to the face of Christ (deceit often masquerades under the guise of piety).

Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow, signed and dated 1565, (oil on panel, 117 x 162 cm [46 x 63 3/4 in]), Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna 

Bruegel, Wheat Harvest or August, signed and dated 1565, (oil on panel, 118 x 160.7 cm [46 1/2 x 63 1/4 in]), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 

Bruegel, Flemish Kermesse (Peasant Dance), ca. 1567-68, (panel, 3’11” x 5’5”)