northern renaissance and southern renaissance
In a recent conversation about an earlier post that mentioned artists of the Northern Renaissance versus those of the Southern, a friend asked if there were any more information on this topic, or if I could do some more riffing on it.
There's a glancing reference to it on Wikipedia, but it paints with a broad brush. True, the Southern Renaissance was more influenced by Greco-Roman ideals, but its humanism wasn't as "pagan" as suggested: it was just idealist, so the human body was often depicted in its glorified form, even when depicting an earth-bound existence. Here we are, made in God's image, bound for glory, and to depict that is our duty. So think of Michelangelo, Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, with their gorgeous bodies and faces embodying a vision later carried by Versace and Armani.
As opposed to that, up north they were indeed humanist, but in a way that allowed for (and sometimes lovingly emphasized) human frailty. Here we are, east of Eden, fallen and flawed, and to depict that is our duty. So think of Brueghel, with peeing children and crooked old men, or of Rembrandt, with those lined and blotched faces.
All this is very theologically tied-in as well: Northern Protestantism has always had a reputation for being "stern," although there's plenty of good-natured Brueghelian humor in there too —– witness (Scottish Presbyterian!!!) Robert Burns's "To a Louse."
To give it a catchy phrase, we might say that the southerners were more fired-up about redemption and glory, and the northerners were more fired-up about human sin and failure.
I was amused to take a trip from Münster, Germany to Milan, Italy, and to note the differences between the domes that dominate the landscape in the old part of each town.
In Münster, the Dom (which still bears cages where they hung the Anabaptists out to dry) sits down the way from the main street and condemns its crass commercialism and tinsel glamour: "Sinners! Repent from this vanity!"
Meanwhile, in Milan, the mind-blowing Duomo (started in 1350, completed in 1965 [almost! there are still 3 incomplete statues, thus bringing immoderate pleasure to Robert Browning's ghost]) stands down the way from Milan's fashionable district and taunts it: "Mortals! God will outdazzle you any day of the week!"
There's a glancing reference to it on Wikipedia, but it paints with a broad brush. True, the Southern Renaissance was more influenced by Greco-Roman ideals, but its humanism wasn't as "pagan" as suggested: it was just idealist, so the human body was often depicted in its glorified form, even when depicting an earth-bound existence. Here we are, made in God's image, bound for glory, and to depict that is our duty. So think of Michelangelo, Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, with their gorgeous bodies and faces embodying a vision later carried by Versace and Armani.
As opposed to that, up north they were indeed humanist, but in a way that allowed for (and sometimes lovingly emphasized) human frailty. Here we are, east of Eden, fallen and flawed, and to depict that is our duty. So think of Brueghel, with peeing children and crooked old men, or of Rembrandt, with those lined and blotched faces.
All this is very theologically tied-in as well: Northern Protestantism has always had a reputation for being "stern," although there's plenty of good-natured Brueghelian humor in there too —– witness (Scottish Presbyterian!!!) Robert Burns's "To a Louse."
To give it a catchy phrase, we might say that the southerners were more fired-up about redemption and glory, and the northerners were more fired-up about human sin and failure.
I was amused to take a trip from Münster, Germany to Milan, Italy, and to note the differences between the domes that dominate the landscape in the old part of each town.
In Münster, the Dom (which still bears cages where they hung the Anabaptists out to dry) sits down the way from the main street and condemns its crass commercialism and tinsel glamour: "Sinners! Repent from this vanity!"
Meanwhile, in Milan, the mind-blowing Duomo (started in 1350, completed in 1965 [almost! there are still 3 incomplete statues, thus bringing immoderate pleasure to Robert Browning's ghost]) stands down the way from Milan's fashionable district and taunts it: "Mortals! God will outdazzle you any day of the week!"
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