Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Groom, and I'm so excited that you're joining me again to learn all about the Northern Renaissance.

We've got some more fantastic artworks to look at, so I'm sure you can't wait to get started.

Let's go.

Today's lesson is called the Northern Renaissance.

It's from the unit, The Renaissance: what do the artefacts of the Renaissance tell us about it? By the end of today's lesson, we will be able to compare the Northern Renaissance to the Italian Renaissance.

These are our keywords for the lesson, Northern Renaissance, reformer, and portrait.

Let's find out what they mean.

The Renaissance that occurred north of the Alps is called the Northern Renaissance.

Someone who wants to change something is known as a reformer.

Portrait is a painting of a person.

So, let's begin our investigation into the Northern Renaissance with the paintings of Bruegel and van Eyck.

The hunters are cold, wet, and weary.

They've only been moderately successful.

Across one of their bats rest the fruit of their work.

It isn't much.

One small fox for a whole day's hunting.

As they trudge through ankle-deep snow, the dogs mill around them sniffing, yapping, and trotting.

They passing in a fire roaring outside its threshold and looked down on the valley below them.

Far in the distance, a mountain loos ominously, figures skate on flooded frozen fields.

Crows fly, a man fires his gun at a bird taking flight.

Our eyes are walking through the world of Pieter Bruegel.

It may surprise you to learn that this painting was produced in 1565, only shortly after da Vinci and Michelangelo were painting some of their most famous artworks.

After all, this painting is very different to those of the Italian Renaissance.

She's not concerned with scenes from the Bible or the idealised human form.

Instead, Bruegel, Dutch painter who specialised in detailed scenes of daily life has painted a rich and vivid snapshot of just one moment in the depths of winter.

So, having been introduced to Bruegel and his paintings, what sorts of paintings did Bruegel specialise in? Is it, A, portraits, B, religious paintings, or, C, scenes of daily life? Pause the video while you think about your answer and press play when you're ready to see if you were correct.

That's right.

Bruegel specialised in paintings of daily life, scenes of daily life.

Well done.

Let us step back now over a hundred years to 1434 and to another painting, a full length double portrait.

It is a more familiar site when compared to the Italian Renaissance art that we've seen so far.

A couple stands, richly dressed, clasping hands.

Through an unshuttered window, cherries on a tree indicate that it's likely to be early summer.

Oranges expensive in burgundy at this time, show how wealthy they must have been.

Between the couple, on the wall is a mirror appear closely as its convex glass and two figures can be seen.

We do not know who they are for sure, but many Historians believe that one of them represents the portrait's creator, Jan van Eyck.

Like Bruegel, van Eyck was from the North of Europe.

Working much earlier than Bruegel, we see that his paintings have a lot more in common with those of the Renaissance artists that we've already encountered.

The intense realism of van Eyck's portrait makes use of many of the techniques that have begun to emerge in Italy at this time, which resulted in such realistic paintings of humans and their surroundings.

Both Bruegel and van Eyck were part of the Northern Renaissance, a parallel yet curiously different development to the one that developed south of the Alps in Italy.

Based on what you've just heard, do you think this is true or false? van Eyck's paintings were similar to those of the Italian Renaissance.

Pause the video while you think about your answer and press play when you're ready to see how you did.

That's right.

The answer is true.

van Eyck's paintings were similar to those of the Italian Renaissance, but why is that? Was it, A, because his paintings were highly detailed, or was it, B, because his paintings were often religious scenes? Which you think is the correct answer? Pause the video, press play when you're ready to find if you were correct.

That's right.

van Eyck's paintings were similar to those of the Italian Renaissance, because they were so highly detailed.

What I want us to do now is I want us to take our learning from that first learning cycle, thinking about the paintings that we've just looked at and the painters that produce them, and pick at least three words from the grid below and use them to write a short description of Northern Renaissance's art.

I want you to aim to write between two and three sentences and try and use specific examples from your learning so far.

The words you can choose from are realistic, detailed, everyday, life, vivid, and portrait.

So, pause the video, have a go, and we'll compare your answer to an example one in a minute.

Press play when you're ready to go again.

So, your description might have looked like this.

Northern Renaissance art was often very detailed, like with van Eyck.

It was also realistic.

Bruegel painted pictures of everyday activities like in the "Hunters in the Snow".

If you'd use more of the words, in fact, if you'd used all of them, your description might have looked like this.

And this one's a bit more detailed, isn't it? Northern Renaissance art was often very detailed.

In van Eyck's "Arnolfini Portrait", there are lots of vivid details that tell us about the people in the painting.

It was also realistic.

Bruegel likes to paint pictures of everyday life like in the "Hunters in the Snow".

But now that we've started to understand what's the Northern Renaissance was, it's time to think about how it compared to the Italian Renaissance.

I need to start by thinking about the time in which these Renaissances were developing.

Now, the Northern Renaissance was both similar and different to that of Italy.

You might remember that an Italian Renaissance started in the mid-14th century when early humanists like Petrarch, Bracciolini started to rediscover classical text.

Periods span from the middle of the 14th century up to the end of the 16th century.

Interestingly, van Eyck's "Arnolfini Portrait" as we heard, was produced in the middle of the 15th century.

So, it's produced about halfway through or just before halfway through this period that we call the Italian Renaissance.

Now, this tells us that the Northern Renaissance began in the early to mid-15th century, but it's been quite difficult for historians to work out the precise relationship between the northern artists like van Eyck or Bruegel later on, and their Italian contemporaries.

As you can see, Bruegel's "Hunters in the Snow" came much later, but still within the period that we would call the Italian Renaissance.

And so, we define the Northern Renaissance has taken place from the early 15th century through to the end of the 16th century.

It overlaps with the Italian Renaissance and that has led historians to question how were these two Renaissances linked? Historians continue to debate what influence Northern European art had on matter of Italy, and vice versa.

The relationship is often unclear.

What is certain is that more realistic paintings and the techniques that made them possible appeared about 100 years earlier in Italy than they did in places like Germany, (indistinct) Netherlands and Flanders.

So, let's check your understanding of what we've just heard about.

True or false, the Northern Renaissance took place before the Italian Renaissance.

Do you think that's true or false? Pause the video while you think and press play when you're ready to hear whether you were correct or not.

That's right.

It's false.

Didn't take place before the Italian Renaissance.

So, why is that? Time to justify your answer.

Was this because it began after the Italian Renaissance had finished, or was it because it began after the Italian Renaissance that overlapped with it? So, A or B, which of those two is the justification for the fact that the statement at the top is false? Pause the video, think about your answer, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Of course, as we saw from that timeline, it did begin after the Italian Renaissance, but the Northern Renaissance overlapped with the Italian Renaissance.

Like the artists of the Italian Renaissance, those in the north of Europe were also concerned for producing realistic detailed paintings.

At first, their works focused on similar subjects, religious imagery, and portraits.

However, as new religious thinking rocked Europe, it brought about changes in artwork that we see present in Bruegel scenes of everyday life.

As 16th century reformers in countries such as the Netherlands rejected the ideas of the Catholic church, Northern European artists stopped painting religious subjects to instead focus on scenes of everyday life, just like the one you can see in "Hunters in the Snow".

So, let's check you understood that.

What happened to Northern Renaissance art during the 16th century? Did it, A, it began to focus more on daily life? B, did it began to focus on religious imagery? C, did it copy Italian styles and become more realistic? Pause the video, think about your answer and press play when you wanna see if you're correct.

So, of course the answer, well done, is A, it began to focus on daily life.

It didn't focus on religious imagery.

It moved away from focusing on religious imagery, and it had already started to copy Italian stars and become more realistic.

What I'd like you to do now is to use your knowledge and understanding of what we just heard about.

Two, with a partner or out loud to me, discuss the reason why many artists in the Northern Renaissance began to focus on scenes of everyday life.

And it's really important that a good part of this discussion will focus on the word reformer.

The word reformer should feature in your discussion.

So, pause the video, have that discussion, and press play when you are ready to see some ideas of what you might have talked about.

So, your conversation might have sounded a little bit like this.

Lots of new religious thinking was spreading in Europe at this time, and it affected what the artists in the Northern Renaissance painted.

You're right.

As reformers rejected the ideas of the Catholic church, artists stopped painting religious scenes and focused on everyday life instead.

So, let's move on to see how the Northern Renaissance played out in England.

Now, this change in artistic style was clear at the court of King Henry VII of England.

There, a German Swiss painter named Hans Holbein the Younger, had travelled in search of work in 1526.

He'd taken little with him except a letter of recommendation from a man he had once painted, Erasmus, the travelling scholar who'd also spent time in England.

Welcomed into the growing humanist circles of London, Holbein developed a reputation for his ability to produce realistic portraits of his subjects.

Looking arguably his most famous work, a portrait of Henry VIII, it is easy to see why.

Holbein has shown off Henry's status and position through his commanding stance and posture.

Okay.

What did Henry VIII want his portrait to show about him? Was it, A, his wealth? Is it, B, his piety, his religious belief? Was it, C, his power? Pause the video, press play when you are ready to hear if you were right.

That's right.

Henry VIII wanted his portrait to show off his power and his status.

Now, this sort of portrait showing off status and position was not unique to the Northern Renaissance.

In Europe, a powerful Italian family called the Medicis, amongst others, had numerous portraits produced for much the same reason.

Even van Eyck's much earlier portrait was clearly also concerned with projecting its subject status.

Remember, those little details like the orange to convey their level of wealth.

So, let's check you understand that.

Why is Lucas wrong? Lucas says that only artists from the Northern Renaissance painted portraits to show off someone's wealth or power.

Why is that wrong? Pause the video.

Press play when you're ready to find out if you are right.

Hey, that's right.

Lucas is wrong because rich families in Italy, like the Medicis also had these sorts of portraits produced.

It wasn't just taking place in the north of Europe.

Now, when we look at Henry's portrait, we must be aware of one thing.

It is not the original painting.

The original was destroyed in a fire in the palace of Whitehall in London in 1698.

However, such was the power of this image and such was Henry's desire to promote his status and position.

The artists were encouraged to copy the image, meaning that today, it is still widely known.

With this painting, the existence of so many copies is just as valuable to historians who wish to investigate the Renaissance as the content of those copies.

It tells us that Renaissance kings and princes like Henry were so keen to harness the power of more realistic portraits and use them as devices to project a message about their power and status that they were willing and indeed encourage them to have copy, have them copied multiple times.

So, let's check your understanding.

Why did Henry VIII have his portrait copied so many times? Pause the video, think about your answer, and press play when you want to check if you were right.

That's right.

Henry VIII had his portrait copied, because he wanted as many people as possible to see how powerful he was.

So, let's bring all our learning from today's lessons together.

What I want you to do is I want you to compare the Northern and Italian Renaissances by completing the table below.

You should focus on the similarities and differences between the artists and art of both Renaissances and include some specific examples wherever possible.

We provided a model comparison here for you in the similarities column.

The artists in both Renaissances were interested in producing the human form accurately.

For example, van Eyck's "Arnolfini Portrait" and Michelangelo's "David".

So, make as many comparisons as possible, include as many similarities and differences as possible between the art and artists of the Northern and Italian Renaissances.

Pause the video while you do this and press play when you want to see some of the answers you might have put down.

Amazing job.

I'm sure you've got loads of similarities and differences, but here are some of the ones that you could have included.

So, some more similarities between the two Renaissances are the artists in both Renaissances produce portraits for rich and powerful people who wanted to show off their status, such as Henry VIII for the Medici family.

And also, the artists in both Renaissances used new techniques to increase the realism of their paintings.

You might be remembering sfumato or chiaroscuro.

And some of the differences between the two Renaissances are as follows.

Artists in the Northern Renaissance began to paint scenes of everyday life, such as Pieter Bruegel and his "Hunters in the Snow".

And also, Northern Renaissance artists were influenced by reformers who rejected the ideas of the Catholic church.

This wasn't the case with our Italian Renaissance painters.

You might also have said that the Northern Renaissance paintings started to be produced at a later date than those of the Italian Renaissance.

I think that's that timeline.

van Eyck's "Arnolfini Portrait" was about a hundred years after Petrarch was first discovering some of those ancient manuscripts.

Whatever you included, I'm sure you got lots of excellent similarities and differences, and that's allowed you to compare the Northern Renaissance to the Italian Renaissance.

Well done.

So, let's summarise what we've learned.

The Northern Renaissance began later than the Italian, but produced many detailed and realistic pieces of artwork that shared the same techniques.

As reformers challenged the church, Northern Renaissance artists stopped painting religious images and focused on portraits and scenes of everyday life.

Renaissance rulers like Henry VIII had artists produced portraits of themselves that would project their power and status.

And the Northern and Italian Renaissances were different, but shared some similarities as well as we've just seen.

Excellent job today.

I look forward to seeing you in another lesson all about the Renaissance.