The Northern Renaissance began in the 15th century as ideas from the Italian Renaissance spread north. Key developments included the end of the plague, growth of cities and merchant wealth after wars, and artists studying in Italy and spreading new techniques. Northern rulers hired Italian artists, and ideas spread through invasions and artists moving. Flemish and German painters like Van Eyck, Durer, and Bruegel gained prominence. Northern humanists like Erasmus and More sought to reform society through education and Christianity. Gutenberg's printing press mass-produced books and spread Renaissance ideas across Europe.

2. the northern renaissance
Bell Work:
● #3 – Ch. 1/L2
Vocabulary
● #4 – Global Impact, pg.
50.
●Write the questions.
 #5 - Ch. 1/L3
vocabulary

3. the northern renaissance
Objectives:
● Explain the origins and characteristics of the
Northern Renaissance.
● Trace the impact of the Renaissance on German and
Flemish painters.
● Profile key Northern Renaissance writers.
● Explain how printing spread ideas.

4. the northern renaissance
By the end of the 15th century
(1400’s), the ideas and
values of Renaissance Italy
began to spread north into
England, France, Germany,
and Flanders (part of
present day France and the
Netherlands)….

5. the northern renaissance
Plague:
● The bubonic plague
had killed between
75-200 million people
in Europe.
● 1450 – the population
begins to grow again.

6. the northern renaissance
War:
● Hundred Years War (1337-
1453) –a series of conflicts
between England and
France for control of the
French throne.
● After the war, many cities
grew rapidly.
● Urban merchants became
wealthy (first in Flanders).
● this increased the
patronage of the arts.

7. the northern renaissance
Artistic Ideas Spread:
● Artists studied under
Italian masters, copied
technique, brought these
ideas with them.
● Northern European rulers
purchased paintings, hired
Italian artists and
architects
● There was a growing
interest in realism and art
that depicted every day
life.

8. the northern renaissance
The Renaissance Spreads:
● King Francis I of France invited da Vinci to retire in France.
● This inspired other northern leaders to hire Italian artists.
the Palace at Fontainebleau

9. the northern renaissance
The Renaissance
Spreads:
● 1494 – King Charles
VIII of France
invaded and claimed
the throne of
Naples.
● This invasion
forced many artists
to head north into
France and
England.

10. the northern renaissance
German Painters;
● Albrecht Durer
● travelled to Italy to study
(1494).
● famous for woodcuts and
engravings.
● used religious, mythical,
and realistic landscapes.
● popularity of his work
helped spread
Renaissance styles.

11. the northern renaissance
Innsbruck Castle
Courtyard
The Revelation of St John: 4.
The Four Riders of the
Apocalypse,

12. the northern renaissance
The
Lamentation
for Christ
(1500)

13. the northern renaissance
Hans Holbein the Younger
● Durer’s emphasis on
realism influenced other
German artists like
Holbein.
● Holbein specialized in
painting portraits.
● Nearly photographic
quality.

14. the northern renaissance
Sir Thomas More (1527) The Ambassadors
(1533)

15. the northern renaissance

16. the northern renaissance
Flemish Painters
● Flanders

17. the northern renaissance
Flemish Painters
● Flanders – the artistic center of northern
Europe.
● With the support of wealth merchant families,
Flemish artists were able to flourish.
● Jan van Eyck
● the first great Flemish artist
● used oil based paints to create a variety of subtle
colors.
● the use of oil based paints eventually spread to
Italy.
● Pieter Bruegel
● the peak of Flemish painting (1550)
● created scenes from everyday life (i.e. weddings,
dances, and harvests)

18. the northern renaissance
Jan van
Eyck
The
Annunciation
Portrait of a Man
in a Turban

19. the northern renaissance
Pieter
Bruegel,
The
Weddin
g
Dance

20. the northern renaissance
Pieter Bruegel, The Dutch
Proverbs

21. the northern renaissance
Northern Writers Try to
Reform Society
● Humanism
● Italian humanists –
classical language and
classical texts; used
reason to improve
themselves.
● Northern humanists –
reexamined the traditional
teachings of the Church.

22. the northern renaissance
● The Church had failed to
inspire people to live
Christian lives.
● Christian humanism =
the reform of society
and the Church.
●EDUCATION!!!!
● for women
● founded schools for
boys and girls.

23. the northern renaissance
● Erasmus:
● Dutch priest
● 1509 – The Praise of Folly;
poked fun at greedy
merchants, heartsick lovers,
quarrelsome scholars, and
pompous priests.
● Believed in a Christianity of
the heart, not ceremony or
rules.
● Produced a Bible in Greek.
● To improve society, all
should study the Bible.

24. the northern renaissance
● Thomas More
● 1516 – wrote Utopia, a
book about an imaginary
land where there is no
greed, corruption, or war.
● utopia = “no place” in
Greek

25. the northern renaissance
Women’s Reforms
● Northern humanists
promoted education for
women, and founded schools
for boys and girls.
● Most Europeans couldn’t
read. Those who could afford
schooling typically sent their
sons.

26. the northern renaissance
Women’s Reforms
● Christine de Pizan – highly
educated female writer.
● born in 1363
● wrote in many books, short
stories in French.
● The Book of the City of
Ladies - detailed some of
the objections men had to
educating women.
● pg. 48

27. the northern renaissance
The Elizabethan Age
● The Renaissance reaches
England in the mid-1500’s.
● “Elizabethan Age” = Queen
Elizabeth I reigned 1558-
1603.
● well educated
● spoke French, Italian,
Latin, and Greek
● did much to promote the
development of English art
and literature.

28. the northern renaissance
Shakespeare
● most famous writer of the
Elizabethan Age
● born 1564 in Stratford-upon-
Avon.
● revered and drew inspiration
from the classics.
● revealed the souls of men
and women, and promoted a
positive view of human
nature.
● most famous plays include
MacBeth, Hamlet, and
Romeo and Juliet.

29. the northern renaissance
Printing Spreads the
Renaissance
● the Chinese invented block
printing and also, (around
1043) movable type.
● 13th century – block printed
items reached Europe from
China.
● European printers were
able to create whole pages
to bind into books, but the
process was too slow.

30. the northern renaissance
Printing Spreads the Renaissance
● Johann Gutenberg
● craftsman from Mainz, Germany
● around 1440, combined several
technologies to create a printing
press that could produce books
quickly and cheaply.
● books were cheap enough that
many people could afford
them.
● thousands of Bibles, art texts,
novels, travel guides, medical
manuals were published all
across Europe. (pg. 50)

31. the northern renaissance
Legacy of the Renaissance
● In art:
● Realism
● Secularism
● Vernacular
● Humanism
In society:
● printing spread ideas
● literacy rates went up
● published accounts of new discoveries, maps,
and charts led to further discoveries.
● Christian humanists
● people began to question political structures and
religious practices.