Shoutout

If you haven't been following my tweets about Northern Renaissance art at @kimberlybreuer, recently I've given some shoutouts to some other bloggers that also love this incredible section of art history.

Here are some links to some great and informative sites I've found!

http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Northern-Renaissance-Art.html

http://www.culturecritic.co.uk/blog/a-northern-renaissance-tim-stanley-on-st-petersburgs-contemporary-art-scene

jsbrady

http://jsbrady.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/italian-and-northern-renaissance-blog/

Proverbs

So far, my blog has been focused more on an informative level rather than interactive. For this post I want to invite the reader to interpret a painting by Pieter Bruegel on their own before I elaborate on the iconography and subjects depicted. I chose a painting that has over 100 idioms that can be recognized, see if you can't find them for yourself. 

Pieter Bruegel
Netherlandish Proverbs 
1559 
Oil on oak panel, 117 x 163 cm
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Gemaldegalerie, Berlin 


If you're having trouble, here are a few to help get you started:

Notice in the bottom left corner, there is a man pushing his head up against the brick wall. That is to signify that he is trying to achieve the impossible. 

In the far left center there is a world turned upside down suggesting that everything is the opposite of what it should be.

The man on the bottom right is crying over spilled milk. 

The man on the right in the hen house is feeling the hens to signify counting his eggs before they are hatched. 

Preparation for Death

The Isenheim Altarpiece, painted by Matthias Grunewald, functioned as a visual reminder for patients at a hospital. Its purpose was to remind the sick of what Christ endured. Even though it may seem like they patients themselves are going to die of St. Anthony's disease (acquired by consuming infected bread and resulting in gangrene limbs and other deformations) it could always be worse. This is depicted through the gangrene flesh covered Christ below in the prudella, covered in pus and ready to be entombed. When the altarpiece is opened, Christ's arms and legs appear as if they are coming off - much like those suffering from St. Anthony's disease. 

Matthias Grunewald
Isenheim Altarpiece
1510-1515 
oil on wood


On the interior of the altarpiece, St. Anthony is depicted being tempted by the demons. He is also surrounded by sickly figures, suffering from similar diseases as the hospital patients viewing the altarpiece. Different from today's culture, people that were supposed to view the Isenheim Altarpiece were not at the hospital to heal; they were there in preparation for death. They were supposed to find empathy in these images of the suffering who are enduring much worse physical pain than they are experiencing. 

The exterior of the altarpiece encourages the patients to endure the pain that is clearly lesser than that of Christ's to ultimately witness the resurrection of Christ. The depiction is portrayed as a much more hopeful scene in comparison to the interior. This resurrection was meant to give the hospital patients hope that their pain would pass just as Christ's had. 

Emotionalism & Realism

Rogier van der Wyden, painter of the Deposition, was well known for adding a new sense of emotionalism to devotional works. He meant for the viewer to have an emotional experience.

Rogier van der Wyden
Deposition, 1435
Center panel of a triptych from Notre Dame, Louvain, Belgium
oil on wood, 7'2 5/8" x 8' 7 1/8"

In the case of the Deposition, everyone is depicted with emotional expressions through sorrow and tears. This is especially portrayed in Mary's face, which is clearly more pale than the other figures surrounding her. The position of Mary's body is also interesting in that it mimics the 'S' curve of Christ as he is taken down from the cross. This scene is also meant to force the viewer into contemplating their own death and considering their next life after life on earth. A symbol evoking these thoughts would be the skulls on the bottom of the painting. The crossbows in the corners symbolize who commisioned the painting, in this case being the archers guild.

Rogier van der Wyden was also known for his realism, seen in the shadows of the figures as well as the folds in the cloth. He suceeds in creating this impression through the use of bold and saturated colors from many layers of oil paint. Another interesting aesthetic characteristic of this painting is the way the figures are pressed up against the picture plane while still preserving depth through layers of figures.