The Northern Renaissance
Artists of the Northern Renaissance
As Renaissance ideas spread northward in Europe, people from different cultures changed the art and literature of the Italian Renaissance, and made it their own. This was especially true of the artists in the Low Countries, or present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
Northern Renaissance artists portrayed both religious and secular subjects in paintings and three-dimensional sculpture. Their approach to imitating nature differed initially from the Italians'. Rather than mastering the use of perspective, for example, they took great care to portray realistic details in their painting. Over time, these artists learned how to use perspective and display emotion like Italian artists. In this interactivity, you will learn more about some of the most important Northern Renaissance artists and their works. Click the player button to begin.
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The Gutenberg Printing Press
A reproduction of a Gutenberg-era Press on display at the
Printing History Museum in Lyon, France
In 1450, Johannes Gutenberg of Germany invented a printing press that used movable type. Before the fifteenth century, the only way to reproduce a written text in Europe was to the copy it by hand, a laborious task that meant books were expensive, rare items. Beginning in the early fifteenth century, Europeans started experimenting with a printing method using movable type in which small blocks, each containing a carved letter, could be rearranged on a plate to form the text of a page. Ink was applied to the plate, and the movable type was pressed against paper to instantly produce a page of text. A cumbersome process at first, Gutenberg improved on it, creating a printing press that could efficiently mass produce thousands of copies. The first book that he published was the Bible, which became an instant best seller. The mass production and sale of books had a dramatic effect on the Renaissance movement, encouraging scholarly research while disseminating new ideas faster than Europe had ever seen.
Writers of the Northern Renaissance
The humanist writings of the Northern Renaissance were largely infused with Christianity. Among the most notable writers of this time were Erasmus of Flanders, Sir Thomas More of England, Rabelais of France, and William Shakespeare of England. In this interactivity, you will discover more about each of these writers. Click the player button to begin.
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The Northern Renaissance Review
Now that you have examined the Northern Renaissance, review your knowledge in this interactivity. Click the player button to get started.
