Italian and Northern European Renaissance Comparison Essay

Introduction

Renaissance is a period in art history that represents a historical era known as rebirth. It is a period described by the renewal of classical art and culture and presents the changeover period between medieval and modern times. It was also a cultural period between the 14th and 15th centuries, it is believed to have begun in Florence in Italy before spreading to the rest of Europe. The historical era was characterized by learning using ancient sources, development in painting, and renewed scholarly efforts. It had a great influence on academic aspects such as philosophy, religion, political, and at most art among others. During this time artists were considered to have exceptional aptitude rather than craftsmen. It was also the period when artistic works became significantly popular and important in Europe.

The Italian renaissance was characterized by an artistic, cultural and intellectual explosion. Italian culture during this era has been expressed in roman architecture which is found in artifacts and ruins in many parts of Italy today. Renaissance began in Florence; artistic skills of painting and sculpturing became a common practice by the artist. Artistic works led to the development of mathematical inventions resulting from the logic portrayed by the art. The early artworks lacked logic in some aspects like some paintings appeared unreal as the arrangements in them do not obey rules of nature like gravity. The artist focused on relaying messages and demonstrating human nature in their art (Hay, 1977).

There was one famous artist known as Michelangelo, he had a great influence on Florence and Rome culture due to the dominance of his art. He was at one point hired by Pope to sculpture his tomb and a sculpture of Moses. Michelangelo was also influential in expressing religious messages to the people around him. One famous sculpture was the one on David, from the Bible David was responsible and a great king who rose from a humble small boy. His message was that people should become responsible and get focused on achieving their aim just as David did.

During the renaissance era artist became the source of revolution in architecture, painting, sculpturing and religion. Society was changed bringing a new dogma of individualism; artists gained much dignity as the educated people based on the nature of their art. The fact that artist portrayed human aspect on their art it brought a new cultural change that was demonstrated by humanitarianism. Italian renaissance had a great influence in changing human culture from then even today. It had later brought a significant change in religion; there was the emergence of Protestants from the Roman Catholic main steam religion (Hay, 1977).

Northern renaissance can be described as the renaissance that took place in Europe outside Italy. Northern renaissance can be attributed to France, Germany, England and Netherlands with its center as Flanders. Flanders can be traced to current France and Belgium. This renaissance was characterized by the alteration of style from the ancient middle ages to practical and communicative styles. It shifted from minute and illuminated art to more vivid ones. The new development was more practical and expressive through the large paintings that were to be displayed in public. It’s from Flanders that oil painting originated (Whitlock, 2000).

Similarities between Italian and northern European renaissance

There are similarities between the northern European and Italian renaissance. Both shared a common or practiced similar religion, Christianity. Christianity was the main focus of the two renaissances since it was the guiding principle to both artists. Christian historical stories become the predominant artwork in both cases.

In both renaissance’s artists were grouped together in guilds. This was a self-policing arrangement where all the gains got by a particular guild were shared among its members; this showed that artists had social groupings. Both renaissances had printed materials as part of their art through the help of the printing press. In both they had an artistic center, in the Italian renaissance, it was Florence while in the northern European renaissance it was in Flanders. In both, they allowed a social system known as feudalism to continue. In both renaissances was contributed and driven by economic growth (Benton and DiYanni, 1999).

Differences between Italian and northern European renaissance

Between the Italian and northern European renaissance, there are social and cultural differences. One of the differences arises from the language used. Italian renaissance used Latin and Greek while the northern used local vernacular languages. The use of local languages made the art to be widely sued by people familiar with a particular language. The application of different languages had a great influence on the formation of countries that used similar languages.

Relationship between arts and culture in Italian and Northern European renaissance

Other than the northern European renaissance came later after the Italian renaissance, it was much tied to the gothic art and architecture than the Italian. The rate of change in the northern renaissance was quite lower based on the fact that the artists were fewer and scattered than the Italian renaissance complement. The north had few commercial centers compared to the Italian one; these centers were often visited by wealthy business people who spent a considerable amount of their money on art.

Italian renaissance was tied to humanism with most of the artists being philosophers and writers who studied the past in order to determine man’s fate in the future. Italians renaissance general course was towards human self-esteem and value. The north had no historical material to use but could only focus on religion, which they had quite some historical evidence. The north renaissance focused on religious culture since they believed that Rome had deviated from the core Christian doctrines. This led to the emergence of religious rebellion from Rome with the emergence of cults what today is known as Protestants (Whitlock, 2000).

The relationship between arts and culture in both Italian and northern renaissance is similar. Italian culture is related to its art. Italian artists were concerned with the scientific and philosophical doctrines behind their art while the north was just concerned with the appearance of their art. The fact that Italy and northern Europe are in different geographical positions, it is evident the materials used were different. Italian artists used frescoes, egg tempera, and marble while the northern artists used oil paints and wood.

Reflection of cultural and social differences in art

Social and cultural differences are reflected in the arts between Italian and northern renaissance. The north embraced religion very much than the Italians it is reflected in the dominance of the religious inclination of their arts. An example of an artistic work is the last judgment; the Italian was drawn by Michelangelo while the northern was drawn by Bosch. Michelangelo shows more of the saints on the upper part of the painting while Bosch shows more of the human suffering at the bottom. The difference shows that the northern renaissance was more practical human suffering than imaginary the saints hanging at the altar. Another artistic work is the famous painting ‘haymaking’ it focused on what peasant farmers were doing in plantations. This was reflected well in the cultural focus of the northern renaissance on daily life (Benton and DiYanni, 1999).

Finally, both Italian and northern European renaissance have both similarities and differences. It is well understood the reasons why there were differences based on the fact that the two were on different geographical locations. Renaissance in both cases can be attributed to social, cultural, and even to some religious advancement. Renaissance is also responsible for scholarly advancement from medieval to modern philosophy and religion.

Reference list

Benton, J. R., & DiYanni R. (1999). Arts and Culture; an Introduction to Humanities. Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Hay Denys (1977). The Italian Renaissance in its historical background. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Whitlock Keith (2000). The Renaissance in Europe: a reader. New Haven: Yale University Press.