Italian and Northern Renaissance Art

Italian and Northern Renaissance Art

By the late 1400s, the artists of the Italian Renaissance and those of the Northern Renaissance have come to influence each other, with their subjects and their methods. The two works to be discussed below are, respectively, inspired by the old mythical beliefs of a civilization, and the beliefs of a greatly influential religion.

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)

Birth of Venus, c. 1484-1486, Italy, Tempera on canvas, 5'8" x 9'1"

The Italian Renaissance gave birth to Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and his Birth of Venus, a painting that depicted the Roman goddess Venus landing on the shore, a flurry of angelic beings ready to wait on her and celebrate her arrival. Located in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, it is artwork inspired by the "Venus Anadyomene" motif -- one involving the rise of Aphrodite from the oceans. Like Durer's work, Botticelli's pieces hinged on a theme; in his case, before the Bonfire of the Vanities, this theme focused on the pagan images of the past. Most of Botticelli's early Renaissance work involves the fantasy-like figures of mythical subjects. Later on, however, Botticelli would have changed his tune to a more Christian heading, under his friendship with Savonarola. A Christian heading that Durer would undoubtedly use for his own inspirations.

Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, c. 1498, Germany, Woodcut, 1'1 ae" x 11"

Albrecht Durer was one of the more celebrated men of the Northern Renaissance. Prior to his visits in Italy, Durer had already gained much renown for his wood engravings. One of which was his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which was part of his Apocalypse series. It was inspired by a passage from the Book of Revelation (6:1-8) in the Bible. The piece depicts the scene as was described in the Revelation passage, of the four horsemen that would appear from the heavens at the time of the Apocalypse. Durer did not have the advantage of colors as Botticelli did in his paintings, but the shades and the lines created on the engraving gave off the desired effect: one of dark menace and foreboding of what it might be like should the horsemen come down in the future. The piece, while German in origin, is now located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.