Northern Renaissance Art

Overview

"The Northern Renaissance, one of the most glorious periods in Western civilization, boasts such geniuses as Bosch, Dürer, Van Eyck, Holbein, Bruegel, and Cranach, to name only a few. The painting, sculpture, and graphic works of these artists are fundamental to the understanding and development of Western art from 1350 to the present day. James Snyder provides an absorbing assessment of Northern achievements - ranging from Bohemian court art under Charles V in Prague in the 1350s to the royal patronage of Francis I at Fontainebleau in the 1550s. He does full justice to the magnificence of the works while putting them into the context of their times. He elucidates broad issues, such as the significance of geography in explaining the cross-fertilization of ideas from one area to another; the rise in the economy, which brought with it the creation of new markets and new kinds of patrons; the impact of Italy on Northern artists as they increasingly traveled south, interpreting and adopting themes and compositional devices; and the development of regional schools in the Netherlands. In rich detail but with utter clarity, Snyder explains major economic, social, and religious developments, tells the stories of the artists and the patrons who created this extraordinary flowering of art, and analyzes the works of art themselves. His effortless style and depth of knowledge make this book unique in its field. Almost 700 illustrations, more than 80 in full color, are each keyed to the text, providing superb visual documentation. The volume also includes notes to the text, maps, a timetable of the major artistic, political, religious, and scientific achievements of the period, a genealogy of the house of Valois, a bibliography, and a full index." --

Details

Publisher

Prentice-Hall

Published

1985

Pages

559

Language

EN

Categories

Art / European, Art / History / Renaissance, Photography / General

ISBN-13

9780810910812