The Protestant Reformation had a huge impact on the visual arts in Northern European art. One of the major changes was that religious imagery was no longer the major feature in art. Iconoclasm took over as protestant reformers encouraged the removal of religious images. Many churches were no longer commissioning religious art for display because it was believed that religious imagery was distracting and could lead to idolatry. The patrons of the north became more interested in secular concepts and ideas, and they also wanted their messages about morality to be portrayed in less religious ways. The Reformation led artists to seek patrons outside of the church. Several different types of subject matter were sought after during this time. There became a high demand for small paintings which contained secular subject matter. Landscapes are an example of subject matter which was sought after, this type of artwork was considered appropriate enough to be placed on ones home.
Because of the Protestant Reformation many artists became specialized in a particular subject matter as well as with using certain media. Aside from paintings some of the most sought after artwork included printmaking, wood and metal sculptures, textiles, ceramics and Flemish tapestries.
The Protestant Reformation not only influenced artists, but also influenced many patrons. As I metnioned before, Northern European patrons desired art which contained secular subjects more so than religious subject matter. Paintings that depicted everyday life were now more popular, as were paintings which depicted moral messages to teach/tell a story. An example of a moralizing painting is Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights
The left panel depicts God presenting Eve to Adam, the central panel is a broad panorama of sexually engaged nude figures, animals, oversized fruit and stone formations. The right panel is a hellscape and portrays the torments of damnation. This painting is "hands down" one of my favorites, I love the detail within all three panels.
Another well-known landscape painter was Peter Bruegel the Elder. His art, such as Return of the Hunters. This particular painting is one in a series of six works, five of which still survive, that depict different times of the year. This painting was one of six large paintings, each of them was over five feet wide.
Printmaking also became very popular in northern Europe during the Protestant Reformation. Because printmaking was quite inexpensive, images were able to be mass produced and made available to the general public. Both the Protestant and Catholic churches were able to utilize the print as a way to spread their message. Not only were the Catholics and Protestants using prints to further their cause but prints became a way of spreading propaganda for both sides. Because there were less religious paintings and even a decline in paintings of mythology, printmaking paved the way for a new trend.
You have some good thoughts, and I'm glad that you brought up moralizing subject matter. For the sake of clarity, though, I just want to emphasize that Bosch's painting pre-dates the Reformation. The "Garden of Earthly Delights" was created c. 1505-1515, and the Reformation really began in 1517. That being said, this is a good example of how moralizing subject matter existed in the North, even before the Reformation.
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This was a time when art saw a very dramatic change from art for the purpose of religion and the church to art for the sake of art. A very important step and something that moved art and artists into a very different and exciting direction with a door opening to subject matter.
ReplyDeleteArt at this time was changing in many different ways. Not only by subject matter but the ability to get your hands on art was becoming much easier. The use of prints and the printing press got artists names out there easily. But I question if the value of these images are really the same as those created for wealthy patrons. Prints made images no longer one of a kind. Yes it helped get the artists name out there but quantity seemed to be more of the focus than quality.
ReplyDeleteNot only was overtly Christian subject matter being avoided but also classical subject matter (though it was never as popular in the North as it was in Italy). The classical portrayals often contained a lot of nudity which puritanical Protestants found offensive. The Christian images that had been acceptable before were too much like idolatry. It's interesting that the Garden of Earthly delights contains so much nudity- it was painted for an obviously non-puritanical patron and is pre-reformation: so maybe that's why Bosch got away with that. In this picture the nudity is because of the innocence of Adam and Eve before the fall and to show the wrong, immoral beings in the other panels. Nudity symbolizes opposite meanings in different contexts of the same work.
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