Protestant Reformation

Option #2

            Before reading about the Protestant Reformation I figured that it would have to do with a change in artistic style within the northern renaissance, but after reading about it I quickly found out my idea of it was very wrong. For the most part the Protestant Reformation actually didn’t affect the artistic style of the north much at all. The artists continued to pay close attention to detail, focused on naturalism, and still had an interest in properly depicting various textures. What did change during the Protestant Reformation was the subject matter which was shown in northern renaissance art. During the reformation artists began to focus more on secular subject matter rather than on religious subject matter. This happened because protestant groups didn’t want pictures with religious subjects because of the unease within the church during that time. The art instead focused on moral messages built within the paintings through the use of secular depictions. The type of subject matter created during the Protestant Reformation was very different when compared to earlier works of art which were very often focused on a religious theme. This becomes quite evident when looking at earlier northern renaissance art work by artist such as Jan van Eyck who used religious themes or symbols within almost all of his work.

One artist that I believe encompasses much of the northern style during the Protestant Reformation was Pieter Bruegel the Elder. One of my favorite paintings by him is his “return of the hunters.” This work of art by him shows some of the effects of the Protestant Reformation. The effect of the reformation is first noticed very clearly through the lack of religious figures within the painting. From what I could tell there were no religious figures or symbols within “the return of the hunters.” After noticing the lack of religious symbols I then realized the humanistic values that were present within the painting. This was mainly due to the background and the emphasis on landscapes, a style that is related with humanism because of classic roman influence. Not only that but it further drives itself into secular subject matter by clearly depicting a season; the season of winter, which shows the northern influence and tradition of calendars within this work of art.

Bruegel’s work also shows how the artistic style of northern art has pretty much remained the same throughout the Protestant Reformation. One of the first northern stylistic characteristics that stand out very clearly is the attention which has been paid to the detail of texture within Bruegel’s painting. There is a textural distinction between everything in the picture, ranging from the brick of the houses to the bark on the trees. You can also see a continued interest in naturalism by the way that the characters and animals are depicted in realistic positions and proportions.

Overall it is clear that the Protestant Reformation changed the subject matter within northern renaissance art during the 16^th century, focusing more on secular rather than religious subject matter. It is also clear that the artistic style of the north remained close to the same, keeping its focus on naturalism, attention to detail, and textural distinction.