Sixteenth Century Northern Renaissance

Although Northern Europe had clung to its Gothic past much longer than Italy, by the early sixteenth century Northern artists began to be influenced by the Italian Renaissance through texts, prints, and direct exposure. Architecture, sculpture, and painting started to exhibit characteristics encompassing both local Gothic and classical elements. While campaigning in Italy, Francais I was introduced to the world of antiquity and saw the artistic transformation brought about by the Italian Renaissance. When he …

…form of the knight. (This site allows you to magnify any section of the print. Compare the tonal and linear quality of engraving to the woodcut.) The affect of the Reformation on northern art is seen in the sixteenth century in the form of new genres and in the decline, particularly in Germany, in art production. The Baroque period of the seventeenth century will continue to investigate the changing role of the Northern European artist.