Brueghel The Holy Family: Shows Influence of the Northern Reniassance in Theme and Technical Rendering
The Holy Family by Brueghel clearly shows the influence of theNorthern Renaissance both in theme and technical rendering. Jan the elderBrueghel was one of the key artists of the Northern Renaissance, a periodcharacterized by realism, perspective, and the themes of religion andnature in art. Brueghel's The Holy Family contains many elementscharacteristic of the Northern Renaissance, including the themes ofreligion and nature, as well as a profound realism and detail. Thereligious theme of the poem is consistent with an influence of componentsof Christian thought and stylistic techniques common in the Italian Jan the elder Brueghel was one of the major artistic forces of theNorthern Renaissance in the Netherlands. Born into an artistic family, hewas the son of Pieter the Elder Bruegel, and the brother of Pieter theYounger Brueghel, and the brother of Jan Bruegel II, while his father-in-law was David Teniers the Younger. Jan the elder Brueghel was born in Painted during the Northern Renaissance, Brueghel's The Holy Familyreveals a great deal of the important t
The keyfigures in the painting were painted by Pieter van Avont (Kren and Marx,and show a soft realism in their natural flesh tones. The Holy Family also shows the clear influence of realism and naturein the composition and rendering of the objects of the painting. Naturalart was studied commonly, and anatomy and perspective were importantcomponents of art. Perspective, a key component of the Northern Renaissance, isalso clearly apparent in the painting, as trees in the distance are smallin comparison the figures in front and the flowers spelling out an "M" arein comparison to both the figures and the trees behind. Detail in thepainting is also typical of the Northern Renaissance, as flowers and fruitsare rendered in painstaking detail of both form and color (and simplequantity, as well), and details in the clothing and flesh of the figuresare carefully created, such as the numerous folds within Mary's dress. While artists of the Northern Renaissance were less focused on anatomy andperspective, their art showed a clear mastery of the technique and profounddetail. TheItalian Renaissance was a profound period of creative activity. Brueghel's The Holy family is deeply connected to the historicalperiod that bore it, the Northern Renaissance. Importantly, its depictionof Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, the lamb and the cherubs is religious incontent, as was typical of Gothic art of the time. Jan the elder Brueghel's (hereafter known only as Bruegel) paintingcontains many important components of Christian thought and influences ofthe Italian Renaissance. The flowers andtrees in the painting are important as they not only illustrate the themeof nature seen in the Northern Renaissance and reflect "the diversity ofnature" (Kren and Marx), but their depiction is in the natural style commonat the time. Similarly, otherinfluences of the Italian Renaissance are clearly apparent in thepainting's astounding detail, realism, and the theme of nature within thepainting. Mary's central focus inthe painting shows the importance of both her and the baby Jesus in thecontext of the painting. Like the Italian Renaissance, theNorthern Renaissance saw a move away from art of a Byzantine influence.
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