The Renaissance: The Rest of Europe

Central European Renaissance

While Italian paintings usually drew upon Greek, Roman, or Biblical sources, Dutch and Flemish painters were more interested in everyday life. Hans Holbein and Jan van Eyck created very naturalistic portraits. Pieter Bruegel the Elder depicted peasants. This area also innovated the genre of landscape paintings.

Beyond art, Central Europe was also the birthplace of the Scientific Revolution with Nicolaus Copernicus’ Heliocentric Theory (the idea that the Earth spins around the Sun). It was also home to Erasmus, who fixed some early translation errors in the Vulgate Bible. This was a big deal to Europeans who considered the Vulgate edition too holy to criticize.

The most influential invention of the Central European Renaissance was Johann Gutenberg’s Printing Press (the image above is a reproduction of the original printing press). Gutenberg’s printing press could reproduce books significantly faster and cheaper than by hand. More people now had access to information. This created an intellectual revolution that would result in the Protestant Reformation, the Age of Exploration, and even the Scientific Revolution.

French Renaissance

France’s encounter with the Renaissance was architecturally and literarily prolific. They invented the Chateau. While castles were for fortifying nobles, and palaces were for homing nobles, the chateau was a country home for anyone who had the wealth to build one. They also created dramatic short stories about the love lives of the nobility. The first Bible translated into a vernacular language was French, which would inspire Martin Luther to write his own German translation 4 years later during the Protestant Reformation.

The Chateau de Chambord in France

The Chateau de Chambord is one of the most famous examples of French Renaissance architecture.

English Renaissance

England was the maverick of the Renaissance. It came about nearly a century after the start of the Renaissance in Italy. This is where the modern flushing toilet was invented (by John Harington) as well as the theory of blood circulation (by William Harvey).

An illustration depicting William Shakespeare

For American students, though, the most important person to the English Renaissance was William Shakespeare. Just like Renaissance sculptors and painters focused on emotion and history, Shakespeare did the same for theater. His characters expressed their inner thoughts and desires, while even the tragedies still included sly humor. He also standardized the English language and invented over 1,500 new words.

Practice Activity

The cards below contain information and examples from four major artistic achievements of the Renaissance:

Painting: Sfumato and Chiaroscuro
Painting: Perspective and Foreshortening
Architecture: Classical Structures and Ratios
Sculpture: The Human Form

The description of each achievement is followed by examples. Turn the card over for additional information about each example.

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