Jake Kaufman

AP Euro Assignment #8

Mrs. Nierman

1) Like the Italian Humanists, Northern, or Christian, Humanists focused on classical works. Unlike Italian Humanists, however, Northern Humanists focused on Christian classical works. This category included the work of early Christians, the Scriptures, and the writings of the church fathers (Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome). The Christian Humanists found in these texts a religious philosophy free of the distorting scholastic dogma and reasoning. To better understand these texts, Christian Humanists often learned the languages of Latin, Greek, and even Hebrew (to study the in its original language). 3) Erasmus believed that the Christian scripture should be available to all Christians to study, not just the elite few who spoke Latin. His retort to those who opposed the translation of scripture into the vernacular was as if Christ taught such intricate doctrines that they could scarcely be understood by very few theologians, or as if the strength of the Christian religion consisted on mens ignorance of it. Erasmus believed that the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, was loaded with mistakes. He tried to correct those mistakes on his own by retranslating the Greek version of the Bible into Latin again. His main idea on Christianity was that rather than a system of dogmatic laws and teachings, it

should be a philosophy. He thought the most important thing was to have a level of inner piety, and performing rituals such as pilgrimage and sacraments was pointless without this. 4) In Praise of Folly, by Erasmus, was a satirical text about the corruption of his time. Folly, a woman, shows how she influences all aspects of life and society. Erasmus used this work specifically to criticize the church and the clergy of his time. Utopia, by Thomas More, is a philosophical work that takes place in a perfect society. Everyone is pious and loves to learn. Everyone works the same amount of hours and everything is shared among the people according to their individual needs. All aspects of life are controlled and regulated by the moral welfare of society. The name Utopia is a deliberate spelling, because while it is pronounced eutopia, meaning good place, it is spelled utopia, meaning nowhere, saying how the good place is nowhere. 5a) During the time of the Northern Renaissance, Jan van Eyck was becoming a famous Flemish painter. Van Eyck studied at the most influential Northern school, centered in Florence. Van Eyck was the first to use oil paints, which gave him a wide variety of colors which could be used to create precise details. In his famous painting Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride, van Eyck used such precision and detail. There was also much symbolism hidden in the paintings through objects like the chandelier, mirror, and dog. Like many other Renaissance

painters, van Eyck tried to imitate nature. Van Eyck also followed the trend of using his religion as inspiration. Hans Holbein was a German Renaissance artist who worked with the Northern Renaissance style. His father, Hans Holbein the Elder, taught him skills in the arts of stained glass and portraits. Hans and his brother went to Basel to study, and there he met many influential scholars, among them Erasmus. On Erasmuss request, Hans illustrated his satires for him. He illustrated many other books as well, including Martin Luthers translation of the Bible. Holbein designed extravagant monuments, painted portraits of court officials, and designed the kings robes, all fro the court of Henry VIII. He also created drawings and monuments for Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn. Holbein created portraits by first drawing detailed pencil drawings, coupled with ink or even chalk. The drawings emphasized facial detail, and rarely included the hands. 5c) Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) was a Dutch painter who was very much a part of the Renaissance. He most strongly typifies the Renaissance attribute of individuality. He painted many portraits of patrons and captured the details of their faces, their mannerisms, and perhaps even a look into their souls. He followed his own path, and was not swayed by public approval or materialistic fame. He painted religious scenes even when his Protestant colleagues all rejected it as an art genre. However, his religious work was not in a typical Catholic style; he captured the inner struggles of people and their relationship to G-d.

6) Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a French writer and critic who was also a part of the Renaissance. The son of a wealthy merchant, he received a classical education that would be the envy of any Renaissance Humanist. He was a lawyer and magistrate in Parliament, but left this position in protest of the French religious wars. He criticized both sides of the Catholic-Huguenot religious wars, saying instead of transforming themselves into angels, they transform themselves into beasts. De Montaigne withdrew from society to write his Essays in solitude. One main topic of these essays was his belief in following the middle way (like in Buddhism). It is much easier to go along the sides [extremes]than by the middle way [moderation]. This embrace of moderation reflects the Renaissance humanist embrace of the classics, which in turn reflects the classical striving for moderation and balance.