Painting #117 - Northern Landscapes

Northern Renaissance

Landscape Painting

Pure landscape subjects in painting and printmaking were first produced by Albrecht Altdorfer and others of the German Danube School in the early 16th century.

Landscape of Danube near Regensburg *
- Albrecht Altdorfer (1480–1538, German)
- color on vellum/beech wood  (31 x 22 cm)  c.1528/30
- Alte Pinakothek  (Maxvorstadt, Germany) 

这幅画被认定是西方第一幅油彩风景画。

Christ taking Leave of his Mother
- Albrecht Altdorfer (1480–1538, German)
- oil on lime (141 x 111 cm) ~1520
- National Gallery (London) 

Christ says farewell to his mother Mary, often blessing her, before leaving for his final journey to Jerusalem, which he knows will lead to his Passion and death.

At the same time Joachim Patinir in the Netherlands developed the "world landscape", a style of panoramic landscape with small figures and using a high aerial viewpoint, that remained influential for a century.

Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx
- Joachim Patinir (c.1480–1524, Southern Netherlandish)
- oil on panel (64 × 103 cm) 1525-1524
- Prado Museum (Madrid)  

"Charon transports the souls of the dead down the river Styx, one of the underworld rivers. The passenger in the boat is a human soul deciding between Heaven, to his right, or Hell, to his left. One of the gates to hell is guarded by a three-headed dog. The soul in the boat ultimately chooses his destiny by looking toward Hell and ignoring the angel on the river-bank in Paradise that beckons him to the more difficult path."

Pieter Bruegel the Elder  (1526/1530–1569) 

 The Tower of Babel
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- oil on oak panel (114 x 155 cm) 1563
- Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna) 

The Gloomy Day
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- oil on oak  (118 x 163 cm)  1565
- Kunsthistorisches Museum  (Vienna) 

The Hunters in the Snow
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- oil on wood panel  (117 × 162 cm)  1565
- Kunsthistorisches Museum  (Vienna) 

E X T R A :

* Regensburg, a Bavarian city on the Danube River in southeast Germany, is known for its well-preserved medieval core:

The 12th-century Stone Bridge,
a 310m-long icon with 16 arches,
crosses the river to the old town.

The 13th-century Regensburg Cathedral, a twin-spired Gothic landmark, is home to the Regensburger Domspatzen choir☆:

☆The Regensburger Domspatzen choir
- singing “Miserere” by Gregorio Allegri (1582–1652)   

- full name "Miserere mei, Deus" / "Have mercy on me, O God"

- a setting of Psalm 51 (50) 

- written for two choirs: SSATB and SATB

- an example of Renaissance polyphony surviving to the present day: one choir sings a simple version of the original Miserere chant; the other, spatially separated, sings an ornamented "commentary" on the former. 

Reference: Wikipedia