Matthew J.

Brennan
Professor Dale A. Hoover
Humanities 2235-103
22 October 2011

Select Impact of Northern Renaissance Pessimism on Art
or
Deus meus Deus meus ut quid dereliquisti me
When the classical rebirth arrived in the northern latitudes, it found a very
different environment than encountered on the Italian Peninsula. Many factors
contributed to the differing status of the North. It is easy to say that the cold weather,
the comings and goings of the Plague and the resistance to put aside the feudal system
contributed to the societal pessimism associated with the North (Sayer). When
examining the impact of Northern Pessimism on the art produced, there are bigger
factors at play than the local atmospherics.
Hieronymus Boschs, Carrying of the Cross, illuminates some of these larger
factors that those in the North were dealing with. In his painting, Bosch depicts a
downtrodden Christ after he has been given his cross in a sea of grotesque humanity.
As is common in both southern and northern Renaissance tradition, biblical figures are
presented, as they would be 1500 years ago while the rest of humanity is displayed in
modern day dress and garb. This dichotomy between the Son of God and a
representative cross section of modern humanity is shocking. In the mass of people,
we see a well to do woman in the lower left, a trio of low brow men scheming in the
bottom right, a soldier on the right and various others midway between. The people
depicted have grossly distorted faces that seem to enhance the feeling in the viewer
that they are either up to no good or completely oblivious to their surroundings. In the
middle of the image we find Christ and he is not what we want to be, but rather an ideal
we want to hold ourselves too. The masses represent what we are, they are us, the
baseness of our existence. One might also argue that the masses include the Church.
Unlike Southern art, which espouses the humanistic quality of the ancients,
Boschs Carrying of the Cross illustrates how things really are in a way that would be
impossible in the south closer to the center of the Church. From this image, we
conclude that northern artists and most likely northerners in general saw things as they
are, not as they should be. The reasons for this pessimism are many. First there is the
shear distance from Rome. Because of this distance and certain political realities, some
radicals are starting to question the legitimacy of Catholic dogma and how it relates to
faith. There is also a growing merchant middle class which is generating vast sums of
money that is in turn quickly weakening the existing feudal system. This upsetting of
the social order, both religious and secular is leaving the northern populace without a
center, without a binding force in their lives. This decentering shows up in the popular
art of the period by demonstrating how far society has grown from the teachings of the
Bible.
During the Northern Renaissance, the seeds of rebellion were deeply planted
already. Pope Leo X was selling indulgences to rebuild St. Peters. Heinrich Kramers
Malleus Maleficarum was indicting cunning folk in Germany (Sayer) and the mutinous
troops of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V were ransacking Rome. The power and
infallibility of The Church were in question. Matthias Grunewald captures this uncertain
dread in the Isenheim Alterpiece. Per Sayer, the closed piece represents the
grimmest Crucifixion scene ever painted. Intended for viewing in a hospital chapel it
shows Christ on the Cross in a gut wrenching way that the viewer is incapable of
escaping. The body of Christ is emaciated, his skin drawn tightly across his abdomen
(Sayer). Bright red blood is dripping from his stigmatic wounds. The transverse branch
of the cross is bent under the weight of Christs body (Huysmans). Behind Christ, all is
dark (Mark 15:33). The violence of the scene with the black background is a horrific
nightmare (Huysmans).
To the left of Christ is the fainting Virgin Mary supported by St. John. Below
them, Mary Magdalen is on her knees bent backward pleading to heaven. She is utterly
helpless in the presence of the Crucifixion. Strikingly a bearded figure stands to the
right of the image gesturing to Christ. St. John the Baptist has none of the emotion
found on the left side of the image. Instead, he stands contraposed, signaling a
changing of the guard as it were. Inscribed in the crook of his arm, He must increase,
but I must decrease. This blatant description impresses upon the viewer that the
Crucifixion is really a time to celebrate because it denotes the end of the old covenant
with a new covenant. From the perspective of a Church leader, this is perfectly
acceptable imagery. Nevertheless, if you put it in context with the tumult of the times,
one might conclude that Grunewald was making a subtle metaphor for the coming
disputation that is only 2 years away (95 theses).
Because the North did not have the rich history of Italy to draw upon during its
rebirth, it had to import its classics. The patronage of the arts came from completely
different sources. For Italy is was from wealthy guilds firmly attached to the Church or
the Church itself. In the North patronage came from a newly created middle class which
was disillusioned with the Church. During this period outside of Italy, the Church was
struggling to exert its influence and what influence it did have was seen as hypocritical.
With the new translation of the Bible by Luther and the invention of the printing press in
the West, all of a sudden, the faithful were no longer tied to Rome. This leadership
vacuum led the people of Northern Europe to deep despair and pessimism which is
evident in the art.

Works Cited
Huysmans, Joris-Karl. The Grunewalds in the Colmar Museum. Trans. Robert Baldick. Phaidon Press Ltd.,
1958.
Sayer, Henry M. The Humanities: Culture, Continuity, & Change. 2nd. Vol. 3. Upper Saddle River: Prentice
Hall, 2010.