Since renaissance was born in Italy, Italian renaissance followed narrowly classical art and had inspiration all over. Northern Europe lacked such inspiration; therefore, they had to borrow the style and modify it for it local specifics. There were also differences between renaissance art, depending on the origin, such as Holland, German, Poland, Hungary, and so on. Southern Renaissance peaked at the beginning of the 16th century, but subsequent decline of Italy caused many artists to seek employment north of the Alps.
This period is often nicknamed as early renaissance in continental Europe, since first renaissance art was produced directly by Italians. They groomed artists in these lands, and came up with own invention of renaissance that we call High Renaissance and peaked around 1570. The Italian renaissance was often unpractical in Central and Northern Europe. The climate was not good for building Italian villas, the material such as marble was hard to find, and the decorative materials differ from Mediterranean climate.
Italian style was very clear (such white painted walls), simple (such columns were fine and round), and building were suited to human dimension and often lacked ornaments. Northern style brought more decoration to the cities north of the Alps, such as frescos and stuccos, and wider usage of wood, iron, tiles, and bricks. The Northern Renaissance refers to the Renaissance outside of Italy but within Europe.
The Essay on The Italian Renaissance vs the Renaissance in Northern Europe
... from Italy to catch on, a lot of the artwork during this time in Northern Europe still feature older styles. An example of northern renaissance art ... as Northern Europe. It is interesting to look at the difference in the work that came from different regions of Europe. During the Italian Renaissance, ...
Typically the main centers for art included the Netherlands, Germany and France and all of these countries have become known by the collective name of Northern (North of Italy).
Northern Renaissance Art evolved simultaneously but independently from it’s Italian counterpart. In Italy patrons of the arts tended to be great, and very wealthy families, the Catholic church, or commissions from the many city states who competed with each other for prestige and power.
The house of Burgundy was influential as a patron of the Northern artist. ,The artists of the North differed from their Italian counterparts in that the influence of Gothic art was much longer lasting than in Italy and, although the precision of the early Northern works was much admired in Italy, Northern artists only absorbed Italian ideas at the end of the 15th century.
