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In the architecture of the Renaissance two tendencies can be distinguished:
Renaissance music corresponds to the "golden age" of polyphony . The most common genres are "messes" , "motettele" , madrigal and songs with instrumental accompaniment. From a theoretical point of view, important are the writings of the Flemish composer Johannes Tinctoris ( 1435 - 1511 ), in which he presents and supports the innovative trends in music. One of the most important composers of this era is Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina ( 1525 - 1594 ), who with his "Missa de Beata Virgine" ( 1570) marks the transition to the Baroque . Contacts are established between musicians of various nationalities, the center of attraction being, in this field, Italy . Thus the Spanish composer Tomás Luis De Victoria ( 1548 - 1611 ) is the most important representative of the music school in Rome , while the Italian Andrea Gabrieli ( 1510 - 1586 ) conducts "Die Münchner Hofkapelle" . With Giovanni Gabrieli ( 1553 - 1612 ) and Claudio Monteverdi ( 1567 - 1643) develops monodic music and makes the transition to the genre of opera music .
From Italy , the Renaissance spread to other countries in Western Europe . Scholars, artists, merchants or craftsmen travel to Italian cities and return to France , Flanders or the Hanseatic area not only with new knowledge, but also with a different taste in art and way of life. The decline of feudalism and the centralization of political power pave the way for cultural, social and economic change. Unlike Italy , where Latin and Greek are cultivated in Western European countries under the influence of Protestantism, national languages are used, which contributes to the formation of new nation states - characterized by a unitary language.
The spirit of the Italian Renaissance entered France thanks to personalities such as Leonardo da Vinci and Benvenuto Cellini , present at the court of King Francis I and participants in the design of the decoration of the palace in Fontainebleau . The writer François Rabelais ( 1494 - 1553 ), Benedictine monk, author of the stories "Horribles et Épouvantables Faits et Prouesses du très renommé Pantagruel" ( 1532 ) and "Vie inestimable du grand Gargantua, père de Pantagruel" ( 1534 ), embodies the perfect type of the Renaissance humanist. Joachim du Bellay( 1522 - 1560 ) drafted the manifesto "Pleiades" , entitled "Defense and illustration of the French language" .
The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390 - 1441 ) is considered the founder of Renaissance painting in Flanders and the Netherlands . Rogier van der Weyden ( 1400 - 1464 ) travels to Italy , where he is highly valued, influencing through his works the painting school in Ferrara . In the triptych "The Garden of Pleasures" , Hieronymus Bosch ( 1450 - 1516 ) presents in a fantastic way the human sins, in an imaginary, supernatural world. Other painters of this period are:Hans Memling ( 1433 - 1494 ), Dirk Bouts ( 1415 - 1475 ), Hugo van der Goes ( 1440 - 1482 ). Among Mannerist include Bernard van Orley ( 1488 - 1541 ) and Jan van Scorel ( 1495 - 1562 ).
Erasmus of Rotterdam ( 1466 - 1536 ), the most important representative of European humanism , wrote most of his writings in Latin.
German art was especially oriented towards the traditions of the Gothic style . Konrad Witz (ca. 1400 - 1445 ) painted landscapes under the influence of Flemish art. With the work of Albrecht Dürer ( 1471 - 1528 ), painter, draftsman and engraver, the connection with the art of the Renaissance is made, following the model of the Italian one. His cycles of woodcuts "Passions" and "Mary's Life" are known throughout Europe . In particular, his composition "The Four Apostles" ( 1526 ) shows the attachment to the elegance of Italian painting and its force of expression. Dürer travels to Italy andThe Netherlands and maintains close ties with the artists of the time. His contemporary Matthias Grünewald ( 1480 - 1528 ) still paints in the style of the Middle Ages .
In the literature are to be mentioned:
Spain , barely liberated from Moorish rule, is late in attaching itself to the European Renaissance. In the 16th century, the official painter of the Spanish royal court is Titian , although he, personally, was never in Spain . Alonso Berruguete ( 1450 - 1504 ), the most important Spanish painter of this period, worked mainly in Valladolid . Representative of late Mannerism is El Greco ( 1541 - 1614 ), a disciple of Tintoretto . Around 1560 the palace is built "El Escorial " near Madrid , an important center of the Spanish Renaissance.
Even before the Renaissance, England experienced a flourishing literature, represented by:
Under the name, by the way controversial, the "Renaissance English" means cultural movement and artistic England at the beginning of the sixteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth century, during the peaceful development after the end of the war 100 years and of the War of the Two Roses . This period includes the long reign of Queen Elizabeth I , which is why it is also called the " Elizabeth Age " . Notable representatives of the "English Renaissance" are:
It is cultivated, especially, the madrigal genre , popularized by the work "Transalpine Music" , published in 1588 by Nicholas Yonge . More important composers are:
