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The Northern Renaissance

Dürer's prints, Holbein's portraits and the art of northern Europe in the 1500s.

62 works · hang 4748 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. This print features a detailed scene. In the center is a classical-style pavilion with arched openings and a domed roof adorned with intricate designs. A group of mostly-nude people is gathered around the pavilion, with one on horseback, holding a spear, and another holding a flag. In front of the pavilion, a knight on horseback appears to be falling into a dark hole in the ground. Vegetation, including trees and shrubs, is scattered throughout the landscape, and birds are seen flying in the sky above the pavilion. The horizon shows hills leading to a distant castle on a rocky formation on the right.
    Marcus Curtius Plunging into the ChasmLucas Cranach the ElderCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. This painting shows a man from the waist up. He is facing forward and gazes out at us. He has fair skin, light brown hair, a thin mustache and beard, and light green eyes. His expression is mostly neutral, although his peach lips are slightly turned up at the edges. He is wearing a black garment with a high collar and a hood and a black flat cap on his head. The background is plain blue, fading to black around the edges of the painting.
    Portrait of a ManCorneille de Lyon, c. 1536/1540Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. This is a drawing of a winged figure with a sheep, accompanied by a mythical creature and cherubs. The central figure is holding the sheep tenderly. On the left, two cherubs are flying with a laurel branch, under the word "PACIENTIA." On the right is a mythical creature with dragon-like features. Below the scene, a plaque with an inscription is placed against the pedestal. The artwork is detailed with lines, cross-hatching, and shading, accentuating textures and forms.
    Pacientia (Patience)Sebald Beham, 1540Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Christ Carrying the Cross, by Martin Schongauer, ca. 1475–80
    Christ Carrying the CrossMartin Schongauer, ca. 1475–80Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. Shown from the waist up, a light-skinned woman sits angled slightly to our right in this vertical portrait painting. The woman has blue eyes, faint brows, and a sloping nose ending in a small bulb. Her upper lip is thin and her lower lip full over a slight double chin. Her blond hair is pulled back under a gold, cap-like headdress and a black, wide-brimmed hat with a shallow crown. She wears a high-necked white, black, and gold dress with intricate detailing, a gold chain necklace that falls to her waist, and a black belt with a gold clasp and medallions. She wears two gold rings set with gems on the pointer finger of her left hand, which is folded across her belly over the other hand. A scarlet-red wallcovering with pink floral designs fills two-thirds of the space behind her. The rightmost third of the background opens onto a landscape with a tall, spindly tree, a leaping animal, presumably a dog, and a bridge across a body of water leading to a town. Across another body of water, perhaps a lake, mountains are marine blue in the distance under a clear, celestial-blue sky.
    Margarethe Vöhlin [obverse]Bernhard Strigel, 1527Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The Raising of Lazarus, by Jacques Bellange, ca. 1606–8
    The Raising of LazarusJacques Bellange, ca. 1606–8Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. We look slightly down onto a scene with people gathering in small groups in a cobblestone town square lined with rows of brick, wood, and stone buildings, many with stepped rooflines, in this horizontal painting. Singly or in pairs or trios, men, women, and children walk across the square, move goods around, or talk to merchants. All the people have light skin. Many of the men have mustaches and wear hats, and some carry swords. In tones of black, olive green, brick red, and plum purple, they wear hip-length cloaks over jackets, with white collars or ruffs and brass buttons, and knee-length breeches over yellow or black stockings. The women all wear long dresses in salmon pink, coral red, or golden yellow, with white collars or ruffs, and many wear black, ankle-length cloaks, some with hoods. Closest to us, a sumptuously dressed man and woman walk toward us while another similarly elegant couple walks away. Also facing away from us, to our left, a man wearing a large drum strapped around his waist raises one drumstick as he looks over his left shoulder. Nearby, a woman peers up out of a cellar door that opens on an angle to the street. More couples gather around a well across the square, and two women and a child talk to a third woman selling wares at a wooden table to our right. A pair of hooded priests or monks walk near a man blowing on a trumpet on horseback. The buildings are mostly shades of brick red and brown, and most have three or four stories with steeply pitched roofs. More people walk along side streets leading off the main square. One gap in the buildings across from us leads to a nickel-gray stone church with a pointed spire and square tower. A grassy, green hill rises steeply beyond the buildings to our right, leading down to a waterway that extends up and away into the distance. A few boats float in the water, which reflects the leaden-gray sky. Beyond the town square, a brown stone structure like a fortress with turret towers and crenellated walls looms along the ridge of the hill to our right. Tiny in scale, people on horseback and tending sheep dot the hillside below. The date “1590” is painted on the front of one of the buildings across from us while another date, “1597,” is painted on the end of a short wall near the lower left corner.
    The Marketplace in Bergen op ZoomAbel Grimmer, probably 1590 and 1597Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. A work made of pen and brush and brown ink and brush and brown wash on ivory laid paper.
    A Hilly Landscape with Figures Near a RavineJan Brueghel the Elder, 1595Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, south wall

  1. The image features a landscape view of a medieval village scene. It includes a stone bridge over a river, buildings, a church with a tower, trees, hills, mountains, and cloudy sky. The image is depicted in intricate detail using a monochromatic palette, focusing on contrasts of light and shadow.
    Mountainous Landscape with a VillageHanns Lautensack, 1553Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The image features the upper body and head of a man in a circular frame. The man is facing slightly to the side and downward, with his body oriented to the left and his head turned towards the viewer. He has a prominent forehead, a defined nose, a furrowed brow, and a scrunched face. His hair is thinning on top, with longer strands curling around the back and sides of his head. The man has a beard with similar curled texture as his hair. He is wearing a garment that drapes over his shoulders, with visible folds and a texture that suggests a substantial fabric. No jewelry or objects are in his hands, as they are not visible in this image. The background is plain with a light, sketchy look, focusing attention on the man as the central figure in the circular composition.
    Head of an ApostleHendrick GoltziusCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. The image shows a central person standing with both arms raised. They have a long beard, aged appearance, long hair, and wear a robe. Three other individuals are around them, reclining or lying on the ground. The setting is an outdoor scene with detailed trees and vegetation. There are initials "I.SP" in the top right corner.
    The Agony in the GardenSebald Beham, 1522Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Still Life with Flowers, a Snail and Insects, by Joris Hoefnagel, 1589
    Still Life with Flowers, a Snail and InsectsJoris Hoefnagel, 1589Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. The Judgment of Paris, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1528
    The Judgment of ParisLucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1528Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The Seed Received among the Thorns, from the Parable of the Sower, by Gerard P. van Groningen, c. 1573
    The Seed Received among the Thorns, from the Parable of the SowerGerard P. van Groningen, c. 1573Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. The Rabbit Hunt, by Pieter Bruegel, 1560
    The Rabbit HuntPieter Bruegel, 1560Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. Hermann von Wedigh III (died 1560), by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1532
    Hermann von Wedigh III (died 1560)Hans Holbein the Younger, 1532Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art