Floor plan

Style galleriesThe Northern Renaissance

The Northern Renaissance

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.
Otto, Count of Nassau and his Wife Adelheid van Vianen, by Bernard van Orley, 1530–35
The Judgment of Paris, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1528
The Rabbit Hunt, by Pieter Bruegel, 1560

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

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

Section 1, 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. Otto, Count of Nassau and his Wife Adelheid van Vianen, by Bernard van Orley, 1530–35
    Otto, Count of Nassau and his Wife Adelheid van VianenBernard van Orley, 1530–35Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 1, south 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 Rabbit Hunt, by Pieter Bruegel, 1560
    The Rabbit HuntPieter Bruegel, 1560Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 2, south wall

  1. DEER HUNT WITH NETS
    Deer Hunt with NetsJan van der Straet, called Stradanus, ca. 1590 – 1599Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. Study of Eleven Heads, by Jacques de Gheyn II, late 16th–early 17th century
    Study of Eleven HeadsJacques de Gheyn II, late 16th–early 17th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. The Entrance Hall of the Regensburg Synagogue, by Albrecht Altdorfer, 1519
    The Entrance Hall of the Regensburg SynagogueAlbrecht Altdorfer, 1519Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of engraving in black on cream laid paper.
    The Carnival (or the Prodigal Son)Jan Sadeler, I, 1588Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. 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

Section 3, north 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. Christ Carrying the Cross, by Martin Schongauer, ca. 1475–80
    Christ Carrying the CrossMartin Schongauer, ca. 1475–80Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, south wall

  1. The Harvesters, by Pieter Bruegel, 1565
    The HarvestersPieter Bruegel, 1565Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. This is a painting depicting a heraldic coat of arms. The image features a detailed coat of arms with a central shield, adorned with black and gold sections, and additional decorative elements above it. There is a figure resembling a unicorn emerging from the crest. The background is a deep red hue. The artwork is displayed within a wooden frame with crossbars. This style is associated with displaying family crests and lineage.
    Hans Roth [reverse]Bernhard Strigel, 1527Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 4, south wall

  1. A work made of pen and brown ink and brush and black and green washes, over black chalk, on cream laid paper.
    Interior View of the ColiseumLodewijk Toeput, c. 1580Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Portrait of Alain de Coëtivy (1407–1474), by Jean Fouquet, ca. 1451–55
    Portrait of Alain de Coëtivy (1407–1474)Jean Fouquet, ca. 1451–55Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Bacchanal, by Nicolas Poussin, ca. 1635–36
    BacchanalNicolas Poussin, ca. 1635–36Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art