These four paintings, by four different painters show the variety of styles in Northern Europe. Each of the artists brought something new into the artistic world. The themes of these paintings came from the Bible, which was inspiration for the painters in XV century.

Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German painter. He was born in 1472 in the town of Kronach in upper Franconia and died in Weimar in 1553. He was a painter and graphic artist. Cranach’s art, including his portraits became more pedagogical by the Reformation that was spreading very rapidly through Franconia. Cranach became one of the leading artists in the Danube School. His style ranged from the expressionism of his early period to the intellectual, decorative prevalence of graphic elements in his last works. He was also influenced by Durer’s style. His figures became more substantial and they are sometimes set against dense, black grounds. The good example of these characteristics could be “Adam” and “Eve”, two panels, paired together. The pictures were painted in 1530, and the artist used oils. The paintings portray Adam and Eve in Eden. They are standing above the Tree of Wisdom. Eve is holding an apple given by the serpent .His slender, undulating figures follow the contemporary courtly ideal of beauty. These paintings are ones of the finest of the many versions of the subject painted by Cranach. He developed his own personal idea of the perfect female nude, which is anti-classical and neo-Gothic in appearance. Eve has small head with delicate features, narrow shoulders, slender waist and small breasts. Her pose is seductive. Adam is not stylized as a muscular figure from Italian sculptures, but he is thin and almost miserable.

The third example of Northern Renaissance painting is “Judith” by Jan Sanders van Hemessen. He was a Netherlandish, Flemish painter of religious and genre scenes and portraits. There is a little information about him. He was born in Hemiksen, near Antwerp, around 1500. Twenty-four years later he became a master of the Antwerp St. Lukas Guild. About 1550 he moved to Haarlem, where he died c.1565-1575. Hemessen is considered one of the founders of Flemish genre

Some topics in this essay:
Robert Campin, Michael Angelo, Wisdom Eve, Bethulia Holofernes’s, Van Eyck, Lukas Guild, Van Hemessen, Danube School, Child” Rogier, Elder German, van der, van eyck, “virgin child”, der weyden, van der weyden, northern renaissance, oils panel painting, province hainaut, eyck robert, painting “virgin, northern renaissance painting, strong fingers, rogier van der, painting “virgin child”, severed head,