Difference Between Gothic and Renaissance in Painting

Gothic painting

• The Gothic, that is the epoch from the 12th until 16. Century. In the painting of this time, natural representations of people were meaningless. The artists didn't care about perspective either.
• The people were painted according to their meaning in the picture, not according to their position in space. The main character was always portrayed as the tallest person, regardless of whether he was in the foreground or in the background. You can tell by the fact that the size of the people does not match the background, which is known as the perspective of meaning. Mainly people from the biblical were painted story, only rarely real people.
• The buildings were simply placed in the landscape. Although they were depicted in perspective, each object was painted on its own. There were no common vanishing points, no common ground. Nothing really went together.
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• The people and faces were very flat and superficial. There is no physicality whatsoever. In contrast, there were a lot of wrinkles in the clothes. They were reproduced very real.
• In Gothic painting you will find mainly religious motifs. The few secular subjects were limited to hunting scenes and depictions of court life.


Famous German painters

From the Renaissance to the modern age - the great painters from Germany were their ...

• It was painted on wood, glass or canvas. The artists used egg tempera and later the first oil paints.

You probably know a late Gothic artist. It's Hieronymus Bosch.

A distinct difference develops in the Renaissance

• The Renaissance developed in Florence around 1420. To Germany she came approx. 100 years later and lasted until the end of the 16th Century.
• It was during this period that painters discovered the central perspective for their works of art. People and landscapes now fit together. Another difference to the Gothic are the realistic depictions of people. A preference for portraiture developed. The faces are expressive and show feelings.
• Take a good look at Renaissance paintings. You will find that through the skillful use of light and shadow the artists die Realistically capture people, landscapes and animals on the wood or canvas painting surface could.
• Color accents were deliberately set in order to divide the images into foreground, middle and background. In addition, haze and blurring were used.
• Here, too, religious issues were in the foreground. But there were also motifs from ancient legends, landscapes, people and animals.
• The oil paint became more and more popular. It offers brighter colors, is more durable and does not dry as quickly as the egg tempera used until then.
• You certainly know a famous representative of Renaissance painting. At least two of his pictures are still very popular and widespread today. Maybe one of them is hanging on your wall right now. A rabbit? Or praying hands? Right, Albrecht Dürer is meant.

Just take the time to go to an exhibition or go to a museum and check out the old masters' paintings. They are still worth seeing today.