ABSTRACT
In northern Europe, the Renaissance brought innovations in philosophical thought, literary language and style, scientific attitudes, and approaches to art. At the same time, however, the spiritual temper of the Middle Ages was largely unaffected by the new humanist ideas that had emerged in Europe. Both the independent character and the religious spirit of northern European culture emerged in fifteenth-century northern art. In The Ghent Altar piece, completed in 1432, Hubert and Jan van Eyck demonstrate the vigor with which independent cultural traditions were maintained in the Netherlands. In northern Europe, the religious impulse expressed itself outside the institutional church. The pietistic yearnings of the common people were compellingly voiced by the layman Geert Groote. The literary works of the Brethren reveal the independent character of northern European culture. During the early Renaissance, this culture was infused more by the spirit of religious devotion and less by the Greco-Roman past, as was true of Italy.
