Northern Europe 1400 - 1700

In this section you can find out about the exchange of ideas in Renaissance Europe. Read about distinctly Northern European artists and thinkers who nevertheless drew inspiration from Italy: Albrecht Dürer, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Maarten van Heemskerck, Peter Paul Rubens.

Learn about artists of the Dutch Golden Age, masters of every genre: landscape, cityscape, comic scenes of everyday life, moralising scenes, allegories, mythological paintings, portraits, religious works.

And discover treasures from the reign of Elizabeth I in England: a portrait miniature depicting Shakespeare's patron – and muse? – and a remarkable compilation of 16th and 17th century keyboard music.