Art review: The Northern Renaissance

RENAISSANCE to most people conjures up images of Italian masterpieces full of colour and light and the prominence of the Italians has tended to overshadow their northern contemporaries. However ,both belonged to the same world, a world of warfare, disease, trade and power politics and this exhibition at the Queen's Gallery puts their art in context and proves that these northern masters were every bit the equal of their southern cousins.

Subtitled "From Drer to Holbein", the exhibition contains many works from both artists. Drer's powerful, sometimes fantastical, prints and woodcuts are still astonishingly vivid and imaginative five hundred years on and the highlight must be his eight- panel telling of the Apocalypse which is as startling and multi-layered as any modern graphic novel.

Holbein's works though equally intense are less dramatic, concentrating as they do on the faces of those with power and money. His is the perfect example of the post-reformation shift from classical or religious subjects to seeking out patrons to flatter. Holbein's paintings do more however, there's a quality to them, which can be seen even in the sketches, that seems to capture not just the image but the person behind it.

If the exhibition was limited to just these two artists it would still be fascinating but there is so much more on show here with artists from Switzerland, Germany, France and The Netherlands all represented and everything from religious allegory to book illustration on show. Some of the most impressive works belong to more obscure artists such as the exquisite The Four Last Things by Marten van Heemskerck; a stunning tableux of Judgement Day. Whilst the creators of other works have had their names lost to time. The Queen's Gallery isn't the largest space and so the curators deserve praise for having filled the walls with such an impressive and diverse collection of works but even this exhibition can only touch upon the art of this period. However, if you want an understanding of what the re-birth of art meant for those more accustomed to Riesling than Chianti then this is a perfect place to begin.

Run ends January 12.