ARH II Module 2

Hundred Years War

(1137-1453) between France, England and Flanders.

Duke of Berry

(1340-1416) was the brother of King Charles V of France.

Philip the Bold

(1342-1404) married a Flemish count's daughter and acquired territories in the Netherlands, supported clement VII, the Avignon Pope during the schism and is the patron of Chartreuse de Champmol near Dijon.

Philip the Good

(1396-1467) was the grandnephew of the Duke of Berry and ruled the Duchy of Burgundy.

Iconography

Greek, the "writing of images." The term refers both to the content or subject, of an artwork and to the study of content in art. It also includes the study of the symbolic, often religious meaning of objects, persons, or events depicted in works of art.

Ghent altarpiece

Hubert and Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece, Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, ca. 1432, oil on wood. Patron: Jodocus Vyd/ This polyptych was painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck for Jodocus Vyd, who was a diplomat of Philip the Good and shortly after the donation of this work was named chief magistrate. The exterior of the altarpiece shows the patron Jodocus and his wife Isabel Borluut. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist are also shown and rendered in grisaille. The angel Gabriel is shown announcing to the Virgin Mary her pregnancy. Two prophets and sibyls are shown above from left to right: Zacharias, Erythraeen Sibyl, Cumaean Sibyl, Micha. When opened the work shows God the father, Mary and John the Baptist, choirs of angels and Adam at left and Eve at right. The scene below shows the Four Virtues in the four side panels. From left to right: Judges for Justice, Knights for Fortitude, Hermits for Temperance, and Pilgrims for Prudence. The central panel shows in the left background, the Holy Confessors, in the left foreground the prophets, at center the altar of the lamb and the octagonal fountain of life which relate to resurrection. Depicted in the right background are the Virgin martyrs and in the right foreground the 12 apostles, martyrs, and clergy. The attention to detail in this work shows the Northern interest in texture, and the use of symbols is appropriate in an altarpiece meant to promise eternal life to those who follow Christ. As the patron of the work Jodocus Vyd presents himself as a pious man whose wealth is put in service of the church/ panels are connected by hinges so they open and close, so the painting can be seen opened or closed/ this is important because it would be closed most of the year and opened on peace days as a revelation/ controversy as to who painted it: generally ascribed to Jan Van Eyck, but some suggest that his brother Hubert may have done it/ the frame was lost during the iconoclasm (the attacks on catholic art during the reformation)/ this painting was much coveted by the Nazis and stored in a salt mine./ asi se ve cuando esta cerrado***

Portinari altarpiece

Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece, Sant'Egidio, Florence, ca. 1476, tempera and oil on wood. Patron: Tommaso Portinari./ triptych with scenes of the life of Christ/ show subsidiary scenes in the background of the Flight into Egypt and the Adoration of the Magi/ commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, he is shown kneeling with his name saint, St. Thomas, on the left panel/ His wife Maria is also shown with her name saint, Mary Magdalene on the right panel/ The patron determines the subject and the use of certain saints/ The Adoration of the Magi is furthermore shown as a continuous narrative/ The central panel has the Nativity and the Adoration of the Shepherds/ Mary is shown larger than life and the Christ child is set on the floor/ In front of the Child is placed a scene that looks like a still life of wheat flowers/ In this depiction we find the symbolic nature of the work as an altarpiece/ The picture shows a vase and a glass containing orange lilies, the symbol of the Passion, three irises, the Holy Trinity, and a few columbine stalks, the emblem of melancholy and a common symbol of the Virgin's pains/ A sheaf of corn lies flat on the ground behind these flowers, alluding to the Incarnation and the Eucharist/ The grapes on the vase signify the wine and the blood of Christ/ The left wing shows Tommaso and his two sons, Antonio and Pigello, and their protectors, St Thomas and St Anthony/ The right wing shows Tommaso's wife, Maria Baroncelli, with her elder daughter Margherita, accompanied by Mary Magdalen and St Margaret. Behind them in the background are scenes that form a prelude to the central Nativity - Mary and Joseph's journey on the left, and on the right, the Three Kings en route to Bethlehem/ Mary, who has tired of riding, is leaning on Joseph's arm/ In the right wing, we can see the Kings' servant who has dismounted to ask the way from a peasant/ The presence of these background figures serves to underline the unity of the triptych, as they apparently converge, from behind the donors and saints, towards the central scene/

adam and eve Ghent altarpiece

a little further out we see panels with adam and eve who are represented very realistically, not at all idealized/ they are naked and seem very out of place in the painting/ the painting is about god's willingness to reach out to man in all of his imperfection/ there is gold embroidery in the figure on the right who is playing the organ and the urman on the gown, the tiles look very detailed as well as the organ/ extreme attention to unimportant details by northern renaissance artists because they link us to the heavenly and spiritual/ the painting makes concrete the heavenly word and makes it so understandable

oil painting

a painting technique using oil-based pigments that rose to prominence in northern Europe in the 15th century.

Ghent altarpiece center

at the top there are figures with scrolls and books who are prophets and sybils who predicted the coming of christ/ the moment that they predicted is unfolding right below them in the scene of the annunciation where gabriel announces to mary that she will conceive christ/ gabriel is on the left panel and mary is three panels to the right/ there is an empty space (although there is a cityscape) in the middle 2 panels which suggests the opportunity for christs arrival/ the angel gabriel holds lilies which are a symbol of mary's purity, sinlessness, virginity/ gabriel announces to mary and words are coming out of his mouth in latin/ mary is on the other side with a dove above her head which represents the holy spirit and words are also coming out of her mouth backwards and upside down/ these artists were miniaturists and the attention to detail comes through in the painting, but we are seeing an awkward linear perspective and there is not an attention to space or to the reality of the human body that is seen in the italian renaissance/ 11 1/2 ft/ made for a private chapel in Saint Bavo's cathedral in ghent that belonged to the patron who we see below in the painting.

chartreuse

charter house in a Carthusian monastery.

Antwerp

had first international commercial stock exchange in 1460.

four groups of people Ghent altarpiece

in the scene below there are 4 groups of people coming toward a scene in the center which is an altar with a lamb/ the lamb has a woudn in its side and is bleeding into a chalice/ the lamb is a symbol of christ's sacrifice/ surrounding the altar there are angels who carry the instruments of christ's suffering; the cross, the crown of thorns, the column that he was bound to when he was flagellated/ in these groups there are prophets, saints, popes, figures from the old testament who make ther way towards christ/ below is the fountain of life which has a stream that leads out and down toward us and the altar in the chapel/ this is played out in a divine landscape

annunciation on the merode altarpiece (center)

the archangel gabriel had just appeared to mary and is announcing to her that she will bear Christ/ this is a beautiful example of early rennaissance painting, easily identified by way in which the drapery that's being worn by gabriel, the archangel, on the left and the virgin mary on the right is portrayed/ the dray has sharp folds, the complexity of the way that thick fabric falls on the floor, the cloth is thick and it largely obscures those bodies/ there are many things in the small room/ this painting might not have been looked at like we do now in a museum for a minute, this would have been seen over and over again/ the objects on the painting would have led the viewer from these physical objects to spiritual ideas/ everything in the painting has a purpose and meaning/ a shiny pot in the background reflects the light from two windows, symbolizes the virgin mary, of her purity. sinlessness/ the most obvious symbol is the representation of a small figure holdng a cross that seems to be gliding down golden rays that come through the round window that is closest to us, it is the holy spirit heading towards mary/ this is unusual because normally we would see a dove, this is the moment when god is made flesh (the incarnation=god takes human form)/ there is also a level of realism, for example: the candle, it is exactly what happens to the smoke when a candle is snuffed out, there are also double shadows, etc./ the space of the room doesn't make sense/ it makes sense to us because we live after Brunelleschi developed linear perspective in Italy, an idea made as this painting is being made, so the idea hadn't been transmitted to the north yet/ so, the floor is too steep, the space is not mathematically accurate according to the rules of linear perspective/ we look at the top and side of the table at the same time, the bench is thin and elongated/ renaissance artists were interested in naturalism both in northern Europe and Italy.

Paton Ghent altarpiece

there are 4 figures, or 2 figures and 2 sculptures/ this gives a visual trickery/ we take the figures dressed in red as real people and tye ones in the middle carved of stone but it is all paint/ the sculptures are the 2 saint johns who had relevance for the chapel and the family/ the ptrons are made very detailed because the artist uses oil paint, like with the fur on his collar that really seems like fur and his skin seems like the one of an old man.

Ghent altarpiece (opened)

there is a very large picture in the center of god dressed like a king with a papal crown on his head, a crown at his feet to show that he's king of kings, holding a scepter (symbol of power)/ the theme here is of god's saving grace, god's saving power, his plan to forgive and redeem mankind/ this is one of the best examples of god being remade in what we will come to know as the Renaissance, as opposed to earlier, medieval god that was wrathful, terrifying/ this god is a god of forgiveness and it is an expression of humanist tradition that is developing in europe at this time/ on the left of god there is mary, also wearing a crown with roses and lilies in it, looking lke a queen/ to god's right there is st. john the baptist/ there is a gold embroidered tapestry behind god, there's an image of a pelican/ in the medieval tradition, if a pelican is young were starving, it was believed that it picked at its own flesh to feed its young/ there's a notion of god being an extraodinary sacrificewhich is explicitly rendered here/ on the left there are angels singing in heaven and on the right the angels are playing music in heaven/ there is a rich environment visually of gold and jewels, but also the sounds of heaven.

triptych

three paneled painting, ivory plaque or altarpiece.

Flanders

was a county in the Netherlands, modern day Belgium, Luxembourg and part of Northern France.

Donors on the merode altarpiece (left)

On the left there are the donors or patrons/ the man and his wife who commissioned this painting are shown kneeling, the typical position which makes it easy to recognize them as donors/ theyre set within a walled garden (encloseed garden=hortus conclusus) which has important symbolism in late medieval and rennaissance art (according to Christian tradition, Christ was conceived miraculously, and Mary remained a virgin) which often refers to marry's virginity/ we know we're in the northern rennaissance because of the incredible amount of detail/ when thinking about the itaian reinnassance, we think about artists paying real attention to a rational construction of space and an interest in the anatomy of the body/ but in the north, the artists pay attention to everything/ for example, the nails on the door: they have a bit of a shine, a shadow, we can even see traces of rust that is staining the wood below, so we understand that the door is old and has rusted/ there is also an interest in light/ this is one of the things the artists of the northern renaissance can do because they have oil paint and can paint texture and light reflectng on surfaces like metals in a way that artists of the italian rennaissance who didnt have oil paint, couldnt do.

Merode altarpiece

Robert Campin (Master of Flemalle), The Mérode Altarpice, ca. 1425-1428, oil on wood. Patron: Peter Inghelbrecht./ commissioned by Peter Inghelbrecht and his wife whose maiden name was Schrinmechers, they are shown in the left panel looking onto the scene/ On the right panel Joseph is shown making mouse traps symbolic of Christ being brought to Earth to trap the devil/ This scene connects to the maiden name of the wife as Joseph is depicted as a maker of "shrines."/ The central panels shows the Annunciation in which Gabriel tells Mary she expecting a child/ The tiny Christ child is shown with a cross flying through the air and heading towards Mary's womb/ Here the angel Gabriel is literally and symbolically bringing Jesus Christ/ Inghelbrecht by no coincidence means angel-bringer/ Mary is shown large scale and the perspective of the room is off creating a strange sense of space/ it was known as the Merode altarpice but now known as the Annunciation (new testament subject) triptych/ for a long time it was known that the painter was Robert Campin, but now it is thought that this is from his workshop/ Campin was a successful painter in Tournai, Northern Europe/ he had assistants and apprentices, and a large workshop/ Tournai was part of the Burgundian Netherlands which was a tremendously wealthy place where luxury goods were being produced, there was a level of mercantile activity that had been rare during the medieval era/ not a grand altarpiece (2 ft)/ because its a triptych it can be folded and put under ones arm and carried to another room/ the central scene looks like its taking place in the living room of someone who lived in this area of northern europe in the 1400s/ we see the archangel gabriel and the virgin mary and a scene that would have taken place 1500 years before this painting was made, but we see them in a modern context/ this biblical scene of the annucniation is taking place in a Flemish household precisely to make these figures of mary and gabriel closer to us, to make our prayer more profound and bring us closer to god/ the order in which this was painted: annunciation (the angel gabriel announces to mary that she will bear Christ) was first and painted in the hopes that somebody would come along and want to buy it, we know that the donor was added and then he was married, and the woman was added, and the gatekeeper behind her was also added at that time/ normally paintings are commissioned but here, in an increasingly trade-oriented culture, it makes sense that artists would start painting things in the hope that they would get patrons.

the arrival of the beggars (portinari triptych central piece)

To the right of the central space are three shepherds who are represented on the same scale as the Virgin and the saints. Their rough and rustic appearance goes beyond anything that had hitherto been seen in painting. Their faces are the faces of common men. Their heads are shaved or covered with tousled hair, their features are rugged and expressive, their skin lined, their joints and hands calloused like those of labourers who have spent their days in the fields. They have only just arrived. One of them stands, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, showing all the gaps in his teeth. He has taken off his rough straw hat, and we can sense a certain anxiety in his drawn features. The oldest of the three is already kneeling, his trowel still resting under his arm. His bag, knife and horn hang from his modest tunic which, like those of his companions, is dark green and brown. Behind them, still wearing his hat, a fourth shepherd is coming to join the group, bringing his bagpipes with him. He is dressed in lighter colours, yellowish tones of green and brown. A little further away we can just glimpse a fifth shepherd, facing at an angle to the scene.

Tournai

Tournai was part of the Burgundian Netherlands which was a tremendously wealthy place where luxury goods were being produced, there was a level of mercantile activity that had been rare during the medieval era/ there was an increasing interest in commissioning paintings as aids in prayer for people to use in their homes/

sluter, well of moses

Claus Sluter, Well of Moses, Chartreuse de Champmol Dijon, France, 1395-1406, limestone painted and gilded. Patron: Philip the Bold./ monument by Claus Sluter called The Well of Moses/ got that title fairly recently, was originally known as The Great Cross/ Of course the cross is no longer there/ This monument stood in the middle of a cloister surrounded by the cells of Carthusian monks, the rooms where they would meditate/ this cloister was in a monastery established by Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy/ We're in Burgundy, in Dijon/ This was a place that the Duke had commissioned in order that monks could continuously say prayers over his soul/ It also was intended by Philip, and became his burial place and the burial place of his family/ the Carthusians dedicate themselves entirely to solitary prayer/ hexagonal structure/ On each side is a Prophet standing in front of a niche/ this is breaking with the Medieval tradition of having those figures completely embedded within the architecture/ Each figure of the Prophet is separated by a lovely column with a Capital and standing on those Capital's are Angel's in positions of grieving and prayer with their wings outstretched/ Above them a base and on it would have stood a very tall and narrow cross with Christ on it and at the base of that cross the kneeling figure of Mary Magdalene/ this was brightly painted/ the monks would have been inspired in their prayer when they looked at this monument/ Sluter is able to give an individual life to each figure/ The drapery really does give a sense of movement of the body/ look up at the figure of King David, first of all, a figure that would have been very important to the Duke of Burgundy, of David, himself, a King/ He's so specific, so individualized/ There's a depth and sense of wisdom in his personality/ There's a recent suggestion that that figure next to King David, who is the Prophet Jeremiah is also a portrait of Philip the Bold/ Moses is looking out past us, above us as a seer, but Zachariah looks down, and almost offers us his prophecy/ but also challenges us/ We have these Angel's all in different positions/ There's a depth of emotion in the figures of the Prophets and Angel's, all of which, I think, would have been inspiration to the monks.

Portinari altarpiece central piece

In the central panel, Mary and Joseph have finally come to rest under a half ruined lean-to/ This makeshift shelter is propped up against the walls of a heavy stone building which seems to serve as a stable/ They are surrounded by angels who are lost in meditation and adoration of the Child/ The scene is surprising for the bare empty space in which the newborn Infant Jesus is lying, as if the painter wanted to isolate Him from the crowd of onlookers who have rushed to witness this extraordinary event/ At the front of this space are a vase and a glass containing orange lilies, the symbol of the Passion, three irises, Van der Goes's favourite flower, and a few columbine stalks, the emblem of melancholy and a common symbol of the Virgin's pains/ A sheaf of corn lies flat on the ground behind these flowers, alluding to the Incarnation and the Eucharist/ the most provocative element of this central panel is what fully deserves to be called "the arrival of the beggars"/ This triptych is today in the Uffizi in Florence, where it originally hung in the chapel of the Portinari family in the church of Sant'Egidio. It is one of the largest paintings produced by a Flemish artist during the 15th century. The central panel alone measures 240 cm by 340 cm. It is larger than The Descent from the Cross by Rogier Van der Weyden in the Prado, and larger than the two panels of Dieric Bouts's diptych, The Justice of Emperor Otto III. Only The Communion of the Apostles by Justus of Ghent and The Last Judgment by Rogier are larger.

arnolfini portrait

Jan van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, 1434, oil on wood. Patron: Giovanni Arnolfini.This work was commissioned by Giovanni Arnolfini from the artist Jan van Eyck. This portrait shows Giovanni and his wife Giovanna Cenami. Arnolfini was an Italian merchant who worked for the Medici. The exact meaning of the work is debated but it is historically significant and shows the sumptuous wealth of the patron. The double portrait depicts the couple an interior bedroom wearing luxurious clothing. Importance is given to the symbols of the dog, the removed shoes, the candle, the oranges, and the mirror with the signature of the artist above it. From the standpoint of iconography the symbol of the dog can be interpreted as fidelity, the removal of shoes denotes their presence at a sacred event, the candle means the eye of God, and the oranges fertility. From an economical or Marxist point of view the dog is a something that is expensive to keep, the removal of the shoes is a practicality, the candle is a thrifty choice to light up the room and the oranges are imported from Spain. The meaning of the elements of the work change depending on the way we study them./ The mirror shows the reflection of the interior of the room and includes two figures, one in red and one in blue in addition to the Arnolfini's. It is believed the figure in red is the artist himself. The small circles that surround the mirror depict scenes of the Passion of Christ. The signature above notes that Jan van Eyck "was here 1434" so we know he was proud of his painting. This painting was thought to be a marriage contract but new evidence shows that it may have functioned as a power of attorney. Giovanni would then have granted his wife permission to conduct business in his absence and the work's financial symbols would make sense. It must be noted that in either interpretation the wife is not pregnant and the body type is common for van Eyck and the fashion of the period.

Joseph (right)

Joseph, mary's husband, a carpenter, who is in the act of making/ he is surrounded by his tools, so like the annunciation, there is a lot to look at/ the object out the window and the object to Joseph's right are mouse traps/ saint Augustine said that the cross of the lord was the devil's mouse trap, the bait by which he was caught was the lord's death/ So even seeing a painting that celebrates the coming of christ, we see references to christs death, like wood on the floor next to joseph and an axe, and perhaps a reference to the cross christ was crucified on, this is painted with oil on panel, so its made out of wood, it was crafted, so theres also a pride in reference to joseph as a carpenter and the artist as a maker as well.

arnolfini portrait video

jan van eyck's arnolfini wedding portrait/ there is much disagreement over what the paining represents/ the national gallery, most authoritative, says that this is not a wedding but a double portrait/ others think its a memorial portrait and that the woman had passed away the previous year/ the man represented was an italian merchant who worked in Brudges (a thriving economic town in the early 15th century/ his wealth is apparent in the portrait and in a way the portrait is about his wealth/ some think this represents an authority of the man giving an authority to the women in legal affairs/ their shoes being off is a reference to a sacred event taking place/ there is only one candle in the chandelier, symbol of the presence of god/ in the mirror it is seen that there are 2 people in the doorway/ the artist's signature is above the mirror/ in the mirror we see scenes from the passion of Christ painted on glass panels that are set into a wooden frame (these are the size of half a finger nail)/ dog is a symbol of fidelity/ they are wearing fur lined clothing and yet there is fruit on the tree outside, so its a war moment and yet they are wearing their finest winter wear/ it looks like the scene takes place in a bedroom/ symbols of wealth: oranges in the window, carpet on the floor/ she is not pregnant/ van Eyck is important because he was using oil paint in a way it hadn't been used, he created a luminous quality an richness of color that tempera cant do/ figures are elongated, base of room is cramped/ van Eyck is the master of northern renaissance

angels singing Ghent altarpiece

on the choir image on the left, there is a richly carved furniture of the music stand/ each of the angels wears a different crown, have slightly different faces/ these faces become a kind of ideal of beauty in van Eyck's imagination

polyptych

paneled painting that includes more than three panels.

Giovanni Arnolfini

patron of the Arnolfini double portrait.

Jodocus Vyd

patron of the Ghent Altarpiece and diplomat to Philip the good, he was later appointed chief magistrate.

Peter Inghelbrecht

patron of the Mérode altarpiece.

Tommaso Portinari

patron of the Portinari altarpiece.