LATE MEDIEVAL AND EARLY RENAISSANCE NORTHERN EUROPE
Relief printing
- making a negative image, (a subtractive process
Hubert and Jan van Eyck. Ghent Altarpiece (closed), Church of St. Bavo, Ghent, Belgium. Completed 1432, 11'5"x7'6
· Oil painting technique rise in popularity. Read more. · Painter aimed for sharply focused clarity of detail. · One of the largest altarpieces in the 15th century. · Patrons representation with a holy figure
New economic system in Europe
Capitalism
Read about Michelangelo's statement.
It was probably Rogier whom Michelangelo had in mind when, according to the Portuguese painter Francisco de Hollanda (1517-1584), the Italian master observed, "Flemish painting [will] please the devout better than any painting of Italy, which will never cause him to shed a tear, whereas that of Flanders will cause him to shed many."1
Meaning of the ornaments in the corners
Making look like a stage or an relief
Inventions of printmaking, oil painting and movable type
Prosperity of Burgundian region
Edition
a set of prints created from a single print surface
an artwork on paper
Read more where printing press was invented
the invention by Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400-1468) of moveable type around 1450 and the development of the printing press. Printing had been known in China centuries before, but had never fostered, as it did in 15th-century Europe, a revolution in written communication and in the generation and management of information. Printing provided new and challenging media for artists, and the earliest form was the woodcut. Artists produced inexpensive woodcuts such as the Buxheim Saint Christopher (fig. 15-21A) before the development of moveable-type printing. But when a rise in literacy and the improved economy necessitated the production of illustrated books on a grand scale, artists met the challenge of bringing the woodcut picture onto the same letterpress text pages
Jan van Eyck. The "Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife" , 1434. Oil on wood, 2'9"x1'10
· A growing interest in secular art and revival of portraiture - languished since antiquity. · Every object portrayed carries meaning. · Exquisitely painted light and textures
Claus Sluter. The Well of Moses, Chartreuse de Champmol, France. limestone painted and gilded, 6' high, 1395-1406.
· A large sculptural fountain located in a well, in the monastery cloister. · Cloister - a monastery courtyard. · Departure from manniera greca - distinct individual personalities. · More realistic approach as a chief characteristic of 15th-century Flemish art
Rogier van der Weyden. Deposition. ca. 1435. 7'8"x8'2
· Artist is concentrated on Christian themes. · Composition is expressing maximum action within a limited space. · Master to depict passionate sorrow and to create unforgettable emotional effect
Conrad Witz. The Miraculous Draft of Fish, 1444.
· Germany as the core of the Holy Roman Empire · Exact location of the landscape. One of the first 15th century works that depict an identifiable site.
Limbourg Brothers. January page, 1413-16.The Very Sumptuous Hours of the Duke of Berry
· Manuscript painting -Gothic influence. · A Book of Hours, a breviary, replaced the traditional books of psalms - the only one in private hands by 13th century. · The full-page calendar - the most famous of all manuscript illuminations (12 scenes for 12 months). · Lunette - a semicircular area; could be in any art form: painting, relief, mosaic... · Details depict the richness and extravagance
Jean Fouquet. Madonna and Child, right wing of the Melun Diptych. ca. 1450. Antwerp
· Oil paint on wood panel, for private use. · Marblelike flesh in contrast with the back · In addition to religious, there is apolitical and a personal narrative. · (model for the Virgin Mary was the mistress of King Charles VII - read more · Agnès Sorel (1421-1450), the mistress of King Charles VII (see page 393), was Fouquet's model for the Virgin Mary, whose left breast is exposed, presumably to nurse the infant Jesus, but she does not look at her son or the viewer. (Mary as nursing mother is a rare although not unique way of representing the Virgin in northern Europe; compare fig. 15-1.) Chevalier commissioned this painting after Sorel's death, probably by poisoning while pregnant with the king's child. Thus, in addition to the religious interpretation of this diptych, there is surely a personal and political narrative here as well, made all the more complex given that Sorel gave birth to three of the king's daughters, but never a son.
Hans Memling, Virgin with Saints and Angels, 1479. oil on wood, central panel 5'7"x 5'7", Bruges, Belgium
· Portraits of a patrons and images of Madonna - specialization of the artist. · Young, pretty female as Madonna, with doll-like infant Christ. · Rich colors, meticulously depicted details, and serenity of the figures, reflect an opulence of the altarpiece - Gothic influence.
Martin Schongauer, Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons, 1480
· Printing press revolution. Read more. · Rise in a literacy and more affordable art. Why?
Patrons representation with a holy figure. Read more why was that acceptable
· Religion was such an integral part of Flemish life that separating the sacred from the secular was almost impossible—and undesirable. Furthermore, the presentation in religious art of familiar settings and objects no doubt strengthened the direct bond that the patron or viewer felt with biblical figures
1. Jan van Eyck. Man in a Red Turban (Jan van Eyck). 1433
· Secular portraits without any religious interest. · A first known Western painted portrait in a thousand years, looks directly at the viewer, from any angle. · Possible self-portrait, and maybe demonstration piece for future clients. · the frame of Jan van Eyck's Man in a Red Turban (fig. 15-8) state that he painted it on October 21, 1433, and the inclusion of "As I can" and omission of the sitter's name suggest that the painting is a self-portrait · A phenomenal observational skill
Hubert and Jan van Eyck. Ghent Altarpiece (open), Church of St. Bavo, Ghent, Belgium. Completed 1432.
· Sumptuous, superbly colored painting of humanity's redemption through Christ. Painted in two registers: Upper with God, Virgin, St. John, choir of angels, and sinful humans Adam and Eve. · Artist's meticulous attention to a detail became the hallmark of Flemish painting
Robert Campin and workshop. Mérode Triptych. ca. 1425-30, 2'2"x 3' central panel
· The altar piece with folding wings in a private homes and churches. · What is triptych? three-paneled painting, ivory plaque, or altarpiece. Also, a small, portable shrine with hinged wings used for private devotion. · The Annunciation takes place in a Flemish home, unlike in Italy. · The work's donors as a witnesses to the sacred event. · Which other pieces had the same tradition? · Symbolic significance of the everyday objects. Which one? Ø They also function as religious symbols. Ø The book, extinguished candle, and lilies on the table; the copper basin in the corner niche; the towels, fire screen, and bench all symbolize, in different ways, the Virgin's purity and her divine mission. T Ø In the right panel, Joseph, apparently unaware of the angel's arrival, has constructed two mousetraps, symbolic of the theological concept that Christ is bait set in the trap of the world to catch the Devil. The ax, saw, and rod that Campin painted in the foreground of Joseph's workshop not only are tools of the carpenter's trade but also are mentioned in Isaiah 10:15. Ø In the left panel, the closed garden is symbolic of Mary's purity, and the flowers Campin included relate to Mary's virtues, especially humility.
Read more about major differences in between Feudalism and Capitalism
· The medieval political, social, and economic system held together by the relationship between landholding liege lords and the vassals who were granted tenure of a portion of their land and in turn swore allegiance to the liege lord. · an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state
Hugo van der Goes. The Portinari Altarpiece (open). ca. 1474-76. Florence, 8'x 18
· The subject of the central panel is Adoration of the Shepherds. · Patron's family appears on the wings of the triptych. · Variation in the scale of the figures - older tradition, read more. Appearance of a symbols.
