Late Medieval + Early Renaissance Northern Europe
- Private prayer book, included passages to be read privately at set times during the day, as well as penitential psalms, devotional prayers, litanies to the saints, and an illustrative calendar containing local religious feast days - Often lavishly illustrated (illuminated) - Made by Limbourg Brothers (Pol, Herman, and Jean), three nephews of Jean Malouel, the court artist of Philip the Bold -Brothers were pioneers in expanding illusionistic capabilities of manuscript illumination - Book made for the Duke of Berry, an avid art patron and collector of manuscripts, jewels, and rare artifacts -Book became favorite possessions of the northern European aristocracy during 14th and 15 th ces
Book of Hours
- Charter house/monastery, founded by Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. - Became one of the most powerful European rulers of the 15th century by first marrying daughter of count of Flanders, giving him territory in the Netherlands. Then the most wealthy city of Burgundy, Burges, which derived its wealth from wool trade, expanded to banking and became the clearinghouse for all of Europe. The duke then made this city the capital of Burgundy. At the height of its power, Burgundy controlled lands from the Rhone River to the North Sea. - Duke became a patron of the arts due to wealth - Carthusian order consisted of monks who devoted life to solitary living and prayer. - Intended to be a ducal mausoleum and serve as a means of securing salvation in perpetuity for the dukes and as a dynastic symbol of their power - Monks prayed for salvation of ducal family - Artistic program influenced by French Gothic cathedral programs
Chartreuse de Champmol (1390)
- Center of commissioned Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament - One of the earliest Northern Renaissance paintings to use linear perspective to imply deep (and accurate) space -vanishing point/orthogonal lines -Donors in the last supper scene, to the right looking at scene through a window
Dieric Bouts, Last Supper, 1464, Oil on Wood
• Private commission • Portrait of Martin Van Nieuwenhove sharing space with the Virgin & Child
Diptych of Martin van Nieuwenhove, 1487, Oil on Panel
•Engraving begins to replace woodcut due to printing press invention •More flexible than woodcut, yields much more intricate detail and space via hatching and crosshatching •Engraving, able to be reproduced & distributed easily by printing press •Engraving allows for great detail & volume in the form of cross hatching -Portability, the opportunity to mass produce engraving, and the lower price made printing very popular and artists' work reached a far wider audience
Engraving
- Oil paint (powedered pigments mixed w seed oil) replaces Tempera (egg combined with wet paste f ground pigment), allows for more detail, realism and more vibrant colors -Images with tempera have velvety sheen, artists wuld paint with a thin later because a thick application caused premature cracking and flaking) -Oil paints around since 8th ce, but became popularized in 14th ce - Artists laid oil painting down in transparent layers over semiopaque underlayers to create deep tones -Flexibility of oil painting drying slowly was appealing, plus greater clarity of color gave Flemish artists the chance to get more clarity of detail -Wood was the common canvas - Portrait painting (often commissioned) makes a comeback. Merode and Ghent altarpieces marked the revival of portraiture through donor portraiture since elite wanted to memorialize themselves in their ranks in concrete images. Also, portraits represented state officials at events they couldnt attend. Other royals would send portraits of a prospective bride or groom. Prosperous merchants also commissioned these - Religious painting is given a new visual intensity (altarpieces)
Evolution of art in early renaissance period
- Commissioned by Gionvanni Arnolfini - Early example of secular portraiture -Couple shown taking their marriage vows -As any other Flemish art, this is full of symbolism -dog = fidelity - Finial (topmost ornament) sculpted as St. Margaret, patron saint of childbirth -Broom suggests domestic cleanliness (woman stands by the broom while the man by the window suggesting the outside world) -oranges = delicacy - sandals = status symbol - Clothing made from products of Bruges; fur, silk, wool, leather, gold - convex mirror reflects two observers, one is the artist as pointed out by an incription above the mirror, which scores painter's self-consciousness as a professional artist whose role deserves to be remembered
Giovanni Arnolfini & His Wife, 1434, Oil on Wood
- Successful merchants and craft men that helped the clergy and royalty commissioning artists to produce public and private work for display - A way to lessen competition, elevate social status and take care of one another - Often commissioned artwork to show social status
Guilds
- Johannes Gutenberg develops the printing press - Moveable type/mass printing ensues, making artwork and the written word much more accessible than before -Provided new media for artists (earliest form was the woodcut before movable printing but then the challenge was to incorporate this woodcut picture into a letterpress page)
Gutenberg's Printing Press
- Background apocalypse - two of 4 horsemen
Hans Memling, Virgin with Saints & Angels, 1479, Oil on Wood
-economy remained stable since they didnt participate in 100 yrs war - Didnt have a court to commission artworks, so wealthy merchants and clergy became primary German art patrons in 15th ce -Carved wood altarpieces were common commissions for german churches
Holy Roman Empire
- Started by Hubert Van Eyck, finished by his younger brother Jan Van Eyck - Commissioned by Joducus Vyd and wife Elisabeth Borluut - Centerpiece of chapel in Ghent placed behind altar, dedicated to John the Baptist - One of the largest altarpieces of its time (12') - Served as backdrop for Mass -Altars usually commissioned for churches but also homes. Steady source of commission for artists at the time - Depicts scenes directly related to Christ's sacrifice -Polyptychs (hinged multi-paneled paintings or relief panels that opened and closed side wings). Artists decorated both exterior and interior of altarpieces since that allowed them to depicts narratives through sequences images - Two exterior panels depict donors (kneeled down with hands clasped in prayer) - donors gaze sculptures of Ghent's patron saints, John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, inspired by realism of Claus Sluter -Annunciation appears on the upper register, with representation of Fleming town outside the window -Uppermost panels depict prophets Zachariah and Micah, as well as sibyls, Greco-Roman mythological female prophets whose writings the church interpreted as prophesies of Christ
Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece (closed), 1423, Oil on Wood
- Van Der Goes dean of Painters Guild - Commissioned for a family chapel in Florence, Italy (big deal for being commissioned outside of Flanders) - Patron appears with family & patron saints in the wings - Shepherds on right very expressive/specific/earthly - Hieratic scale used to emphasize status - Hieratic Scale=emphasizing importance of an individual by increasing their size in relation to others in composition -Although painting may have seemed unstructured for Italians and the varying scale of figures according to their importance perpetuated medieval conventions, Hugo's technique and incredible realism representing drapery, flowers, animals, and human character and emotion made a deep impression in Florentine painters and public
Hugo van der Goes, Adoration of the Shepherds, 1473, Oil & Temp on Wood
- painting of human redemption through Christ - Upper register shows God presiding in majesty as he wears the Pope's tiara with a worldly crown at his feet in a deep scarlet mantle -To God's right is Mary represented as the queen of Heaven with a crown of 12 stars on her head, and John the Baptist sits on his left. -To either side is a choir of angels with one playing an organ -Adam and Eve (who symbolize humans) are in the far panels amplifying central theme of salvation -At bottom Saints, Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, hermits, pilgrims, knights & judges approach the altar of the lamb/fountain of life - lamb symbolizes the sacrificed son of god -hermits, pilgrims, knights & judges symbolize 4 cardinal virtues (temperance, prudence, fortitude, justice) -oil paint, highly realistic
Jan Van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece (opened), 1423, Oil on Wood
•Incredible detail •Possibly a self portrait, nothing spiritual •Gazes directly at the viewer, hasn't happened in a secular portrait painting for a thousand years •Heralds new level of viewer interaction •Very detailed
Jan Van Eyck, Man in Red Turban, 1433, Oil on Wood
- Commissioned by Etienne Chevalier - Donor with his patron saint Stephen (Étienne in French) - Gazing at Virgin & Child surrounded by fantastic cherubs (chubby angel children) - diptych (two panel painting) - Chevalier depicted as a devout, kneeling and hands clasped in prayer - representation of donor with his saint recalls Flemish art, as do the stances, realistic rendering, and use of oil paint -Saint Stephen holding stone of his martyrdom (death by stoning) atop a Bible - Meticulous rendering even in architectural elements - Placing of elements unites the two wings, the viewer follows the gaze of Chevalier and Stephen to the right, where the Virgin Mary and Christ Child are -Christ depicted unusually, with marble-like flesh surrounded by red and blue angels -Virgin's breast exposed to feed infant, but neither of them are looking at each other of the viewer -Presumed to be a personal and political statement too bc it was commissioned after the death of King's wife, Sorel (died of poisoning while pregnant with king's child)
Jean Fouquet, Etienne Chevalier & St. Stephen, 1452, Oil on Wood
•From the Altarpiece of St. Peter •Very specific landscape •So detailed that the area can be identified as Lake Geneva •Another example of Northern Renaissance tendency to combine the spiritual and secular
Konrad Witz, Miraculous Draft of the Fish, 1444, Oil on Wood
- By Rogier van der Weyden - From what you know about Flemish art and the artists, analyze piece
Last Judgment, 1443, Oil on Wood
• Influenced by French Gothic manuscript illumination & the realism and space used in Northern Renaissance panel painting • An image for each of the 12 months, with scenes that characterize each month • January shows a New Year's reception, with the Duke of Berry presiding
Limbourg Brothers, January, 1413, Tempera & Ink on Vellum
- anarchy of 100 yrs war and weakness of kings gave rise to a powerful group of duchies -strongest and wealthiest (duchy of Burgundy, controlled Flanders) -Dukes of Berry, Bourbon, and NEmours as well as members of royal court were also great art patrons at the time -During 15th ce French artists iult on the achievements of Gothic manuscript painters -New developments including a new interest in spatial settings of subject depicted
Manuscript and Painting in France
•Shows Mary of Burgundy at prayer, Gothic Cathedral beyond window with Mary of B & the Virgin •Meant to symbolize the affect of prayer through manifestation of prayer •Image from Book of Hours (personal prayer book) •Combination of secular/spiritual...prayer/visualization
Master of Mary of Burgundy, Mary of Burgundy at Prayer, 1477, Tempera & Ink on Parchment
- Part of Champmol's program - Retable (in this case) is a painting or other image (sculpture etc.) behind an altar - The beginning of painterly Northern Realism
Melchior Broederlam, Retable de Champmol, 1399
-12 months represented in terms of associated seasonal tasks, alternating scenes f nobility and peasantry -above each picture is a lunette depicting zodiac signs and the chariot of the sun as it makes its yearly cycle through the heavens - beyond its religious connotation, the book also celebrates the duke and his relation to to the peasants. -Month of Oct focuses on the peasantry - Brothers depicted a man plowing on horseback and a washerwoman who walk in front of the Louvre (Dukes residency at the time) - Peasants appear pleased as they go about their tasks, the image flatters the duke's sense of himself as a compassionate master -Shows a growing artistic interest in naturalism due to the architectural details of Louvre and convincing shadows of people and other elements - Page reenforces image of duck of Berry as a devout man, cultured book worm, sophisticated art patron, and powerful leader - prominence of genre subjects in a religious book also continues theme of integration of religious and secular concerns in both art and life at home
October, 1413, Tempera & Ink on Vellum
- Possibly symbolic of Christian themes...but more likely a "genre scene" of a couple shopping for a wedding ring - Genre Scene=pictorial representation of everyday events
Petrus Christus, A Goldsmith in His Shop, 1449, Oil on Wood
-Europe under great political turmoil (100 yrs war, black death, pope election and feud) - However, economically Europe was doing well -Early stages of capitalism (new credit and exchange systems, international trading companies carrying out trade in money and commodities)
Political/Economic 14th-15th century Europe
- Modern day Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, and North of France - Guilds worked here - Prosperous economy for artists, flourishes under royal, ducal, church and private patronage - Portraiture is a major source of income for artists - A lot of symbolism in Flemish art - Oil paint takes precedence over tempera - Manuscript illumination, sculpture, woodcut & engraving are major forms of art
Region of Flanders
- Produced for a private patron, used for household prayer - Typical of Northern European work... integrates religious and secular concerns by placing bliblical setting in a common household (religion was an integral part of Flemish life and separating these was almost impossible and undesirable). - presentation in religious art of familiar settings and objects strengthened direct bond patron felt with biblical figures - Three panel painting with Annunciation in the center (tiny figure of christ carrying cross enters room on ray of light while angel Gabriel approaches Mary who is in a well kept flemish home -Furniture, accesories, utensils, etc are Flander decorations but also religious symbols (book, extinguishable candle, lilies on table, towels, and other objects symbolize Mary's purity and divine mission) - Right Panel shows Joseph with two mousetraps symbolic of theological concept that christ is a bait set in the trap of the world to catch the devil - Also, ax, saw, and rod in th foreground with Joseph mean tools of a carpenter's trade and are mentioned in the account of Annunciation in Isaiah 10:15 -Left panel shows closed garden symbolic of Mary's purity and the flowers are Mary's virtues especially humility -Altar's donor and his wife kneel in the garden and witness the event through an open door, making the piece a donor portrait. ties donors to spiritual event - reflective of everyday religious devotion of the time - realistic style, oil paint combines with desire to record reality accurately
Robert Campin, Merode Altarpiece, 1425, Oil on Wood
-Rogier renowned for christian themed works stressing human action and drama, concentrated in passion episodes eliciting powerful emotions - Center panel of triptych commissioned by Archer's Guild (Guild's crossbow symbol seen in tracery) - Rather than create secular setting, Van Der Weyden mimics shallow space of relief sculpture - Tight space intensifies dynamic composition and gives compositional unity - Intensifies heightened focus on detail at the time, directed here towards suffering
Rogier van der Weyden, Deposition, 1435, Oil on Wood
- Artist was an early master of engraving - Created by Martin Schongauer, master engraver - Dynamic/expressive demons swirl around stoic St. Anthony - Complex and detailed image made possible by flexibility of engraving technique - Shows a stoic saint Anthony caught revolving around spiky demons - artist creates marvelous distinctions of tonal values and textures (from smooth skin to rough cloth) with hatching technique - use of cross hatching (sets of engraved lines at right angles) to describe forms became standard among German graphic artists - Italians preferred parallel hatching and rarely adopted cross hatching
St. Anthony Tormented by Demons, by Martin Schongauer, 1480, Engraving
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St. Christopher, 1435, Oil on Wood
- Made by Rogier - Probably commissioned by the Guild of Saint Luke, patron saint of artists (named this way bc he was said to have painted a portrait of Virgin Mary after she asked him to) - However, it is thought to be a self-portrait of Rogier, identifying the painter with the first Christian artist and underscoring the holy nature of painting - Symbolic of the cultural value of St Luke (first Christian artist) and the profession of painting by documenting the preparatory work (Luke is shown making a drawing in silverpoint, which came before actual painting) required before artists can begin painting the figures - Continues spiritual/secular combination
St. Luke Drawing the Virgin, 1435, Oil & Tempera on Wood
- Center panel of Creglingen Altarpiece - Gothic/Flanders influence - Not painted - Carved wood altarpieces common commissions for german churches - Particular Gothic influence in canopy - Central planel shows Assumption of the Virgin, design has a fluid motion by employing endless and restless line running through garment and figures - Draperies float and flow around bodies lost within them, serving as design elements that tie the figures to one another and to the framework - Look of psychic strain, a common facial expression in artist's work. It heightens spirituality of figures
Tilman Riemenschneider, Assumption of the Virgin, 1495, Wood
•Many artists in Roman Empire specialized in carving altarpieces, and painting them •Influenced by Flanders as well as French Gothic architectural sculpture •Figures are used as composition devices while retaining their individuality
Veit Stoss, Death & Assumption of Virgin, 1477, Painted & Gilded Wood
- Commissioned for sculptural program at Champmol - Scuptural fountain that provided water for the monastery, but water didn't sprout from here due to Carthusian commitment to silence and prayer. - Features statues of Moses and 5 other prophets (David, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zachariah) surrounding a base that once supported a crucifixion group - Fountain of everlasting life, blood from crucified Christ symbolically flowed down over grieving angels and prophets, spilling into the well where anyone could drink from - Pioneer of "Northern Realism" (realistic faces, differentiating textures, from coarse flesh to silky hair) - 6 statues have portrait like features and distinct individual personalities and costumes - Work influence on sculpture and painting of the time, the fascination with the specific and tangible in the visible world became the basis of chief characteristics of 15th century Flemish art - Well served as water source for monastery as well as symbol of everlasting life - Prophets are very unique, not generalized
Well of Moses, by Claus Sluter, France, 1396, marble
•Early form of mass produced art •Images often accompanied text, a way to illustrate content
Woodcut and Engraving
