Dukes of Burgundy—most powerful rulers of northern Europe for most of the 15th c.

– Philip the Bold of Burgundy– Jean Duke of Berry--enthusiastic art collector—

known for the Tres Riches Heures– Philip the Good of Burgundy—court painters Jan

van Eyck

Burgundy and Flanders• In the 15th century, Flanders (more or less

equivalent to modern Belgium, Holland, and parts of northern France) was part of the Duchy of Burgundy, a region in what is today east-central France.

• Philip the Bold controlled Flanders. Through marriage he acquired Bruges (wool, banking)

• He built a major “charter house” in Dijon, France to be a ducal mausoleum.

Charteuse (charter house) de Champmol

• One of Philip the Bold’s most lavish projects• Chartusian monks were dedicated exclusively

to prayer and solitary meditation.• The monks did not provide for themselves.

Charteuse (charter house) de Champmol

• The monastery, intended to be the burying place of the Prince of Burgundy, Philip the Bold and his family.

• Claus Sluter—in charge of sculptural program• Melchior Broederlam—altarpiece—carved

and painted

• Some Flemish sculpture shows an intense observation of natural appearances.

• In painting, the new oil technique was used to enhance the naturalistic representation of figures and objects with meticulous detail.

• In both sculpture and painting, textures are skillfully and minutely differentiated.

• Medieval ideas and conventions, however, persist in the treatment of space, scale, and figure proportions.

Mosesrendered as physically and psychologically distinct individual--sad eyes, wrinkles

Sluter looked at the individual in new way--as a ponderous mass defined by voluminous drapery.

Claus Sluter, Well of Moses1395-1406

Nicola Piasan, Pisa pulpitClassical and Medieval Style: fusion of International Gothic and

northern realism

International style characteristics:

• Slender, gracefully posed figures• Delicate features framed by masses of curling hair• Extraordinarily complex headdresses• Noble men and women in rich brocaded and

embroidered fabrics and elaborate jewelry• Landscape and architectural minaturized• Details of nature--leaves, flowers, insects, birds--

rendered by nearly microscopic detail• Spatial recession--rising tiled floors• Buildings open at front (ala stage set)• Fanciful mountains and meadows--high horizon

lines• Light, bright colors and liberal use of gold

Melchior Broederlam• The Dijon Altarpiece• 1393-99

oil on panel 5’5 ¾”x4’1 ¼”

• Broederlam's use of oil paint had a strong impact on the painters of the following generation, including Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck.

• The spatial arrangements recall Duccio

Outer wings Retalbe (altarpiece) de Champmol: Annunication and Visitation; Presentation and Flight into Egypt, installed 1339, Dijon. panels each 65x49”

Although the perspective is far from fully developed, light and shadow are used to create a sense of depth in a very advanced fashion, and the realistic depiction of Saint Joseph was to become characteristic of Netherlandish painting.

LIMBOURG brothers (Herman, Jean, Paul)Flemish painters (b. 1370-80, Nijmegen, d. 1416, Nijmegen)The Limbourg Brothers began the Tres Riches Heures about 1413 (died of the Plague 1416…some pages unfinished)

Tres Riches Heures (Very Sumptuous Book of

Hours)Patron: John the Good..the

Duke of Berry

Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry(The Very Sumptuous House of the Duke of Berry)

(1340-1416)"the king of the illuminated manuscripts"

• Calendar: zodiac signs and labors of the month

• Gospel readings: portraits of the evangelists• Little office of the Virgin (hours)

The month of giving gifts (a custom which seems to have died out now). Jean de Berry himself can be seen on the right, wearing the brilliant blue robe.

John is singled out by the red cloth of honor with his heraldic arms--swans and the lilies of France--and by a large fire screen that circles his head liked a secular halo.

Tapestry on the back walls depicts scenes from Homer’s Battle of Troy…theatrical backdrop to court celebrations.Tapestries had three major themes: religion; courtly love and heroic themes.The story of the Trojan Was were particularly popular. The French royal family traced its ancestry back to the family of the great Trojan prince, Hector.

February Winter in a peasant village.

The inhabitants of a farm are shown warming themselves

by the fire, while in the background daily life - cutting

wood, taking cattle to the market - goes on as normal.

International Gothic characteristics: high

placement of the horizon line, small size of trees and

buildings in relation to people, cutaway view of house (ala

stage).

October Tilling and sowing are being

carried out by the peasants, in the shadow of the Louvre - Charles V's royal palace in

Paris.

Flanders

• Strong economy based on wool, textile and international trade

• Patrons: civic groups, town councils and wealthy merchants

• Cities: self-governed and largely independent of the landed nobility

• Guilds oversaw nearly every aspect of their members’ lives

Flemish artists:

• Known for exquisite illuminated manuscripts, tapestries and stained glass

• Perfected technique of painting with oil– Slow to dry– Luminous quality

Robert Campin (or Master of Flemalle) ran a workshop in Belgium

Campin, Robert (the Master of Flemalle) Merode Altarpiecec. 1425 Triptych, oil on wood

The Annunciation was a popular subject but…Campin placed the supernatural event in and everyday setting.

Lively narrative and bold three-dimensional treatment of figures reminiscent of the sculptural style of Claus Sluter

Donor portraits became popular in the 15th c.

Peter Inghelbrecht, wealthy merchant, his name means “angel bringer”

The wife’s name, Scrynmakers means “cabinet or shrine maker”

Jan van Eyck

Campin’s contemporary…painted for the court of Philip the Good…

Jan perfected the medium of oil by building up his images in very thin

transparent oil layers.

Philip the Good,(van der Weyden)Duke of Burgundy1419-1467

In 1430 Philip the Goodhanded Joan of Arc over to the English

The Crucifixion and the Last Judgment (Metropolitan

Museum)

Madonna in the Churchc. 1425

Oil on wood The asymmetric composition,

unusual at Van Eyck, is explained by the fact that this

panel was the left wing of a diptych.

The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin

1435Wood, 66 x 62 cm

Musée du Louvre, Paris

The Ghent Altarpiece (wings closed)

1432

Oil on wood

The Offering of Abel and Cain The Killing of Abel

Man in a Turban1433

“As I can” (The best I am capable of doing)…

humanist spirit of the age and confident

expression of an artist who knows his

capabilities and is proud to display them.

Giovanni Arnolfini, a prosperous Italian

banker who had settled in Bruges, and his wife

Giovanna Cenami, stand side by side in the bridal

chamber, facing towards the viewer. The husband is holding out

his wife's hand. “Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434 (Jan van Eych

was present, 1434)

• It is uncertain that the picture depicts an actual marriage ceremony. The Latin inscription on the back wall, 'Jan van Eyck was here/1434', has been interpreted as the artist's witness to their marriage, but may simply attest to his authorship of the painting,

• his creation of 'here'.

The mirror is the focal point of the whole composition.

• The central motif of the painting, the so-called 'joining of hands', has long been recognized as a special gesture with a specific meaning. It has been the subject of debate for decades.

• Oranges placed on the low table and the windowsill are a reminder of an original innocence, of an age before sin. Unless, that is, they are not in fact oranges but apples (it is difficult to be certain), in which case they would represent the temptation of knowledge and the Fall.

• The small dog in the foreground is an emblem of fidelity and love.

• The clogs and outdoor sandals which the couple have removed might be typical wedding presents, or represent the taking of shoes in a sacred precincts.

Giovanni Arnolfini, a prosperous Italian

banker who had settled in Bruges, and his wife

Giovanna Cenami, stand side by side in the bridal

chamber, facing towards the viewer. The husband is holding out

his wife's hand. “Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434 (Jan van Eych

was present, 1434)

Deposition in the Prado, Madridby Rogier van der WEYDEN

Altarpiece commissioned by the Crossbowmen’s Guild, Belgium before 1443,oil on panel

Renowned for his dynamic compositions stressing human action and drama.

• In the decoration of the upper left corner a bow can be seen. The explanation is that the altarpiece was commissioned by the Confraternity of the Archers of Leuven for a church, now demolished, outside the city walls.

• The grief stricken woman (who may be Mary Salome) reflects the attitude of Mary Magdalene on the right of the panel. In keeping with her advanced age and the distribution of various elements of movement throughout the picture, however, she expresses her emotion in a rather restrained, less extrovert way.

St Luke Drawing a Portrait of Virgin MaryRogier van der Weydenabout 1434-1440Oil on panel, 137.5 x 111 cmBoston, Museum of Fine Arts

about 1434-14401435

Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady

c. 1455

St. Eligius, as a Goldsmith, Hands the Wedding Couple

a Ring (Petrus Christus 1469)

The Portinari Triptychby Hugo van der GOES

Portinari Altarpiece (open) c.1474tempera and oil on panel

• The Adoration of the Shepherds, the most important work by the greatest Netherlandish painter of the late 15th century, has a unique historical and artistic significance. The altar was donated to the Florentine church of San Egidio by Tommaso Portinari, who since 1465 had been living in princely style in Bruges as manager of the Medici family's commercial interests. The central panel is flanked by two wings depicting other members of the Portinari family and the family's patron saints, with a grisaille Annunciation on their reverse.

15th century French Art

Jean FouquetMelun Diptych

c.1451 oil on wood

Etienne Chevalier (treasurer of France) and Saint Stephen and Virgin and ChildDiptych rendered in meticulous detail (recalls Flemish art)

Virgin modeled after mistress (who had recently died) of K. Charles VII

Virgin and Child

15th century German ArtNew medium: printmaking

Gutenberg invented movable type, but the roots of printing lie in the ancient

Near East.The technique of manufacturing paper

came to Europe from the Islamic regions.

Graphicsby Martin SCHONGAUER

• The Man of Sorrows with the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist

• 1470-75

Copper-plate engraving • One of the

earliest engravings of Schongauer, showing the influence of Rogier van der Weyden.

• Adoration of the Magi• c. 1475

• The scene is as concentrated as Rogier's, but more naturalistic and modern in its spatial development. Different colors and material textures, such as the eldest king's velvet robe, are very well suggested in the engraving.

• Temptation of St Anthony-Copper engraving

• Wide range of tonal values and a rhythmic quality of line

• Textures—spiky, scaly, leathery, furry—enhance the expressive impact of the image

The End