TEST 1 REVIEW

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“Antiquity vs. Middle Ages

Where Greek and Romans painted everyday subjects like portraits and cityscapes, Art of the “Middle Ages” focused on spiritual rather than physical realities.

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…..the “individual” is dissolved and is looked down upon by larger, intimidating spiritual forces

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Numerous independent city states

Republics: Venice, Florence, Siena (self-governance)

Source of wealth varies from city to city-port cities involved in trade, other cities depend on banking, arms, or textiles

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1348 --The Black Death Estimated to have killed 30% – 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world’s population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. This has been seen as creating a series of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European History. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover.

Because the plague killed so many of the poor population, wealthy land owners were forced to pay the remaining workers what they asked, in terms of wages.

Because there was now a surplus in consumer goods, luxury crops could now be grown. This meant that for the first time in history, many, formerly of the peasant population, now had a chance to live a better life. Most historians now feel that this was the start of the middle class in Europe and England.

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…meanwhileThe Fall of Constantinople (formerly the Byzantine Empire) in1453 to the Ottoman Empire meant that many scholars soon arrived in Italy with knowledge of Greek thinkers like Plato that had been lost or forgotten in the Middle Ages.

A new interest in “antiquity” is sparked

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A focus on human beings…

Humanism

• A cultural and intellectual movement during the Renaissance, following the rediscovery of the art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome.

• A philosophy or attitude concerned with the interests, achievements, and capabilities of human beings rather than with the abstract concepts and problems of theology and science.

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Marsilio FicinoTranslated Plato into Latin (from Greek)

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Niccolò Machiavelli“The Prince”

A practical manual for young rulers that did not appeal to Christian Morality.

“Machiavellian” today refers to someone who is scheming and sometimes unethical.

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Giordano Bruno“infinity”

Proposed that stars were distant suns with their own planets.

Burned at the stake for his heresies.

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The Decameron

Renaissance Humanists

• Petrarch• Giovanni Boccaccio

– Established a “vernacular” literature

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Mendicant Orders and Confraternities

During the “Great Schism” (Pope moved to France), Monastic (mendicant) orders like the Augustinians, Franciscans, and the Dominicans became important social forces.

Confraternities, organizations of laypersons dedicated to strict religious observance also grew in popularity.

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BONAVENTURA BERLINGHIERI, panel from the Saint Francis Altarpiece

“Maniera Greca” or Italo-Byzantine Style

Painted 9 years after Francis’s death

Displays “stigmata” (2nd Christ?)

Gold leaf, flatness, other-worldy spiritual nature

4 of 6 narrative scenes depict miraculous healings

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CIMABUE, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets, Gold=light of heavenSpatial contradictionsDiagonals draw you slightly in

Cult of Mary important to the Medieval mind-less intimidating, speaks to god on your behalf

Christ is small, but does not have proportions of an infant

Shows influence of Byzantine tradition

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GIOTTO DI BONDONE, Madonna EnthronedMary has solidity, stability, substance-not spiritual immateriality

Angels stand on a more common level

Light and shadow “chiaroscuro”, not flatness

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Giotto di Bondone, Arena Chapel Feelings and physical nature of human beings.

New sense of realism by using light and space.

Re-inventor of “naturalistic” painting.

Arena ChapelChiaroscuro, naturalismSacre rappresentazioniScrovegni family

“usury”

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Enrico Scrovegini-Attempt at“atonement”

Sin of “usury”(charging interest)

In Dante’s “Inferno” the elderScrovegni is singled out for residing in a circle of hell

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FlorenceProud cityControls textile industryGold “florin”

COMPETITION!For the East Doors of the Florence Baptistery commissioned by theWool Merchants Guild

(South Doors by Andrea Pisano, 1330-36Pictured here)

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Wool merchants GuildSponsors contest as a kind of self-promotional advertisement for their civic mindedness

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Competition Theme: Sacrifice of Isaac

• Abraham is asked by Christ to sacrifice his only son as a test of his loyalty

• ”prefiguration” of sacrifice of Christ

• A “covenant” or binding agreement

• Baptism is an entry into a covenant

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Florence under attack• 1402, Giangaleazzo Visconti

(Duke of Milan) attempts to take over Italian peninsula

• Florence is surrounded

• The theme of personal sacrifice for the common good becomes popular

• Luckily Visconti dies suddenly ending invasion threat.

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FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI, Sacrifice of Isaac• “planar” orientation• (everything seen from the side)

• Spatially primitive

• More dramatic, but less emotional complexity

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LORENZO GHIBERTI, Sacrifice of Isaac

• Space recedes- more complex, 0verlapping

• Emotional complexity (contemplation)

• Also cast in one piece • less $$$

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Ghiberti WINS! “To me was conceded the palm of victory by all the experts and by all who had competed with me. To me the honor was conceded universally and with no exception. To all it seemed that I had at that time surpassed the others without exception, as was recognized by a great council and an investigation of learned men. There were thirty-four judges from the city and the other surrounding countries. The testimonial of the victory was given in my favor by all.”

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BrunelleschiLoses the competition, but travels to Rome, studies architecture and re-invent Liner Perspective

Returns to Florence and becomes renowned as an Architect

Linear Perspective• (re)discovered by Brunelleschi

(loser in previous competition) around 1420

• “rationalization of sight”

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LORENZO GHIBERTI, east doors (Gates of Paradise), baptistery, Florence, Italy, 1425–1452. Gilded bronze, 17’ high. Modern copy, ca. 1980. Original panels in Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence.

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LORENZO GHIBERTI, Isaac and His Sons (detail of FIG. 21-10), (Gates of Paradise), baptistery, Florence, Italy, 1425–1452. Gilded bronze, 2’ 7 1/2” x 2’ 7 1/2”. Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence.

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No longer constrained by the “quatrefoil” the relief can become a “window” of illusion

The artist creates an entire world

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LORENZO GHIBERTI, Isaac and His Sons (detail of FIG. 21-10), (Gates of Paradise), baptistery, Florence, Italy, 1425–1452. Gilded bronze, 2’ 7 1/2” x 2’ 7 1/2”. Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence.

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• Loser in sculpture, winner in architecture.Highest Dome until St. PetersWide as the PantheonAlberti: an achievement without precedent

Brunelleschi

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• Cantilevered scaffolding• (not enough lumber to use the

Pantheon method)

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Stone, mortar and iron “chains” to hold the form in

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Florence under attack again !!King Ladislaus of Naples in a campaign to take the peninsula surrounds Florence.

Ladislaus, on the verge of military success dies suddenly in 1414.

Florence is pretty lucky.

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During the Siege at the.. Or San MicheleChurch, granary, town hall, guild headquartersThe “Signoria” (Florence’s governing body) assigned a “niche”in which to place a commissioned sculpture

Many works stress the importance of sacrifice, civic pride, and “Florentine Spirit”

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The 14 niches act as public advertisements for guilds and symbols of civic pride.

DONATELLO, Saint MarkCommissioned by the Guild of linen makers and tailors.

Contrapposto is evident in weigh shift. Even more impressive that it is seen through sophisticated sculptural rendering of linen (must’ve pleased the guild).

Implied movement suggests emergence from niche into real space.

No contrapposto vs. contrapposto

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Dignity of the individual

Intersection of the spiritual and human.

Internal focus/awareness

NANNI DI BANCO, Four Crowned Saints

Four Christian sculptors defy an order from Diocletian (Roman Emperor) to carve a statue of a Roman Deity. They are executed

Commissioned by the Guild of stone and woodworkers.

Displays emergence of sculpture from its original architectural setting.

Inter-relationship of the figures.

Shows moment of contemplation and communication. Psychological unity.

Honors the power of the “group” and discipline and integrity in the face of adversity.

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“Masaccio”Tommaso de ser Giovanni de Mone Cassai

Artistic heir of Giotto, but takes space and light one step further into unexplored territory

Dies at age 27 (causes unknown)

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MASACCIO, Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy, ca. 1427. Fresco, 8’ 4 1/8” x 19’ 7 1/8”.

Massacio,Tribute MoneyMathew 17:24-27

Tax collector meets Jesus and disciples at the entrance of the Roman town of Capernum, Jesus directs St. Peter to shore of lake Galilee to gather a coin from the mouth of a fish.

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Linear Perspective and atmospheric perspective

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Figural forms (especially the tax collector) suggest bones, muscles, and the pressures on tendons and joints to convey contained energy.

Masaccio, Holy Trinity First application of linear perspective and mathematics to a depiction of space.

Ascending pyramid of figures leads viewers from the despair of death to the hope of resurrection and eternal life.

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Lorenzo Lenzi and Wife

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Vanishing point is 5 feet above the ground, roughly eye level.

Rational measured coherence:

If calculated as a real space:Painted vault is 7 feet and the depth of the chapel is 9 feet.

I once was what you are and what I am you also will be.

MEMENTO MORI- reminder of death

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DONATELLO, David, late 1440–1460. Bronze, 5’ 2 1/4” high. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.

overt eroticism

First freestanding nude since Classical antiquity. Nudity usually associated with shame and sin.

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David vs. GoliathSword vs StoneMilan and Naples vs. FlorenceMilitary might vs. Cultural richness

David represents Florence, the always underdog against the greater powers of Milan(Visconti) and Naples (Ladislaus)

The private sensuality and eroticism are strangely at odds with this public, civic message

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DONATELLO, Penitent Mary Magdalene

Rejection of the material world for a secluded spiritual life

Sculpture acts as a “moral conscience” for the city of Florence

NeoplatonismEmbraced by the

powerful Medici family.

All sources of inspiration,

whether Biblical orClassical (Pagan) mythology, represent ameans of ascendingearthly existence to amystical union with “the

One”.

Marsilio Ficino• Translated Plato into Latin • (from Greek)

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SANDRO BOTTICELLI, Birth of Venus, ca. 1484–1486. Tempera on canvas, approx. 5’ 9” x 9’ 2”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

The Birth of Venus

Inspired by a love poem written by Humanist scholar Angelo Poliziano.

Zephyr (west wind), and Chloris on left.

Venus in center, her maiden Pomona on right.

Sacred Island of Cyprus.

First female nude since classical antiquity not associated with shame. Accommodating culture made possible by powerful Medici family.

Contemplation of worldly (physical) beauty-in theory leads to contemplation of spiritual and divine beauty.

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Botticelli

Byzantine influence shown in lyrical use of line.Decorative and flat space, little illusion of depth.Strong focus on Classical Mythology.

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Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, ca. 1482. Tempera on wood, 6’ 8” X 10’ 4”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. 66

PrimaveraPrimavera=springtime

Clothed Venus in center. Cupid above

Zephyr, Chloris and Flora at right.

Three graces to the left, and either Mars or Mercury to the far left.

The occasion for the painting was probably Lorenzo de Medici’s wedding in May 1482

Another Neo-Platonist allegory on worldly and spiritual love, although difficult to decipher.

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PERUGINO, Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome, Italy, 1481–1483. Fresco, 11’ 5 1/2” x 18’ 8 1/2”.

Christ Delivering the KeysPerugino (Pietro Vanucci- Birthplace is Perugia in Umbria)

1481-83 Pope Sixtus IV summons artists to paint walls of Sistine Chapel.

Papacy bases claim to authority on this biblical event.

Temple of Solomon in background along with Triumphal arches modeled on arch of Constantine (first Christian Emperor)

Background scenes include “Tribute Money” and “Stoning of Christ”

Christ surrounded by apostles, including Judas (5th from left)

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ANDREA MANTEGNA, interior of the Camera Picta (Painted Chamber), Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy, 1465–1474. Fresco.

ANDREA MANTEGNA, Camera PictaPainted of Ludovico Gonzaga, the Marquis of Mantua

Depicts scenes of the Marquis greeting guests, and court life.

All the room is painted (trompe l’oel) “fool the eye”

Di sotto in su (from below, upward)

8 fictive reliefs of the first Roman Emperors shows an interest in Rome’s Imperial past (Florence would be more interested in the Republican past)

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Girolamo Savonarola1490’s Florence undergoes political, cultural, religious upheaval.

Dominican monk Savonarola becomes priest-dictator, banishes the Medici.

Denounces Humanism and Neo-Platonism as heretical, prophesied the downfall of the city unless they undergo large scale repentance. Forces bonfire of secular art, philosophy and literature (Bonfire of the Vanities).

City comes to its senses and executes Savonarola in 1498.

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LUCA SIGNORELLI, Damned Cast into Hell, San Brizio Chapel, Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy, 1499–1504. Fresco, 23’ wide.

Damned Cast into Hell

Painted for Pope Alexander VISaint Michael and Angels cast the damned into hell. Horrible consequences of a sinful life graphically depicted. Striking representation of the nude figure.

One part of an “End of Days” Narrative when Christ returns to Judge mankind.

Other scenes included: Deeds of the Antichrist, Resurrection, Elect Being Called to Heaven

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The Black Forest

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Northern EuropeAbsent the memories and ruins of ancient Rome, Northern Europe had lingering cultural connections to its “pagan” past.

A whole pantheon of Norse gods distinct from Greco/Roman existed as did a closer connection to earth based pagan superstitions, and holidays.

A stronger connection to nature and the spirit world, as well as a belief in the “immanence” of spirituality persisted even as Northern Europe Christianized.

Much of this is expressed as attention to worldly DETAILS in art rather than in the “transcendent” themes of Italian art. In other words artists of the European Renaissance saw the spirit immanent in everyday things and therefore lavished great attention to DETAILS in their depiction.

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Northern European Developments

Oil “glazing” technique:• Invented by Northern European

artists, allowed an unparalleled exactitude of rendering.

• Transparent glazes of linseed oil built up luminous, rich, jewel-like colors and an enamel surface.

• Perfect for wood panels, triptychs, and alter-pieces.

• Blossoming of printmaking as a major art form following the invention of the printing press and moveable type.

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Burgundian FlandersEarly stages of European Capitalism. New credit and exchange systems produces a network of commodities and industry.

Flanders, under control of the Duke of Burgundy (Phillip the Bold).

Bruges is the major city:wool trade, banking

ROBERT CAMPIN (MASTER OF FLEMALLE), Merode Altarpiece (open), ca. 1425-1428. Oil on wood, center panel 2’ 1 3/8” X 2’ 7/8”, each wing 2’ 1 3/8” X 10 7/8”. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (The Cloisters Collection, 1956).

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ROBERT CAMPIN (MASTER OF FLEMALLE), Merode Altarpiece

Annunciation theme Isaiah 7:14

Small altarpieces for household prayer become common in the average household.

Religious themes usually depicted in contemporary, secular settings.

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Closed garden symbolic of Mary’s purity.

Donors: wealthy merchant Peter Inghelbrecht (angel-bringer), and wife Margarete Scrynmakers (shrine-maker)

Outside we can see street scene of contemporary Flanders.

DETAILS !Wash basin refers to Mary’s purity as a vessel for Christ.

Lily flowers symbolize purity

Single extinguished candle represents the presence of the divine.

DETAILS !Joseph has constructed a mousetrap (symbolizes Christ as bait set to catch Satan)

Axe, saw, and rod are mentioned in Isaiah 10:15

JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (closed)

Jan Van Eyck-Undisputed master of Oil painting techniqueCourt Painter of Philip the good, Duke of Burgundy

Ghent Altarpiece commissioned by Jodocus Vyd (Chief Magistrate of Ghent)

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Recovered in a salt mineHidden away by Nazis during WWII

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Old testament prophets Zachariah and Micah along with sibyls (Greco-Roman female prophets)

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JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (closed), Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, completed 1432. Oil on wood, 11’ 6" X 7’ 6".

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Saint John the Evangelist and Saint John the Baptist

Jodocus Vyd

Wife Isabel Borluut

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JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (open), Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, completed 1432. Oil on wood, 11’ 5" X 15’ 1”.

JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (open), Open panel reveals superbly colored painting of humanity’s redemption through Christ

God the Father in center, Virgin Mary to left, John the Baptist to the Right.Choir of angels and Adam and Eve at far ends

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Adam and Eve more “realistic” than Italian nudes (working off Ancient idealized figures)

Lower panels:Community of saints gather around altar of lamb (symbol of Christ) on octagonal fountain of life

Right: 12 apostles and a group of martyrs in red robes

Left: prophets

Far wings: hermits, pilgrims, knights and judges (4 cardinal virtues Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, Justice)

JAN VAN EYCK, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride

Emerging capitalism leads to urban prosperity and interest in secular themes (portraiture).

Giovanni Arnolfini-wealthy financier with ties to Medici family

Holds hand of second wife during a ceremony (wedding, legal privileges?)

Every object has symbolic (iconographic) importance.

Man stands on the left near the window (outside world), woman stands inside (domestic world).

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Cast aside clogs indicate holy ground.

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Oranges symbolize wealth and fertility.

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Dog symbolizes marital fidelity (“fido”).

Single candle symbolizes presence of God, bedpost crowning ornament is Saint Margaret patron saint of childbirth)

Convex mirror shows two observers and also symbolizes all seeing eye of God (framed in the stations of the cross.)

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Jan Van Eyck “was here”. Record and sanctify the marriage ?

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JAN VAN EYCK, Man in a Red TurbanFirst known portrait in 1,000 years where sitter looks directly at the viewer.

Widely considered to be a self-portrait.

“As I Can” in greek letters

Possible demonstration piece for prospective clients.

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DIRK BOUTS, Last Supper central panel of the Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament, Saint Peter’s, Louvain, Belgium, 1464–1468. Oil on wood, 6’ X 5’.

Last Supper• Commissioned by Confraternity

of the Holy Sacrement in Louvian (4 members appear in work as servants)

• One of the first Northern Renaissance paintings to illustrate the use of a single vanishing point, although not completely accurate.

• Focus is on consecration of the Eucharistic wafer rather than Judas’ betrayal.

• Biblical figures dressed in contemporary Flemish attire.

LIMBOURG BROTHERS (POL, JEAN, HERMAN), January, from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

The Duke of Berry -avid art patron.

A “Book of Hours” was used for reciting prayers.

Full-page calendar pictures represent the 12 months and associated seasonal tasks alternating between nobility and peasantry.

Reinforces the image of the Duke of Berry as a cultured bibliophile and sophisticated art patron.

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