NORTHERN EUROPE,1400-1500GARDNER CHAPTER 20-1PP. 519-526

NORTHERN EUROPE, 1400-1500BACKGROUND

At the start of the 15th century

Two competing popes -> the Great Schism

The Hundred Years’ War between France and England

Social turmoil from the dying of feudalism

Centralizing monarchies

The rise of early capitalism -> trade, new credit and exchange

Art thrived in N. Europe -> royal, ducal, church, and private patronage

BURGUNDY AND FLANDERS

In the 15th century Flanders was a region under the control of duke of Burgundy

Burgundy was the fertile east-central region of France

Bruges in Flanders was a wealthy commercial center -> wool trade, banking, finance

For much of the 15th century the duchy of Burgundy was the most powerful state in N. Europe

CHARTREUSE DE CHAMPMOL The dukes of Burgundy were

great patrons of the arts

Philip the Bold’s grandest artistic enterprise -> the Chartreuse de Champmol near Dijon

Carthusian monastery -> endowed by Philip -> modeled after Saint-Denis -> ducal mausoleum and dynastic symbol of Burgundian power

CLAUS SLUTER Claus Sluter, Well of Moses, Chartreuse de

Champmol, Dijon, France, 1395-1406, limestone, Moses 6’ high

Philip the Bold place Claus Sluter in charge of the sculptural program

Large sculptural fountain located in a well in the cloister of the Carthusian monastery

Moses and five other prophets surround a base that once supported a 25 foot tall group

Figures recall jamb statues -> but much more realistically rendered -> portrait like features, distinct individual features and costumes

Naturalism of the figures -> fascination w/the specific and tangible in the visible world = chief characteristics of 15th century Flemish art

MELCHIORBROEDERLAM

Melchior Broederlam, Retable de Champmol, from the chapel of the Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, France, installed 1399, oil on wood, each wing 5’5”x4’1”

Major altarpiece for the main altar at Chartreuse commissioned by Philip the Bold

ALTARPIECES -> major art form north of Alps in 14th /15th centuries -> positioned behind the altar -> served as backdrops for the Mass

MASS = ritual celebration of the Holy Eucharist

Altarpieces like portals had a didactic(teaching) role -> especially for the illiterate -> reinforce church doctrines and stimulate devotion

Champmol altarpiece

Sculpted Passion scenes on the interior (bttm)

Altar pieces were most often polyptychs -> w/hinged panels -> side wings could be closed over the central panel

Interior and exterior decorated

Multi-image format allowed for construction of narratives

WIDESPREAD ADOPTION OF OIL PAINTS

15th century art -> widespread adoption of OIL PAINTS

Oil paints allowed for exact rendering of details -> key characteristic of Northern European painting

Jan van Eyck is credited w/the invention of oil painting

Richer colors

Intense tonality

Illusion of glowing light

Enamel- like surfaces

ROBERT CAMPIN – THE “MASTER OF FLEMALLE”

Robert Campin (Master of Flemalle), Merode Altarpiece (open), ca. 1425-1428, oil on wood

Left panel -> donors, middle class people kneeling before the holy scene = donor portraits

Center panel -> Annunciation taking place in an everyday Flemish interior

Symbolism

Towels and water = Mary’s purity

Flowers w/3 buds = the trinity -> unopened bud is the unborn Jesus

Mary seated on floor = humility

Mary blocks the fireplace = hell

Candlestick = Mary holds Christ in the womb

Joseph in right panel -> mousetrap = Christ in bait set in the trap of the world to catch the Devil

TEMPERA AND OIL PAINTING TEMPERA = egg combined with a wet paste

of ground pigment

Tempera was the material of choice for most painters in the 14th century

Images painted with tempera have a velvety sheen -> applied to the surface w/a light touch

OILS -> use only becomes widespread in 15th century

Oils could be applied in layers through repeated glazing, surfaces could be reworked

Most painting was done on wood panels prior to the 16th century

JAN VAN EYCK – THE GHENT ALTARPIECE Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece (closed), Saint

Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, oil on wood, 11’5” x 7’6”

Van Eyck -> the first Netherlandish painter to achieve international fame

GHENT ALTARPIECE -> one of the largest of the 15th century

Exterior panels depict the donor Jodocus Vyd and his wife kneeling w/hands clasped in prayer -> they gaze at stone sculptures of Ghent’s patron saints Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist

Annunciation scene in the upper register -> Flemish town outside the window

Uppermost arched panels -> Old Testament prophets and Greco-Roman SIBYLS

Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece (open), 1432, oil on wood, 11’5” x 15’1”

God the father in the center sits in majesty wearing the pope’s crown

Mary and John the Baptist flank him -> choirs of angels flank them -> Adam and Eve appear in the corners

Bottom -> The Lamb of God in the center or a continuous landscape containing medieval knights and clergy

The central theme is salvation -> even though man is sinful he will be saved because God in his infinite love will sacrifice his own son for them

Shimmering splendor of color and loving fidelity to appearance

GIOVANNI ARNOLFINI Jan van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride,

1434, oil on wood, 2’9” x 1’11” Bourgeois market for art A purely secular portrait Cast-aside clogs = standing on holy ground Dog = fidelity or carnality Curtains of the marriage bed are open Bedpost’s finial is a statue of Saint Margaret ->

patron saint of childbirth Giovanna lifts her dress -> symbolizing

childbirth -> she is not pregnant Whisk broom = domestic care/good

housekeeping Oranges = fertility Single candle in chandelier = the all seeing

eye of God Two witnesses in the convex mirror ->

inscription above “Jan van Eyck was here 1434”

Gender roles -> man close to window -> woman near bed and inside room

MAN IN RED TURBAN

Jan van Eyck, Man in Red Turban, 1433, oil on wood, 1’1” x 10”

Seems to be the first Western painted portrait in a thousand years in which the sitter looks directly at the viewer

Perhaps a self-portrait -> inscription on top of frame “As I can” and on bottom frame “Jan van Eyck made me 1433, 21 October”

Naturalistic portrait -> beard stubble, weathered and aged skin

Acceptance on independent self-portraits = increased secular society