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NORTHERN EUROPE, 1400-1500

NORTHERN EUROPE, 1400-1500. GARDNER CHAPTER 20-1 PP. 519-526. NORTHERN EUROPE, 1400-1500 BACKGROUND. At the start of the 15 th century Two competing popes -> the Great Schism The Hundred Years’ War between France and England Social turmoil from the dying of feudalism

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NORTHERN EUROPE, 1400-1500

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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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

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