Post on 23-Feb-2016
description
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