Middle Class CommissionsIn 15th Century Northern Europe

Region Determines Preference• Commercial and Agricultural

specialization—each region did what it could best and depended on trade▫ England—sheep raising▫ Germany—grains (and so beer)▫ Italy—Banking▫ Bruges—a sea port of trade

• A rise in Capitalism after feudalism▫ Personal income begins to grow

—more money for luxuries like butter, milk…and art

▫ Income also grows also because of marriages uniting regions (Philip the Bold marries Margaret of Male to acquire the Netherlands)

Humanism influences this region, but Life here is less

idealized than in Italy

Portraiture

Becomes increasingly popular—the wealthy can afford to invest in portraits of posterity, and they have definite ideas about HOW they will be remembered.

Portraiture is more than a collection of pictures of unknown people. Portraiture can actually tell us a lot of about the cultural worldview of an age—how do people want to be remembered, what is important to them.

VAN EYCK, Man in Red Turban

Development of Oil Painting

•Several Advantages▫Artist can more easily control the medium▫Artist can represent darker and lighter

shades more intensely ▫Artist can present more luminosity in thin

glazes▫Artist can make mistakes

more time can be spent refining images, correcting and adding details

▫Artist can give surface an enameled, polished look

appeals to the growing middle-class with money to spend.

Tapestries

Important in a region of especially cold weather (compared to the weather in a Mediterranean country like Italy). They provide insulation for large churches, large stone castles; they also reflect the wealth of the patron as they are VERY expensive (more expensive than paintings or murals). For instance, a wealthy commission would use gold and silver thread that would reflect light in the evening against a shimmering candle or lamp light.

“Unicorn is found at the Fountain,” from The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry series

Illuminated Manuscripts

Small Portable Objects appropriate for roving courts

Book of HoursA collection of prayers and daily readings for an individual’s private s devotion

Northern European faith is more private than communal, so here Mary (the patron) is NOT in the church, not at Mass, not directed by priests but in her domestic space

MARY OF BURGUNDY PAINTER, Mary at her Devotions, from Hours of Mary of Burgundy

Altarpieces

Altarpieces were both commissioned for chapels and churches as well as for personal devotional objects

Meant to remind the donor to pray, to be ever constant in devotion.

Allow donor/s to present an identity of wealth and piety

CAMPIN, Merode Altarpiece

Couple Things to Remember:•Northern European works will tend to emphasize

redemption over damnation (Italian works emphasize man’s sinfulness▫This worldview will lead to the Protestant Reformation

and its iconoclasm

•Northern European artists have more freedom to play with religious imagery (Italian artists are required to abide by more standards of iconography)▫This means artists are interpreting Christian symbols

and composing scenes with their imaginations▫This emphasis on the individual will also contribute to

the Protestant Reformation

In Summary▫Remember, the Plague devastated Western

Europe, leaving populations decreased by at least half.

▫Cities start to specialize and personal incomes increase.

▫With the rise of the middle-class, and with a regal court system in place, humanism affects the laity and artists begin to gain more and more commissions for private artworks—altarpieces for the home, family portraits, genre scenes.