15th Century Art in Northern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula

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15th Century
Art in Northern
Europe and the
Iberian
Peninsula
1400-1500
Where?
Flanders
(Belgium), Holland,
Germany, and
F...

So what’s going on in 15th century art
• Active, prosperous capitalist society = strength
• Secular (non-religious) works ...

Historical Background:
• Trading/merchants – bring affluence to
trading towns, especially Flanders – stimulates
interest i...

• Rich middle class supported scholarship,
literature, and the arts
• Their patronage leads to an explosion of
learning an...

Architecture

• Flamboyant Gothic architecture is
so popular that it is used in
secular buildings now
• Monastically-inspi...

House of
Jacques Coeur
1443-1451
(15th cen.)
Bourges, France

• Home of a rich
entrepreneurial
merchant who
amassed $$$$$$
• First floor:
Business area of
the house,
storage areas,
ser...

• Gothic details:
window frames,
tracery, arches
• House surrounds
an open interior
courtyard
• Uneven, irregular
plan
• E...

Street façade, House of
Jacques Coeur

Remember SaintMaclou in Rouen,
France? Flamboyant!

Time for paintings!
• Johann Gutenberg – invents movable type – has
huge impact! - could mass produce books and
make them ...

Movable type inspires other mass-produced prints:
• WOODCUT: printmaking process by which a
wooden tablet is carved into w...

• ENGRAVINGS: a
printmaking process in
which a tool called a
BURIN is used to carve
into a metal plate,
causing impression...

• ETCHING: a metal plate is
covered with a layer of
wax. The artist uses a
sharp tool to cut into the
wax to leave the pla...

• Cons of prints: not as “fancy” as hand-made
books/images, not as “original” when multiple
people have the same thing,
• ...

So what’s so great about oil paint?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Developed in Flanders in early Renaissance
Super rich colors
Accurately...

• Painted altarpieces were a big deal
– artists take pride in them since
they’re on public display in very
conspicuous loc...

Madonna Enthroned
by: Cimabue
1280-1290 (13th cen.)
tempera on panel
(yes, you already saw
this in a prior
chapter)

• Sometimes Italian altarpieces
had reverse sides that were
illustrated with stories from
the New Testament, such as…

MAESTA by Duccio, 1308-1311 (14th
cen.), tempera on panel, in Siena Cathedral

Reverse side of
MAESTA
-shows the life
of Mary AND
the life of Christ
in 43 small
scenes

Back and front –
two for one!

• Northern European altarpieces are
cupboards rather than screens
• They have wings that open and
close and fold into one ...

THE MERODE TRIPTYCH
by Robert Campin (?) (The Master of Flemalle),
1425-1428 (15th cen.), oil on wood.
It’s at the Met in ...

•Built to be portable (as are other small altarpieces)
•Meticulous handling of paint, intricate details
•Steeply rising gr...

•Left panel:
donors, middleclass people
kneeling before
the holy scene

•Right panel:
Joseph in his
carpentry shop,
mousetrap
symbolizes the
capturing of evil
(I know, it’s a
stretch…)

•Center panel:
Annunciation taking
place in everyday
Flemish interior
•Humanizing of
traditional themes –
no halos, domest...

•There’s a LOT of symbolism here:
•Towels and water are Mary’s purity –water = baptism
•Flowers have three buds symbolizin...

•Mary seated on the floor – shows her humility
•Mary blocks the fireplace (entrance to hell!)
•Candlestick – Christ is the...

THE GHENT ALTARPIECE, by Jan van Eyck, 1432, oil
on wood, St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium

•Like other large altarpieces, it’s meant to be housed in an
elaborate Gothic frame that enclosed the main scenes

•Altarpieces like this one usually have a painted scene on the
outside, visible during the week.
•On Sundays, the interior...

This is a view of the interior

•Interior top: God the Father in center sits in
majesty wearing pope’s crown, surrounded
by Mary and John the Baptist, cho...

•Interior bottom: The Lamb of God in the
center with continuous landscape containing
medieval knights and clergy

•This is the EXTERIOR of
the Ghent Altarpiece by
Jan van Eyck

•Exterior top: Annunciation with prophets and sibyls
who foretell Christ’s coming

•Exterior bottom: two figures painted in “grisaille”
(grayscale) in center (St. John the Baptist and John the
Evangelist);...

•Northern European artists liked International Gothic
painting – a courtly, elegant art form (like Martini, in
the 14th ce...

Back to the MERODE TRIPTYCH
See how the wall space is opened up so we can see
into the room? See how proportions aren’t qu...

PORTINARI ALTARPIECE, by Hugo van der Goes,
1476 (15th century)
tempera and oil paint on wood

•Placed in the family chapel of Sant’ Egidio in
Florence, Florence’s largest hospital
•Placement in a maternity hospital c...

•Mary is central, St. Margaret (patron saint of
childbirth…mental note…) is in the right wing
•Baby Jesus appears thin – s...

•Plants in foreground have medicinal value and
symbolic associations
•Figures are different scales – some large, some smal...

MAY from THE VERY
RICH HOURS OF THE
DUKE OF BERRY
By: Limbourg Brothers
1413-1416 (15th cen.)
Ink on vellum

•International Gothic
•Full page illustrations
contain the months of
the year for a Book of
Hours
•Limbourg Brothers kept
...

•Top: astrological signs
associated with each
month – for May, Apollo
is riding a chariot
bringing up the dawn
•Naturalism...

•Other scenes:
•FEB: peasants warming
themselves by fire
•MAY: nobles on
horseback in May Day
parade (seen here)
•JULY: pe...

ARNOLFINI WEDDING
By: Jan van Eyck
(he worked mostly in
Antwerp, Belgium)
1434 (15th cen.)
Oil on wood
Go see it at the
Na...

•Tradition says this is
the wedding portrait
of Giovanni Arnolfini
and Giovanna
Cenami – but now
some art historians
think...

•Symbols galore!
•One burning candle
in chandelier –
custom of burning a
candle on the first
night of a wedding
•Shoes off...

•Two figures
(witnesses) in the
mirror – maybe the
artist himself – Jan
van Eyck – the
inscription above
mirror reads “Jan...

•Statue of St.
Margaret, patron
saint of childbirth,
appears on the
bedpost
•Man closer to
window – he makes
a living in t...

•Paint is meticulously
applied
•Great concentration
of minute details
•Let’s see another
one by van Eyck…

MAN IN A RED TURBAN
By: Jan van Eyck
1433 (15th cen.)
Oil on wood

•Maybe a self portrait
of Jan van Eyck?
•Inscription on top of
frame (not shown):
“As I can”, and on
bottom of frame, “Jan...

•Naturalistic portrait –
he even has beard
stubble, wrinkles
•Dramatic turban
draped over the head
•Acceptance of
independ...

Deposition
by:Rogier van der
Weyden

1435 (15th cen.)
Oil on wood

Shallow stage – figures
are squished into a
confined space

•Great attention to
detail, strong emotional
impact

Patrons of the archers’
guild symbolized by the
crossbows in the spandrels

Notice anything about
the figures’ positions?

Figures are in a mirrored
composition: Positions of
Christ and Mary (look!)

Two end figures have
similar poses, Nicodemus...

LAST SUPPER
By: Dirk Bouts
1464-1468
(15th cen.)
Oil on wood

•Influence of
Italian painting =
the development
of one-point
perspective in
Northern art
(perspective seen
here – not bad...

•Biblical drama of
the Last Supper
•The focus here is
on the
seriousness of
the sacrament
being created –
Christ shares
br...

•Figures in
contemporary
dress appear as
servants –
maybe they are
the patrons of
the painting?
•Figures seem
detached and...

Saint Anthony
Tormented by
Demons
By: Martin
Schongauer
1480-1490 (15th cen.)
engraving

•St. Anthony was a 4th
century saint – a hermit
who spent most of his
life in solitude
•At 20, he went into the
wilderness...

•Horrifying demons
and spirits of all types
tormented St.
Anthony – tortured
him close to the
breaking point
•Precise deta...

Let’s see some sculpture
for good measure…

THE WELL OF MOSES
1395-1406
(turn of the
14th/15th century)
limestone

•Large sculptural
fountain with a
Crucifixion
(destroyed) located
over the well
•Six Old Testament
figures surround the
we...

•The well supplied
water for a royally
established
monastery
•Drapery cascades in
solid, heavy waves
down the figures
•Rou...

I’ve saved one of my favorites for last…

UNICORN IS FOUND AT THE FOUNTAIN
From the HUNT OF THE UNICORN tapestry series
1495-1505 (turn of the 15th and 16th century...

•The tapestries in
HUNT OF THE
UNICORN series show
many people and
animals in a dense field
of trees and flowers.
We can s...

“The Start
of the
Hunt”
Look out,
unicorn!

“The
Unicorn
is Found
at the
Fountain
”

“The
Unicorn
Leaps
Out of
the
Stream”

Oh no!

“The
Unicorn
At Bay”

You go,
unicorn!

“The Unicorn
in Captivity”


“The
Unicorn
Is Killed
and
Brought
to the
Castle”

Two
fragments
of a lost
tapestry in
the series

•The unicorn was said to be supernaturally swift and (according to
Medieval tradition) could only be captured by a virgin,...

•People back then thought unicorns were real, and that their horn
(narwhal’s horn) was an antidote to poison
•The unicorn ...

•Other animals have symbolism:
•Lions = valor, faith, courage, mercy, and Resurrection of Christ
(because they breathe lif...

•What are the ducks for? Who knows!
•Flowers and trees = protection and curative powers, each has
religious and secular me...

•“You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride,
an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed” – biblical
love poem that inspir...

VOCABULARY
•ALTARPIECE: a painted or sculpted panel set on an
altar of a church
•BOOK OF HOURS: a book of prayers to be sa...

•ETCHING: a printmaking process in which a metal
plate is covered with a layer of wax. The artist uses a
tool to cut into ...

•POLYPTYCH: a many-paneled altarpiece
•TRIPTYCH: a three-paneled painting or sculpture
•WOODCUT: a printmaking process by ...

FIN

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