The document summarizes developments in 15th century northern European art, focusing on Burgundy and Flanders. It discusses: - The Dukes of Burgundy who ruled Flanders and were important patrons of the arts, including Philip the Bold and Philip the Good. - How Flemish artists like the Van Eyck brothers and Robert Campin pioneered oil painting techniques and created highly realistic, detailed works. - Manuscripts like the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry with its lavish illuminations and depictions of monthly activities. - Important works commissioned for churches, such as Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece and Campin's Merode Altarpiece

2. Dukes of Burgundy—most powerful rulers of
northern Europe for most of the 15th
c.
– Philip the Bold of Burgundy
– Jean Duke of Berry--enthusiastic art collector—
known for the Tres Riches Heures
– Philip the Good of Burgundy—court painters Jan
van Eyck

3. Burgundy and Flanders
• In the 15th century, Flanders (more or less
equivalent to modern Belgium, Holland, and
parts of northern France) was part of the
Duchy of Burgundy, a region in what is today
east-central France.
• Philip the Bold controlled Flanders. Through
marriage he acquired Bruges (wool, banking)
• He built a major “charter house” in Dijon,
France to be a ducal mausoleum.

4. Charteuse (charter house) de Champmol
• One of Philip the Bold’s most lavish projects
• Chartusian monks were dedicated exclusively
to prayer and solitary meditation.
• The monks did not provide for themselves.

5. Charteuse (charter house) de Champmol
• The monastery, intended to be the burying
place of the Prince of Burgundy, Philip the
Bold and his family.
• Claus Sluter—in charge of sculptural program
• Melchior Broederlam—altarpiece—carved
and painted

6. • Some Flemish sculpture shows an intense
observation of natural appearances.
• In painting, the new oil technique was used to
enhance the naturalistic representation of
figures and objects with meticulous detail.
• In both sculpture and painting, textures are
skillfully and minutely differentiated.
• Medieval ideas and conventions, however,
persist in the treatment of space, scale, and
figure proportions.

7. Moses
rendered as physically and
psychologically distinct
individual--sad eyes,
wrinkles
Sluter looked at the
individual in new way--as a
ponderous mass defined by
voluminous drapery.
Claus Sluter, Well of Moses1395-1406

9. Nicola Piasan, Pisa pulpit
Classical and Medieval Style: fusion of International Gothic and
northern realism

10. International style characteristics:
• Slender, gracefully posed figures
• Delicate features framed by masses of curling hair
• Extraordinarily complex headdresses
• Noble men and women in rich brocaded and
embroidered fabrics and elaborate jewelry
• Landscape and architectural minaturized
• Details of nature--leaves, flowers, insects, birds--
rendered by nearly microscopic detail
• Spatial recession--rising tiled floors
• Buildings open at front (ala stage set)
• Fanciful mountains and meadows--high horizon
lines
• Light, bright colors and liberal use of gold

11. Melchior Broederlam
• The Dijon Altarpiece
• 1393-99
oil on panel 5’5 ¾”x4’1 ¼”
• Broederlam's use of oil paint had a strong
impact on the painters of the following
generation, including Robert Campin and Jan
van Eyck.
• The spatial arrangements recall Duccio

12. Outer wings Retalbe (altarpiece) de Champmol:
Annunication and Visitation; Presentation and Flight into Egypt, installed 1339, Dijon. panels each 65x49”

19. Although the perspective
is far from fully
developed, light and
shadow are used to create
a sense of depth in a very
advanced fashion, and the
realistic depiction of
Saint Joseph was to become
characteristic of
Netherlandish painting.

21. LIMBOURG brothers
(Herman, Jean, Paul)
Flemish painters
(b. 1370-80, Nijmegen, d. 1416, Nijmegen)
The Limbourg Brothers began the Tres Riches
Heures about 1413 (died of the Plague 1416…some
pages unfinished)
Tres Riches Heures
(Very Sumptuous Book of
Hours)
Patron: John the
Good..the Duke of Berry

22. Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
(The Very Sumptuous House of the Duke of Berry)
(1340-1416)
"the king of the illuminated manuscripts"
• Calendar: zodiac signs and labors of the
month
• Gospel readings: portraits of the evangelists
• Little office of the Virgin (hours)

23. The month of giving
gifts (a custom which
seems to have died
out now). Jean de
Berry himself can be
seen on the right,
wearing the brilliant
blue robe.
John is singled out
by the red cloth of
honor with his
heraldic arms--swans
and the lilies of
France--and by a
large fire screen
that circles his head
liked a secular halo.

25. Tapestry on the back walls depicts scenes from Homer’s Battle of Troy…
theatrical backdrop to court celebrations.
Tapestries had three major themes: religion; courtly love and heroic themes.
The story of the Trojan Was were particularly popular. The French royal family
traced its ancestry back to the family of the great Trojan prince, Hector.

26. February
Winter in a peasant village.
The inhabitants of a farm are
shown warming themselves
by the fire, while in the
background daily life - cutting
wood, taking cattle to the
market - goes on as normal.
International Gothic
characteristics: high
placement of the horizon line,
small size of trees and
buildings in relation to people,
cutaway view of house (ala
stage).

27. October
Tilling and sowing are being
carried out by the peasants, in
the shadow of the Louvre -
Charles V's royal palace in
Paris.

28. Flanders
• Strong economy based on wool, textile and
international trade
• Patrons: civic groups, town councils and
wealthy merchants
• Cities: self-governed and largely independent
of the landed nobility
• Guilds oversaw nearly every aspect of their
members’ lives

29. Flemish artists:
• Known for exquisite illuminated manuscripts,
tapestries and stained glass
• Perfected technique of painting with oil
– Slow to dry
– Luminous quality
Robert Campin (or Master of Flemalle) ran a
workshop in Belgium

30. Campin, Robert (the Master of Flemalle) Merode Altarpiece
c. 1425 Triptych, oil on wood
The Annunciation was a popular subject but…Campin placed the supernatural event in and
everyday setting.

31. Lively
narrative and
bold three-
dimensional
treatment of
figures
reminiscent of
the sculptural
style of Claus
Sluter

33. Donor portraits became popular in the 15th
c.
Peter Inghelbrecht, wealthy merchant, his
name means “angel bringer”
The wife’s name, Scrynmakers means “cabinet
or shrine maker”

34. Jan van Eyck
Campin’s contemporary…painted
for the court of Philip the
Good…Jan perfected the medium
of oil by building up his
images in very thin
transparent oil layers.

35. Philip the Good,
(van der Weyden)
Duke of Burgundy
1419-1467
In 1430 Philip the Good
handed Joan of Arc over to
the English

36. The Crucifixion and the Last
Judgment (Metropolitan
Museum)

37. Madonna in the Church
c. 1425
Oil on wood
The asymmetric composition,
unusual at Van Eyck, is
explained by the fact that this
panel was the left wing of a
diptych.

38. The Virgin of
Chancellor Rolin
1435
Wood, 66 x 62 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

41. The Ghent Altarpiece (wings
closed)
1432
Oil on wood

43. The Offering of Abel and Cain The Killing of Abel

46. Man in a Turban
1433
“As I can” (The best I am
capable of doing)…
humanist spirit of the
age and confident
expression of an artist
who knows his
capabilities and is proud
to display them.

47. Giovanni Arnolfini, a
prosperous Italian
banker who had settled
in Bruges, and his wife
Giovanna Cenami, stand
side by side in the bridal
chamber, facing
towards the viewer. The
husband is holding out
his wife's hand.
“Johannes de eyck fuit
hic 1434 (Jan van Eych
was present, 1434)

50. • It is uncertain that the picture
depicts an actual marriage
ceremony. The Latin inscription
on the back wall, 'Jan van Eyck
was here/1434', has been
interpreted as the artist's
witness to their marriage, but
may simply attest to his
authorship of the painting,
• his creation of 'here'.
The mirror is the focal point of
the whole composition.

51. • The central motif of the
painting, the so-called
'joining of hands', has
long been recognized as
a special gesture with a
specific meaning. It has
been the subject of
debate for decades.

52. • Oranges placed on the
low table and the
windowsill are a reminder
of an original innocence,
of an age before sin.
Unless, that is, they are
not in fact oranges but
apples (it is difficult to be
certain), in which case
they would represent the
temptation of knowledge
and the Fall.

53. • The small dog
in the
foreground is
an emblem of
fidelity and
love.

54. • The clogs and
outdoor sandals
which the
couple have
removed might
be typical
wedding
presents, or
represent the
taking of shoes
in a sacred
precincts.

56. Giovanni Arnolfini, a
prosperous Italian
banker who had settled
in Bruges, and his wife
Giovanna Cenami, stand
side by side in the bridal
chamber, facing
towards the viewer. The
husband is holding out
his wife's hand.
“Johannes de eyck fuit
hic 1434 (Jan van Eych
was present, 1434)

57. Deposition in the Prado, Madrid
by Rogier van der WEYDEN
Altarpiece commissioned by the Crossbowmen’s Guild,
Belgium before 1443,oil on panel
Renowned for his dynamic compositions stressing human action and drama.

60. • In the
decoration of
the upper left
corner a bow
can be seen.
The explanation
is that the
altarpiece was
commissioned
by the
Confraternity of
the Archers of
Leuven for a
church, now
demolished,
outside the city
walls.

62. • The grief stricken
woman (who may be
Mary Salome) reflects
the attitude of Mary
Magdalene on the
right of the panel. In
keeping with her
advanced age and the
distribution of various
elements of
movement
throughout the
picture, however, she
expresses her
emotion in a rather
restrained, less
extrovert way.

63. St Luke Drawing a Portrait
of Virgin Mary
Rogier van der Weyden
about 1434-1440
Oil on panel, 137.5 x 111
cm
Boston, Museum of Fine
Arts

65. about 1434-14401435

66. Rogier van der Weyden,
Portrait of a Lady
c. 1455

68. St. Eligius, as a Goldsmith,
Hands the Wedding Couple
a Ring (Petrus Christus
1469)

69. The Portinari Triptych
by Hugo van der GOES

70. Portinari Altarpiece (open) c.1474
tempera and oil on panel

72. • The Adoration of the Shepherds, the most important
work by the greatest Netherlandish painter of the
late 15th century, has a unique historical and artistic
significance. The altar was donated to the Florentine
church of San Egidio by Tommaso Portinari, who
since 1465 had been living in princely style in Bruges
as manager of the Medici family's commercial
interests. The central panel is flanked by two wings
depicting other members of the Portinari family and
the family's patron saints, with a grisaille
Annunciation on their reverse.

78. 15th
century French Art
Jean Fouquet
Melun Diptych
c.1451 oil on wood

79. Etienne Chevalier (treasurer of France) and Saint Stephen and Virgin and Child
Diptych rendered in meticulous detail (recalls Flemish art)
Virgin modeled after mistress (who had recently died) of K. Charles VII

80. Virgin and Child

81. 15th
century German Art
New medium: printmaking
Gutenberg invented movable type, but
the roots of printing lie in the ancient
Near East.
The technique of manufacturing paper
came to Europe from the Islamic
regions.

82. Graphics
by Martin SCHONGAUER

83. • The Man of Sorrows
with the Virgin Mary
and St John the
Evangelist
• 1470-75
Copper-plate engraving
• One of the
earliest
engravings of
Schongauer,
showing the
influence of
Rogier van der
Weyden.

84. • Adoration of the Magi
• c. 1475
• The scene is as concentrated as
Rogier's, but more naturalistic
and modern in its spatial
development. Different colors
and material textures, such as
the eldest king's velvet robe,
are very well suggested in the
engraving.

85. • Temptation of St
Anthony
-
Copper engraving
• Wide range of
tonal values and
a rhythmic
quality of line
• Textures—spiky,
scaly, leathery,
furry—enhance
the expressive
impact of the
image

86. The End