In 15th century Northern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula, International Gothic style dominated painting. Flemish paintings featured symbolically rich layers of meaning in crowded compositions. Secular art and architecture became more important. Printmaking was introduced, allowing art to be mass produced for the first time. Rich middle classes supported the arts, fueling the Renaissance. Notable works included Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding and Ghent Altarpiece, both featuring intricate symbolism and realistic details. Hugo van der Goes' Portinari Altarpiece depicted the Virgin Mary in a hospital chapel.

1. 15th Century
Art in Northern
Europe and the
Iberian
Peninsula
1400-1500
Where?
Flanders
(Belgium), Holland,
Germany, and
France

2. So what’s going on in 15th century art
• Active, prosperous capitalist society = strength
• Secular (non-religious) works of architecture are
inspired by Gothic church architecture
• International Gothic style dominates painting
• Flemish painting = symbolically rich layers of
meaning in crowded composition with high horizon
lines
• Secular art/architecture becomes more important
• Printmaking introduced – art can be massproduced! This is revolutionary!

3. Historical Background:
• Trading/merchants – bring affluence to
trading towns, especially Flanders – stimulates
interest in the arts
• First stock exchange established in Antwerp in
1460
• Artwork is marketed and traded
• Cities competed with one another for the
most elaborate cathedrals, town halls, and
altarpieces
• Everyone is trying to be the best in Europe!

4. • Rich middle class supported scholarship,
literature, and the arts
• Their patronage leads to an explosion of
learning and creativity –RENAISSANCE (French
for “rebirth”)
• The RENAISSANCE is based on Petrarch and
other 14th century scholars who believe in
HUMANISM – the power and potential of
human beings
• The art we look at here can be called EARLY
RENAISSANCE

5. Architecture
• Flamboyant Gothic architecture is
so popular that it is used in
secular buildings now
• Monastically-inspired buildings
for the rich and famous of
Northern Europe

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

7. • Home of a rich
entrepreneurial
merchant who
amassed $$$$$$
• First floor:
Business area of
the house,
storage areas,
servant quarters,
shops
• Upper floors: for
family and
entertaining

8. • Gothic details:
window frames,
tracery, arches
• House surrounds
an open interior
courtyard
• Uneven, irregular
plan
• Expression of
capitalism and
development –
let’s spend $$$!
COURTYARD

9. Street façade, House of
Jacques Coeur

10. Remember SaintMaclou in Rouen,
France? Flamboyant!

11. Time for paintings!
• Johann Gutenberg – invents movable type – has
huge impact! - could mass produce books and
make them available to nearly anyone – circulated
print on a large scale
• Gutenberg’s first book, The Bible (surprise surprise)
was printed mechanically, but the decorative
flourishes (initial letters before each chapter, for
example) were hand painted by calligraphers
• Some people don’t like printed books, though. They
missed the fancy handmade ones
• The Limbourg Brothers continued to make
handmade books for wealthy patrons

12. Movable type inspires other mass-produced prints:
• WOODCUT: printmaking process by which a
wooden tablet is carved into with a tool, leaving the
design raised and the background cut away (like a
rubber stamp). Ink is rolled onto the raised portion,
and an impression is made when paper is applied to
the surface – has strong angular surfaces and
sharply delineated lines.

13. • ENGRAVINGS: a
printmaking process in
which a tool called a
BURIN is used to carve
into a metal plate,
causing impressions to be
made in the surface. Ink is
passed into the crevices
of the plate and then
paper is applied – results
in a print with remarkable
details and finely shaded
contours

14. • 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 plate
exposed. The plate goes
into an acid bath – eats
away the exposed
portions of the plate.
Plate is cleaned, ink put in
the crevices caused by
the acid. Paper is applied,
an impression is made –
the finest detail of the
three types of early print
This etching is from the
Italian Renaissance…
More about this in the
next chapter…

15. • Cons of prints: not as “fancy” as hand-made
books/images, not as “original” when multiple
people have the same thing,
• Pros of prints: cheaper to buy, artist still made
profits on reproductions, fame spreads more
quickly with prints because the products went
everywhere (but a painting is just with one owner)
• And speaking of paintings… Oil paint becomes
widespread (before this, tempera was common)
• Oil paint was developed as an alternative in a part
of Europe in which fresco was never that popular (it
doesn’t work for fresco)

16. So what’s so great about oil paint?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Developed in Flanders in early Renaissance
Super rich colors
Accurately imitates natural hues and tones
Good for achieving fine details
Preserves well in wet climates
Retains its luster for a long time
Dries slowly – allows the artist to make changes
over time (tempera and fresco dry super fast)
• Has remained the medium of choice for most artists
even today (like Mrs. Smolinski!)

17. • Painted altarpieces were a big deal
– artists take pride in them since
they’re on public display in very
conspicuous locations
• Italian altarpieces from the age of
Giotto tend to be flat paintings
that stand directly behind an altar,
often with gabled tops, such as….

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

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

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

22. Reverse side of
MAESTA
-shows the life
of Mary AND
the life of Christ
in 43 small
scenes
Back and front –
two for one!

23. • Northern European altarpieces are
cupboards rather than screens
• They have wings that open and
close and fold into one another
• Large central scene is most
important – sometimes carved
rather than painted
• Let’s see some examples…

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

25. •Built to be portable (as are other small altarpieces)
•Meticulous handling of paint, intricate details
•Steeply rising ground line (floor looks tilted up)
•Figures too large for architecture they sit in!

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

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

28. •Center panel:
Annunciation taking
place in everyday
Flemish interior
•Humanizing of
traditional themes –
no halos, domestic
interior, view into a
Flemish cityscape

29. •There’s a LOT of symbolism here:
•Towels and water are Mary’s purity –water = baptism
•Flowers have three buds symbolizing the Trinity –
unopened bud is the unborn Jesus (lilies = purity)

30. •Mary seated on the floor – shows her humility
•Mary blocks the fireplace (entrance to hell!)
•Candlestick – Christ is the light of the world (in
Mary’s womb)

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

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

33. •Altarpieces like this one usually have a painted scene on the
outside, visible during the week.
•On Sundays, the interior of the altarpiece is exposed to view
•Some elaborate altarpieces have a third view for holidays

34. This is a view of the interior

35. •Interior top: God the Father in center sits in
majesty wearing pope’s crown, surrounded
by Mary and John the Baptist, choirs of
angels flank them, Adam and Eve in corners

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

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

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

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

41. •Northern European artists liked International Gothic
painting – a courtly, elegant art form (like Martini, in
the 14th century)
•Thin, graceful figures with S-shaped curve (like Late
Gothic sculpture)
•Natural looking, fine details
•Splendid costumes, latest fashions, fine fabrics
•Gold used a lot – indicates wealth of figures and
patrons who sponsored the artwork
•Carefully rendered architecture – walls of buildings
open up so viewer can look into the interior
•Paintings often have elaborate frames that match
the fancy painting style

42. 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 quite
right? Tops of flat surfaces tilt up – high horizon line

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

44. •Placed in the family chapel of Sant’ Egidio in
Florence, Florence’s largest hospital
•Placement in a maternity hospital chapel influences
subject matter
•Continuous landscape throughout the three panels

45. •Mary is central, St. Margaret (patron saint of
childbirth…mental note…) is in the right wing
•Baby Jesus appears thin – simulates a newborn
•Christ lies on a sheaf of wheat – symbolizes the
sacredness of the Eucharist

46. •Plants in foreground have medicinal value and
symbolic associations
•Figures are different scales – some large, some small
•Symbolism is a BIG deal in Northern European
paintings like this one (scholars continue debates)

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

48. •International Gothic
•Full page illustrations
contain the months of
the year for a Book of
Hours
•Limbourg Brothers kept
making illustrated books,
even after print was
possible

49. •Top: astrological signs
associated with each
month – for May, Apollo
is riding a chariot
bringing up the dawn
•Naturalism of details:
meticulously rendered
castles, cast shadows
•Nobility and serfs
strictly emphasized –
they’re in different areas
of the painting

50. •Other scenes:
•FEB: peasants warming
themselves by fire
•MAY: nobles on
horseback in May Day
parade (seen here)
•JULY: peasants
harvesting wheat and
shearing sheep
•OCT: peasants planting
winter wheat

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

55. •Tradition says this is
the wedding portrait
of Giovanni Arnolfini
and Giovanna
Cenami – but now
some art historians
think this it may be a
memorial to a
deceased wife, a
legal contract scene,
or simply a wedding
betrothal. Hmmmm.

56. •Symbols galore!
•One burning candle
in chandelier –
custom of burning a
candle on the first
night of a wedding
•Shoes off – standing
on holy ground
•Prayerful, promising
pose of groom
•Dog = fidelity or
carnality

57. •Two figures
(witnesses) in the
mirror – maybe the
artist himself – Jan
van Eyck – the
inscription above
mirror reads “Jan van
Eyck was here 1434”
•Wife pulls up dress
to symbolize
childbirth, but she’s
not pregnant

58. •Statue of St.
Margaret, patron
saint of childbirth,
appears on the
bedpost
•Man closer to
window – he makes
a living in the outside
world. Woman is
farther in the room –
she’s a homemaker

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

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

61. •Maybe a self portrait
of Jan van Eyck?
•Inscription on top of
frame (not shown):
“As I can”, and on
bottom of frame, “Jan
van Eyck made me
1433, 21 October”
•Looks at the viewer
with an unbroken
stare

62. •Naturalistic portrait –
he even has beard
stubble, wrinkles
•Dramatic turban
draped over the head
•Acceptance of
independent selfportraits implies an
increased secular
society (ie: not
EVERYTHING has to
have Christian
meaning!)

63. Deposition
by:Rogier van der
Weyden
1435 (15th cen.)
Oil on wood

64. Shallow stage – figures
are squished into a
confined space
•Great attention to
detail, strong emotional
impact

65. Patrons of the archers’
guild symbolized by the
crossbows in the spandrels
Notice anything about
the figures’ positions?

66. Figures are in a mirrored
composition: Positions of
Christ and Mary (look!)
Two end figures have
similar poses, Nicodemus
and figure holding Mary
have similar poses

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

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

69. •Biblical drama of
the Last Supper
•The focus here is
on the
seriousness of
the sacrament
being created –
Christ shares
bread and wine
with his disciples
(becomes his
body and blood)

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

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

72. •St. Anthony was a 4th
century saint – a hermit
who spent most of his
life in solitude
•At 20, he went into the
wilderness to spend time
in prayer, to study, and
to do manual labor
(sounds like fun!). He
underwent and
overcame violent
spiritual and physical
temptations

73. •Horrifying demons
and spirits of all types
tormented St.
Anthony – tortured
him close to the
breaking point
•Precise details,
vibrant forms – thin,
emaciated figures

74. Let’s see some sculpture
for good measure…
THE WELL OF MOSES
1395-1406
(turn of the
14th/15th century)
limestone

75. •Large sculptural
fountain with a
Crucifixion
(destroyed) located
over the well
•Six Old Testament
figures surround the
well
•Water symbolically
represents the blood
of Christ washing
over and cleansing
the figures around
the well

76. •The well supplied
water for a royally
established
monastery
•Drapery cascades in
solid, heavy waves
down the figures
•Rounded solid
forms
•Moses holds a copy
of his writings; holds
the position as
messenger between
God and his people

79. I’ve saved one of my favorites for last…

81. UNICORN IS FOUND AT THE FOUNTAIN
From the HUNT OF THE UNICORN tapestry series
1495-1505 (turn of the 15th and 16th century)
Wool, silk, and metallic thread. It’s about 12’x12’
Check it out at the
Cloisters Museum
in NYC! It’s so
awesome!

82. •The tapestries in
HUNT OF THE
UNICORN series show
many people and
animals in a dense field
of trees and flowers.
We can see a
castle/town far off in
the distance
•The rich colors are
even better in person –
the series is in really
good condition…

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

84. “The
Unicorn
is Found
at the
Fountain
”

85. “The
Unicorn
Leaps
Out of
the
Stream”
Oh no!

86. “The
Unicorn
At Bay”
You go,
unicorn!

87. “The Unicorn
in Captivity”


88. “The
Unicorn
Is Killed
and
Brought
to the
Castle”

89. Two
fragments
of a lost
tapestry in
the series

90. •The unicorn was said to be supernaturally swift and (according to
Medieval tradition) could only be captured by a virgin, to whom it
would come willingly
•Unicorn = symbol of the Incarnation (Christ is the unicorn captured
by the Virgin Mary), and also a metaphor for romance and love.
•Unicorn – important
animal in the
Medieval “bestiary”
– encyclopedia of
real and imaginary
animals that had
moral/practical value

91. •People back then thought unicorns were real, and that their horn
(narwhal’s horn) was an antidote to poison
•The unicorn below dips its horn in the fountain to purify the water
•Unicorn is just doing something nice, and the people capture and kill
it – parallel to Christ’s death on the cross to save humanity
•Red roses growing
behind unicorn may
be symbols of Mary
and the Passion
(Christ’s death) – the
tapestries might be
celebrating
Christianity (or be a
wedding gift?)

92. •Other animals have symbolism:
•Lions = valor, faith, courage, mercy, and Resurrection of Christ
(because they breathe life into their cubs, aww)
•Stag = the Resurrection (it sheds and grows its antlers – rebirth!),
and protector against poisonous serpents and general evil.
•Rabbits = fertility
(that makes sense)
•Dogs = fidelity
•Pair of pheasants =
human love and
marriage
•Goldfinch = fertility
and the Passion of
Christ

93. •What are the ducks for? Who knows!
•Flowers and trees = protection and curative powers, each has
religious and secular meaning
•Strawberries = sexual love
•Periwinkle = cures
•Pansy = remembrance
jealously
•Oak tree = fidelity
•Beech = nobility
•Holly = protection
against evil
•Hawthorn = power of
love
•Pomegranate and
orange = fertility

94. •“You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride,
an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed” – biblical
love poem that inspired the park-like setting with its
fountain front and center.
The hunt for the
unicorn was a
common theme in
late Medieval and
Renaissance works
of art and literature.

95. VOCABULARY
•ALTARPIECE: a painted or sculpted panel set on an
altar of a church
•BOOK OF HOURS: a book of prayers to be said at
different times of day, days of the year
•DONOR: a patron of a work of art, who is often seen
in that work
•ENGRAVING: a printmaking process in which a tool
called a BURIN is used to carve into a metal plate,
causing impressions to be made in the surface. Ink is
passed into the crevices of the plate and paper is
applied. The result is a print with remarkable details
and finely shaded contours

96. •ETCHING: a printmaking process in which a metal
plate is covered with a layer of wax. The artist uses a
tool to cut into the wax to leave the plate exposed.
The plate is then submerged in an acid bath, which
eats away the exposed portions of the plate. The plate
is removed from the acid, cleaned, and ink is filled
into the crevices caused by the acid. Paper is applied
and an impression is made. Etching produces the
finest detail of the three types of early prints.
•GRISAILLE: (pronounced “gri-zahy”) a painting done
in neutral shades of gray to simulate the look of
sculpture

97. •POLYPTYCH: a many-paneled altarpiece
•TRIPTYCH: a three-paneled painting or sculpture
•WOODCUT: a printmaking process by which a
wooden table is carved into with a tool, leaving the
design raised and the background cut away (like a
rubber stamp). Ink is rolled onto the raised portions,
and an impression is made when paper is applied to
the surface. Woodcuts have strong angular surfaces
with sharply delineated lines.

98. FIN