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PIETY, PASSION, AND POLITICS
FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ART IN NORTHERN
EUROPE AND SPAIN
TEXT PAGES 544-571
List two factors that contributed to the development of cities in the fifteenth
century:
a. The migration of a significant portion of the rural population to urban
centers.
b.The thriving commerce, industry, and finance of Europe’s economic
development, spurred by the first international commercial stock exchange.
FRENCH MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION
1. What is a Book of Hours? A book used for reciting prayers. They replaced
traditional psalters, which had been the only liturgical books in private hands
until the mid-13th century. The centerpiece was the Office of the Blessed
Virgin, which contained liturgical passages to be read privately at set times
during the day. An illustrated calendar containing local religious feast days
usually proceeded the Office. Penitential psalms, devotional prayers, litanies
to the saints, and other prayers followed the centerpiece.
2. Name the artists who illuminated the Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry shown
in FIGS 20-1 and 20-2: The three Limbourg Brothers, Pol (possibly Paul),
Hennequin (possibly Jean or Jan), and Herman.
3. Describe the stylistic characteristics that link the illuminations done by the
Limbourg brothers with fourteenth-century Sienese painting:
a. Growing artistic interest in naturalism.
b. Close observation of the natural world and
c. Convincing shadows cast by the people and objects.
d. Depiction of a perceptual reality, as shown by the architectural detail.
15TH CENTURY FLEMISH ART
1. Name two northern dukes who are generally considered to have been the
greatest patrons of the arts in northern Europe in the late fourteenth and early
fifteenth centuries:
a. Philip the Bold
b. Duc du Berry (Duke of Berry).
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2. What was the symbolic meaning of the Well of Moses at the Chartresuse de
Champmol (FIG. 20-3)?
A symbolic fountain of life, with the Blood of Christ flowing down over the
Old Testament prophets, washing away their sins into the well below. It
represents the promise of everlasting life.
3. What new feature is seen in Broderlam’s wings from the Retable de Champmol
(FIG. 20-4)?
The multi-image format allowed artists to construct narratives through a
sequence of images, somewhat like manuscript illumination.
Name two medieval conventions he retains:
a. Flat gold background.
b. Staid treatment of figures and the traditional halos.
4. Define the following terms:
polyptych
Hinged multipanel paintings.
retable
An architectural screen or wall above and behind an altar, usually containing
painting, sculpture, carving, or other decorations.
triptych
A three-paneled painting or altarpiece.
5. What is the general theme of the Ghent Altarpiece (FIGS. 20-5 and 20-6)?
Humanity’s Redemption.
Write the subjects of the various panels in the corresponding spaces below:
Top:
Adam – a choir of angels - Mary (Queen of Heaven) - God the Father – St. John
the Baptist – an angel playing the organ - Eve
Bottom:
Judges - knights - community of saints from the four corners of the earth
proceeding toward the altar of the Lamb (the sacrificed Son of God) and the
octagonal fountain of life – hermits – pilgrims
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What is symbolized by the following groups on the lower wings?
hermits: ____Temperance____
judges: ____Justice______________
pilgrims: ____Prudence______
knights: ___Fortitude____________
6.What painting technique was perfected by fifteenth-century Flemish painters?
Oil.
Briefly describe the technique:
Layers are laid down in transparent glazes over opaque or semiopaque
underlayers. Painters could build up deep tones through repeated glazing.
In what respects did it prove superior to the tempera technique?
Oils dry more uniformly and slowly, providing the artist more time to rework
areas and permitting the mixing of pigments.
7. In contrast to the complex symbolism of Jan van Eyck, what did Rogier van
der Weyden stress in his paintings?
Human action and drama.
List three characteristics of his style:
a. The figures and action are compressed onto a shallow stage to concentrate
the observer’s attention.
b. Crisp drawing and precise modeling of forms.
c. Compositional unity is created through a series of lateral undulating
movements, strengthened by psychological means, namely the anguish
shared by many figures.
8. Describe the role played by the Guild of Saint Luke in the life of the northern
painters in the fifteenth century and the way in which a young man attained
membership in the guild:
As in Italy, boys were apprenticed to a master at an early age. The master
taught the fundamentals of the craft: how to make implements, how to
prepare panels, and how to mix colors, oils, and varnishes. Once he mastered
these techniques, a painter worked as a journeyman in various cities, learning
from other masters. He was then eligible to become a master and applied for
admission to the guild. He obtained commissions through the guild. The
guild also inspected his paintings to ensure that he used quality materials and
to evaluate workmanship.
9. How did most women artists receive their training during the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries?
From their husbands and fathers who were painters.
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10. Name the two fifteenth-century Flemish painters who demonstrated the
greatest interest in the depiction of space and cubic form.
a. Dirk Bouts
b. Hugo van der Goes
11. Scholars believe that Dirk Bouts was the first northern artist to utilize a single
vanishing point for construction of an architectural interior.
12. What is the symbolic meaning of the following items in the central panel of
the Portinari Altarpiece (FIG. 20-10)?
Iris and columbine:
The Sorrows of the Virgin.
Sheaf of wheat:
Bethlehem (“house of bread” in Hebrew).
Harp of David:
The ancestry of Christ.
13. In what sort of subject matter did Hans Memling specialize?
Images of the Madonna.
Briefly describe his style:
The Madonna is a young, slight, pretty princess holding a doll-like Christ.
The pictorial style is opulent with rich, luminous colors, carefully depicted
tapestries, and serene figures. The composition is balanced and serene. The
execution is of the highest technical quality.
14. List two factors that contributed to the great demand for images for private
devotion:
a. Dissatisfaction with the clergy.
b. Popular reform movements advocated personal devotion.
15. What effect did the blending of sacred and secular have upon the way
devotional images were painted?
Biblical scenes were often presented as happening in a Flemish house.
16. Who was the Master of Flémalle?
Robert Campin.
List three characteristics of his style:
a. Every object functions as a religious symbol.
b. Attention to detail: carefully rendered architecture and the carpenter’s shop
is inventoried completely.
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c. The Mérode Altarpiece is personalized to the patron with references to the
patron’s name and his wife’s name, and the setting is definitively Flemish.
17. What do the book, candle, water jug and towels symbolize in the Mérode
Altarpiece (FIG. 20-12)?
Mary’s purity and divine mission.
18. What is the probable purpose of the painting Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride
(FIG. 20-13)?
Most think it is to record and sanctify the marriage; other think Arnolfini is
conferring legal privileges to his wife to conduct business in his absence.
List four symbols contained in the painting and give their meanings:
a. Whisk broom--symbolic of domestic care.
b. Oranges--fertility.
c. The single candle in the chandelier--God’s all-seeing eye.
d. The dog--fidelity.
19. What is the setting of Christus’ painting that is identified with the legend of
Saint Eligius (FIG. 20-15)?
Saint Eligius was a master goldsmith before committing his life to God. The
painting is set in a goldsmith’s shop.
Who might have commissioned it?
The guild of goldsmiths for their guild chapel.
20. What is new and significant about the pose of the Man in a Red Turban (FIG.
20-16)?
This is the first Western painted portrait where the subject looks directly at
the viewer.
21. List the Flemish characteristics of Rogier’s Portrait of a Lady (FIG. 20-17) that
distinguish it from the work of Italian artists such as Ghirlandaio (FIG. 21-31)
a. Her demeanor seems pious and reserved rather than stern or simply
uncharacterized.
b. Three-quarters view instead of a formal profile.
c. Little emphasis on surface detail; instead, he defined large, simple planes
and volumes, achieving an effect of dignity and grace.
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22. What are the primary subjects of the panels of Bosch’s Garden of Earthly
Delights (FIG. 20-18)?
Left: God presenting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Center: Nude people cavorting in a landscape dotted with bizarre creatures
and objects that suggest procreation. Might be a Last Judgment scene.
Right: The horrors of Hell.
Exterior: It is in the form of a triptych.
15TH CENTURY FRENCH ART
List two features of Fouquet’s panel (FIG. 20-19) that are similar to Flemish donor
portraits:
a. The donor appears in the left panel with his patron saint. The donor is
kneeling with hands clasped in prayer, and the saint appears with the
instrument of his martyrdom.
b. The three-quarter stances of the figures and the clear, sharp focus.
15TH CENTURY GERMAN ART
1. Name two groups of people who were the primary patrons in fifteenth century
Germany:
a. Wealthy merchants.
b. Clergy.
2. Describe the stylistic features that differentiate Lochner’s version of the
Madonna in the Rose Garden (FIG. 20-20) with Giotto’s Madonna Enthroned (FIG.
19-7).
The Madonna is in a garden rather than a throne, and is more informally
portrayed (sitting on the ground) than an imposing queen in an architectural
frame. The ground tilts steeply up, while there is no ground at all in the
Giotto. The angels are cherubs rather than full-grown adults.
3. List three characteristics of the style of Konrad Witz:
a. Skillful depiction of water effects.
b. Extremely careful depiction of landscape, one of the first depicting a
specific site.
c. Figures are emotional and natural.
4. What subject did Stoss depict in the center of the Krakow altarpiece (FIG. 2022)?
The Virgin’s death and Assumption.
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List three typical Late Gothic characteristics of his style:
a. Realism in every minute detail.
b. The figures are engulfed in twisting, writing drapery that unites the whole
tableau in emotion.
c. The massing of sharp, broken, and pierced forms that dart flamelike
through the composition recalls Late Gothic architecture.
5. What mood is most typically expressed in the figures carved by
Riemenschneider (FIG. 20-23)? Psychic strain.
6. Define the following terms associated with graphics:
burin An incising tool used to scratch onto copper plates for relief prints.
Engraving The process of manually incising an image onto a copper plate.
Etching Chemicals are used to create an image on a copper plate for relief
printing. The plate is put in an acid bath that eats into the exposed parts of
the plate. When the plate is inked and then wiped clean, the ink is forced
into the incisions.
Intaglio A positive relief process. An artist incises or scratches an image on a
metal plate, often copper, either manually (engraving) or with chemicals
(etching). The incised plate and paper are run through a roller press, and
the paper absorbs the remaining ink.
Relief Artists carve into a surface, usually wood. An image is created in a
negative or positive method. Negative reliefs require removing the surface
area around the image; when the surface is inked, the carved-out area
remains clean and a positive image is formed when the block is pressed
against paper.
woodcut Relief images that tend to exhibit stark contrasts and sharp edges
because it is difficult to create very thin, fluid and closely spaced lines in a
subtractive process. Using a gouging instrument, artists remove sections
of wood blocks, sawing along the grain. The ridges that are left are inked
and press the image onto the paper.
7. What is the Nuremberg Chronicle?
A history of the world produced in the shop of Michel Wolgemut in
Nuremburg.
What technique was used to produce it?
The newly-invented letterpress and hand-colored woodcut prints.
8. In what medium did Martin Schongauer work? Metal engraving.
Briefly characterize his style:
He created marvelous distinctions of tonal values and textures through
hatching.
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15TH CENTRY SPANISH ART
1. Name and describe the architectural style that was popular in Spain during the
late 15th and 16th centuries:
Plateresque. It featured conspicuously decorative exteriors that bear no
functional relation to the underlying architectural forms. The intertwined,
lacelike tracery is reminiscent of Moorish design.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Compare Sluter’s figure of Moses (FIG. 20-3) with Donatello’s Saint Mark (FIG.
21-7). In what way do the figures typify the concerns of northern and Italian
artists.
2. Compare the treatment of the architecture and landscape in the work by the
Limbourg Brothers (FIG. 20-2) with that in Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Effects of
Good Government (FIG. 19-15 and 19-16). In what ways are they similar? In
what ways do they differ?
3. Masaccio’s Holy Trinity fresco (FIG. 21-12) and Campin’s Merode Altarpiece
(FIG. 20-12) were painted about the same time . Compare them from the point
of view of scale, medium, and treatment of space. Does Campin use linear
perspective? Identify the orthogonals in each and locate the vanishing point,
if one exists. How do the two works reflect the different concerns of Italian
and northern artists?
4. How does Jan van Eyck’s approach to portraiture as shown in his self portrait
(FIG. 20-16) differ from the approach of Italian portraitists, for example
Botticelli’s Portrait of a Youth (FIG. 21-28)?
5. Discuss the Portinari Altarpiece (FIG. 20-10) by Hugo van der Goes; note
especially the iconography and the meaning of the disguised symbols. What
stylistic influence do you see from Jan van Eyck? How does this altarpiece
differ from Van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece (FIG. 20-5 and 20-6)?
6. Compare Schongauer’s Saint Anthony (FIG. 20-25) with Mantegna’s
representation of Saint James (FIG. 21-47) from the points of view of
technique, meaning, and emotional impact. What stylistic devices were used
to achieve the differing effects?
7. Compare Rogier van der Weyden’s Deposition (FIG. 20-7) with a similar subject
by Giotto (FIG. 19-9). Which moves you most? Why?
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LOOKING CAREFULLY, DESCRIBING AND ANALYZING
Look carefully at the October page by the Limbourg brothers from the Tres Riches
Heures du duc de Berry shown on page 544 and in FIG. 20-2. Write at least one
page analyzing the image, using the following terms: form and composition;
material and technique; space, mass and volume, line, and color. Here are
some questions that might help you with your analysis, but do not be limited
by them. Describe each object that you see, starting from the bottom of the
composition and going to the very top. How do the artists approach the
composition? How do they divide the composition and how do they
indicate that the space is three dimensional? How do the artists describe
architectural and natural forms? How are human figures related to the
environment both in scale and position.
MAP QUESTION
Circle the following on the map below:
Ghent
Bruges
Beaune
Cologne
Isenheim
Indicate the territory controlled by the Dukes of Burgundy in another color.
MAP 20-1 Europe in the 15th century.
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