Northern Renaissance
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NORTHERN RENAISSANCE, 1400 - 1500
I.
OVERVIEW
A. Time period
a. Northern Renaissance refers to artistic developments in
Northern Europe (Flanders, Netherlands, Germany,
England) during the 1400’s and 1500’s
b. The Renaissance was developing in the Northern Europe
contemporaneously with the Italian Renaissance.
B. Locations
a. Burgundy
 Southwestern France to southern Belgium
 Rivals of France, often siding with the English
 Ruled by powerful dukes who were patrons of the arts
b. Flanders
 Modern-day Belgium, southern Netherlands
 Cosmopolitan cities
 Prosperity based upon wool and banking
 Painters from the region are known as Flemish
c. Netherlands
 Present-day Holland
 Painters from this region are known as Netherlandish
C. Rich Artistic Tradition
a. Pioneered the use of oil paints in the 1300’s. Painters from
Flanders travelled down to Italy in search of commissions
from wealthy Italian patrons. Flemish painters interacted
with Italian painters in some of the big cities and shared the
medium of oil painting. The Venetians would be among the
earliest Italians to capitalize on this medium
b. Renowned for exquisite detail in their paintings made
possible by the lengthy drying time of oil paint.
c. Noted for the use of “disguised symbolism” – everyday
objects have hidden meanings
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d.
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Figures in many Northern Renaissance paintings look a little
strange by the Italian Renaissance standards. People often
have slightly elongated heads and strange-looking faces, but
overall their proportions are realistic. Northern Renaissance
painting lacks the classical references found in Italian art.
However, Northern Renaissance art does
have great detail and what is painted tends to
be very specific and individualized, even
when the subject is idealized. Very specific
clothes and facial type.
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Example: Compare Jan van Eyck’s Adam and Eve
from the Ghent Altarpiece to Masaccio’s Adam and
Even Expelled from Eden in the Brancacci Chapel
(later unit).
 Notice how different their bodies look
D. THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER
a. DEVELOPMENT OF OIL PAINTING AS A MEDIUM
b. DEVELOPMENT OF MOVABLE TYPE (GREATER
LITERACY AND DECENTRALIZATION OF
KNOWLEDGE = POWER).
c. MATURATION OF ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT
II.
BURGUNDY AND FLANDERS: SACRED IMAGES
A. Limbourg Brothers
a. Painted Les Tres Riches Heures de Duc de Berry (The Very
Sumptuous Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry)
b. Example of increased interest and ability to depict
illusionistic space in French illuminated manuscripts,
possibly from contact and influence of Italy.
c. This is an illuminated manuscript. The Duke of Berry was an
avid collector of manuscripts – he owned more than 300.
d. A Book of Hours was like a breviary. It was a book of
prayers to be recited at set hours of the day from the
morning prayers through evening prayers. The centerpiece
of a book of hours was a special prayer called the “Office of
the Blessed Virgin.”
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e. Calendars pages usually preceded the “Office of the Blessed
Virgin.” The calendar pages of Les Tres Riches Heures de
Duc de Berry are what make the book and its artists the
Limbourg Brothers so famous.
f. The calendar pages show the activities performed during the
different seasons of the year. The Limbourg Brothers
alternated between scenes of the duke and his nobles to
seasons of the peasants living in his land. The scenes of the
peasants depict them as content with their lives, which made
the Duke feel better about himself as their ruler.
g. At the tops of the calendar pages, the Limbourg Brothers
painted the zodiac signs.
h. The Limbourg Brothers painted with amazing naturalism
and realism. There is a sense of depth to their painting. The
figures cast shadows behind them, which shows the
Limbourgs understood the effect of light. Unique in that it
provides us with factual description of how people actually
went about their work.
i. Genre subjects (everyday life) increasingly used in sacred
literature. Shows increasing integration of religion and
everyday life concerns.
j. Sumptuous procession for January: International Style?
Page 509 Gardner’s 13th: [Simone Martini] adapt[ed] the
insubstantial but luxuriant patterns of the French Gothic
manner to Sienese art and, in turn by acquainting painters
north of the Alps ..appealed to the aristocratic taste for
brilliant colors, lavish costumes, intricate ornamentation, and
themes involving splendid processions.
k. Books like this (prayer books, not so beautifully painted)
became more common for affluent to own. The printing
press was also invented this century which sped the
dissemination of books. Contributed to decentralization of
religious practice that was a factor in the Protestant
Reformation in early 16th C.
B. Chartreuse de Champmol
 Chartreuse = charter house = Carthusian monestary
 Carthusians do not generate income. Spend time in
silence and prayer
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Northern Renaissance
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Duke of Burgundy supported Chartreuse de Champmol
to help his salvation and be his mausoleum.
Paid for art by Sluter and Broederlam
1. Claus Sluter
a. Well of Moses
 Commissioned by Philip the Bold for the cloister of
a Carthusian monastery
 Designed as a fountain for a well that provided
water for the monastery
 Probably didn’t actually spout water – Carthusian
monasteries were known for their silence
 Old Testament figures – Moses, David, and Old
Testament prophets decorate the base
 Once supported a Crucifixion group
 Compare Sluter’s Moses to Michelangelo’s Moses
(later). How are the similar? How are they
different?
 Arrangement possibly from mystery plays.
 Intense observation of natural appearance sculpted
in minute detail.
 Heavy drapes and folds cover life-size figures that
were very naturalistic
 Differentiated textures. Originally painted but paint
mostly gone.
 FASCINATION WITH SPECIFIC AND
TANGIBLE IS A MAIN CHARACTERISTIC OF
15TH C. FLEMISH ART.
2. Melchior Broederlam
a. Retable de Champmol, 1399 (retable = altarpiece)
 Altarpieces were a major art form north of the Alps
in 14th and 15th C.
a. Served as backdrops for Mass: Mass
represents the ritual of the Eucharist; “This
is my body, this is my blood.”
b. Altarpieces also had didactic role, especially
for illiterate: Reinforced doctrine and
stimulated devotion.
c. Retables were often polyptychs (poly = many,
ptykhe = fold). They could be open and
closed to show or hide images behind the
front panels.
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d. Multi-image format great for showing
narrative
e. Different images were shown at different
days, holidays, feasts, etc.
f. Protestantism eventually lead to decline in
altarpieces as conceptions of Eucharist
changed.
Wings of Retable
Annunciation and Visitation on Left Panel
Presentation in the Temple and Flight into Egypt on
right panel
a. Buildings in both panels have Romanesque
and Gothic features. Symbolic?
i. Rotunda for Old Testament
ii. Gothic porch for New Testament
iii. Right panel: pagan god falls from
column as Holy Family approaches.
b. Landscape and architecture show effort at
creating 3D illusion. Gold sky and flat halos
are medieval conventions.
3. Robert Campin
a. Also referred to as “Master of Flemalle,” because he was a
master painter from that city in Flanders.
b. Regarded as a Flemish master
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Little is known about Campin’s life
His art is known for its startling and amazing precision
c. Merode Altarpiece
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A TRIPTYCH painted with oil paint
Purpose: devotional
Relatively small – central panel is 2 feet by 2 feet and
the side panels are 1 foot by 2 feet
We are in the home of a well-kept middle-class Flemish
merchant – Peter Inghelbrecht (his last name means
“angel bringer”). Private patrons outnumbered clerical
(church) patrons 2 to 1. Wife’s family name was
Scrynmakers = cabinet or shrine makers. Refers to St.
Joseph on right panel?
Central panel depicts an Annunciation.
Left panel shows the donors: Donor portraits
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Northern Renaissance
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Right panel shows Joseph working in his shop
Many symbols disguised as everyday objects
Lily – symbol of Mary’s purity, three lilies on a single
stalk represent the Trinity, the bud represents Christ
Flowers associated with Mary grow on the outside wall
of the courtyard (Roses – Mary’s charity, Violets –
Mary’s humility)
Water basin – “the vessel most clean” – symbolizes
Mary’s holy womb
Note that Mary is not handling the Holy Scriptures with
her bare hands. She demonstrates her reverence for the
scriptures by handling them with a towel
Candle – the presence of God, light is a common
metaphor for divinity– But the flame is extinguished –
Moment of incarnation when God becomes man. Center
of center panel.
Baby Jesus has entered the room (very small, coming
through the window carrying a cross) on rays of light
Mousetrap in Joseph’s workshop – Joseph hs made a
mousetrap, symbolic of the theological tradition that
Christ is bait set in the trap of the world to catch the
devil.
4. Jan van Eyck
a. Brief biography
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Successful artist who worked for private patrons
Worked during the 1st half of the 1400s
His brother was also a painter
b. The Ghent Altarpiece
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A POLYPTYCH (multi-paneled paintings or relief
panels – This is common for Flemish altarpieces
On display in Cathedral of Saint Bavo in Ghent
One of the largest and most admired Flemish
altarpieces of the 15th century
SHOWS THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN CYCLE, FROM
THE FALL TO THE REDEMPTION AND HEAVEN
With wings closed
 The donors of the piece are shown at the base
 Two saints:John the Baptist holds a lamb – Church (St.
Bavo’s) was originally named after John the Baptist
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and John the Evangelist – author of the Gospel of John
and Book of Revelation in the New Testament) are
painted in GRISAILLE to create the illusion of
sculpture
The Annunciation is shown across the central panels
when the Ghent Altarpiece is closed (note the use of
symbols in the guise of everyday objects) – The
Annunciation is the first step in Christ’s coming to the
world
Note Jan van Eyck’s understanding of recessional space
– a detail view of the city outside the room
Ghent Altarpiece Opened
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God the Father wears the papal tiara and has a worldly
crown at his feet
Virgin Mary, queen of Heaven with a crown of 12 stars
– 12 tribes of Israel
Saint John the Baptist
Adam and Eve – represent the fall of man and the need
for a Savior, the reason for Christ’s sacrifice. Compare
with Masaccio’s Adam and Eve. How are the bodies
rendered differently?
Adoration of the Lamb
Based on a passage from the Book of Revelation – the
end of the world and the coming of the New Jerusalem
Lamb – symbolizes Christ, blood spouts from his chest
into a chalice symbolizing the Eucharist (Holy
Communion)
A dove representing the Holy Spirit is over his head
Ghent pictured in the distance – Can you see Saint
Bavo’s Cathedral?
Surrounded by apostles, martyrs, and prophets
Panels on the left – depict Just Judges and Knights of
Christ
Panels on the right depict pilgrims and Holy Hermits
5. Rogier van der Weyden
a. Brief biographical facts
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Completed his apprenticeship under Robert Campin
(Master of Flemalle)
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Northern Renaissance
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Undertook important commissions for distinguished
members of Burgundian court
Paintings are renowned for their exquisite natural
detail and ability to portray human emotions
b. The Deposition, ca. 1435, center panel of triptych
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Not a deep setting (landscape). In a shallow stage like a
sculptured shrine (later in presentation).
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VM and Christ echo each other’s body pose: Repetition
to tie composition together.
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Note how St. John and MM bracket the composition
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The Dead Christ – streaks of blood stain his cheeks,
neck, and forehead. His mouth hangs open in an
expression of agony and exhaustion.
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Mary, the mother of Christ – her pose echoes her Son’s
pose. The Virgin’s grief is shown with remarkable
realism.
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Mary Magdalene – close female follower of Jesus, a
woman with a bad reputation with men prior to
following Christ. MM often shown with her symbol –
the alabaster vase that holds perfume/ointment, also
shown with long hair (not here though).
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St. John – the apostle who writes the Gospel of John,
Book of Revelation, and to whom Jesus charges the
responsibility of caring for his mother.
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Joseph of Arimithea – rich man who obtained
permission from Pilate to take Jesus’ body down from
the cross and placed him in a rock-cut tomb in front of
which he placed a boulder
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Nicodemus – a Jewish priest who was a secret follower
of Christ
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Skull of Adam – at the base of the cross, reminds us
that Christ died to redeem Adam’s sin
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Northern Renaissance
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Symbols of an archer’s guild – The tiny crossbows let us
know that the Ghent Archer’s Guild paid for this
altarpiece.
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This shows the rise of more secular patronage (regular
people) and less patronage by religious authorities (ex.
Popes) during the Northern Renaissance, a sign of the
prosperity of Flanders.
I. St. Luke Drawing the Virgin, ca. 1435 – 1440, Oil and
Tempera on Wood.
 Shows St. Luke drawing with silverpoint
 Probably painted for Guild of St. Luke = artists guild in
Brussels.
a. See Artist’s Profession in Flanders, Gardner’s
page 528 re: guilds’ place in society: Training,
quality assurance, price protection
b. Because apprenticeship required living in a
man’s home who was not a relative,
girls/women faced a lot of obstacles. However,
there were some women who were members of
painters guild.
 St. Luke a self-portrait?
 Like van Eyck, Rogier aims to record every detail.
 Symbolism: ox in corner IDs St. Luke. VM’s armrest
has Adam, Eve, and serpent: VM is the new Eve.
III.
BURGUNDY AND FLANDERS: PRIVATE IMAGES
a. Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini Marriage, 1434
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Oil painting with Renaissance qualities – balanced,
detailed, interest in being remembered (both the patron
and the artist), amazing naturalism, understanding of
the role of light/shadow, sense of depth in the room
Giovanni de Arrigo Arnolfini – a wealthy Italian
merchant who settled in Bruges around 1421
Giovanna Cenami – his bride who came from a wealthy
Italian family
Symbolism
Giovanna is not pregnant – she gathers up her green
gown (representing fertility) in a gesture that she has a
suitable womb for bearing children
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Northern Renaissance 10
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Their shoes are off – What does this symbolize about
the act of marriage?
One lit candle in the chandelier symbolizes presence of
God; the light of the world.
Dog – represents fidelity
His beaver-skin hat and fur coat – the trappings of a
wealthy merchant
Red for the bed – symbolizes the passion that should
exist in marriage
Saint Catherine – guardian of the household and patron
saint of housewives, notice the duster hanging
Beautiful beads – a wedding gift from Giovanni to
Giovanna
An amazing convex mirror – shows Jan van Eyck’s
ability to paint with precision and detail – we see the
backs of the bride and groom and two witnesses, one of
whom is the artist himself with the easel
Oranges – symbolic of the fruits of their homeland Italy
also symbolic of temptation – the oranges have been put
off the side
Jan van Eyck signed and dated his work above the
convex mirror.
So accurate it was considered a legal document.
b. Man in a Red Turban (Jan van Eyck)
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FIRST painted PORTRAIT in Western art in over 1000
years.
As Flemish merchants became more prosperous, they
became more interested in secular art, such as
landscapes and portraits
Objective reality – note that you can see blood vessels in
his eyes and stubble on his chin
No religious allusions like the portraits of the donors in
the Ghent Altarpiece
May be a self-portrait
“As I can – Jan van Eyck made me, October 21, 1433
c. Portrait of a Lady (Rogier van der Weyden), ca. 1460
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Shows the rise of portraiture – a significant feature of
both the Italian and Northern Renaissance – people
wanted to be remembered
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Northern Renaissance 11
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Rogier gives us insight into the person – her clothing
shows that she is a noble. Her downward glance and
tightly interlocked fingers indicate that she is a pious
and reserved lady.
6. Miscellaneous Masterpieces by Flemish painters
d. Basic points
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In the following paintings look for:
Intricate detail
Hidden symbols
Greater realism and less idealization of the human body
than Italian Renaissance
A sense of depth with good shading
e. DIRK BOUTS, Last Supper, 1464 – 1468
 Early attempt at linear perspective. Vanishing point
above horizon above Christ’s head (which is why we seem
to be looking down at the scene yet looking at the subjects
straight on).
 Servants probably patrons.
f. HUGO VAN DER GOES, Portinari Altarpiece, ca. 1476
 Painted for a Florentine, Florentine artists learned a lot
such as details which show in the genuineness of the three
humble shepherds witnessing this amazing event.
 Patrons and their Saints in side panels
 Many symbols.
 While using the detail and realism of his period, also used
medieval pictorial devices like continuous narrative, and
hierarchy of scale.
 Perhaps shows tilted stage floors in comtemporary
mystery plays (medieval plays based on bible or saints’
lives)
 Joy tempered by suffering to come. Somber mood in spite
of rich colors.
g. HANS MEMLING, Virgin with Saints and Angels, 1479
 Opulence, depicts tapestries and brocades (raised designs)
 Rememnant of International Style?
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Northern Renaissance 12
h. PETRUS CHRISTUS, A Goldsmith in His Shop, Possibly
Saint Eligius (goldsmith before religious life).
 Eucharist wafer container
 Bride’s betrothal girdle: symbol of chastity
 Possibly commissioned by gold/silver/blacksmiths and is
just showing a commercial transaction.
 Lots of detail, historically credible. Shows the tools of the
trade.
IV.
FRENCH ART
A. France was in the middle of Hundred Years War with England. Not
as much money to spend on art.
a. JEAN FOUQUET, Melun Diptych, Etienne Chevalier and
Saint Stephen, ca. 1450 oil on wood
 Etienne Chevalier: humble origins – rose to become
Charles VII’s treasurer
 With patron Saint Stephen (= Etienne in French). Stoned
to death – he carries stone on bible.
 Detailed and highly ornamented.
 They view VM and Child. Charles VII’s mistress was
model for VM. Painted after she died to fulfill a vow EC
made.
 What’s with the red angels?
b. Also refer to Limbourg Brothers manuscript paintings for
France.
Holy Roman Empire
V.
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Prosperous but with not central court. Wealthy merchants and clergy
were primary patrons in 15th C.
Lingering Late Gothic style shown best in carved wooden retables.
A. Panel Painting
 Large-scale altarpieces naturalistically painted were familiar
themes.
 Konrad Witz, Miraculous Draught of Fish, Geneva, Switzerland,
1444.
 Great depiction of rippled water and reflections.
 Unique in that it is One of the first 15th C. paintings depicting a
specific site: Geneva and Le Mole Mountain. It is so detailed that
the exact spot he painted it can be identified.
B. Sculpture
a. Viet Stoss, Death and Assumption of the Virgin, 1477 – 1489
 What is Assumption?
 VM collapses and attendants show grief and shock
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Figures engulfed in drapery: broken lines show agitated,
animated emotion, yet also unifies composition.
 Paint and gilding also unify composition. Mr. F. thinks
it’s awful.
b. Tilman Riemenschnieder, The Assumption of the Virgin, ca.
1495 – 1499
 Whole design in fluid motion
 Endless, restless line in figures and tracery.
 Individuals can only function within composition (Gothic
style: see Cologne Cathedral). GOTHIC INTRICACY.
 Emotional strain seen on faces, common in TR’s work.
 Heightens spirituality of figures.
 Mr. F.: Bothered by central void under VM. See right
back to the paneling of case.
C. Graphic Arts
 Ca. 1450: Guttenberg and movable type: Mass production
of books. Revolution in communication.
 Challenges for artists to create images for mass-produced
books.
 Solution: Printing: Woodcuts, etchings, and engravings
 Woodcuts: What is carved is white
 Engraving in metal: What is incised is black
 Etching in metal: Incise wax covering metal plate. Incised
wax lets acid get to plate and eat surface. Etched surfaces
are dark.
 Prints can be sold cheaper than paintings or sculptures.
Reaches a wider audience.
a. Michel Wolgemut, workshop made woodcuts for Nuremberg
Chronicle, 1493.
 Hand painted prints.
 Used generic city or landscape to depict specific places
b. Martin Schongauer, Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons, ca.
1480 – 90
 Engraving, more flexible than woodcut.
 Subtle depiction of different textures and tonal values
(shading).
 Developed cross-hatching to describe forms. Adopted
widely by Northern European artists.
 Italians primarily used parallel hatching
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