• Northern Renaissance Art of the 15th Century
• Objectives:
– To identify differences and similarities between
Northern European art and Italian art of the 15th
century in media and subject matter
– To explain how Northern European art reflects
Renaissance themes of Humanism and individualism
– To explain how Northern European art of the 15th
century continues trends established by Giotto di
Bondone
Northern Art in the Fifteenth Century
• Interest in natural world with close observation and
detailed recording of nature
• More emphasis on Portraiture and scenes of daily Life
but religious painting still important
• Development of Oil Paining, Woodcuts, and Engravings
• Important Artists
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Jan van Eyck
Claus Sluter
Rogier van der Weyden
Limbourg brothers
Fifteenth-Century Northern Europe.
Pierre Robin (?). Church of Saint-Maclou, Rouen.
1432–1521; façade c. 1500–1514.
Diptych, Triptych (Line Drawings).
Altar and Polyptych Altarpiece (Line Drawing).
• Claus Sluter 1360-1406
• Straight out of Haarlem (Holland)
• Employed by the Duke of Burgundy (Philip the Bold)
• Worked on the Chartreuse at Champmol, Burgundy as
an apprentice to another Flemish sculptor (Jean de
Marville)
• Eclipses his master with his work, “The Well of Moses”
Claus Sluter. Well of Moses, detail of Moses and David.
1395–1406. Height of figures about 5’ 8”. Limestone Charteuse de Champmol,
Dijon, France
• Well of Moses
•
An unfinished work for the main cloister at
Champmol. A figure of Christ on the cross surrounded
By, Mary, Mary Magdalen and John stood upon a
limestone pedestal on which six old testament figures
including Moses and David are carved. Sluter changed
from idealized facial features, elongated forms and
vertical drapery in favor of personalized faces and
horizontal folds which emphasize body mass. The
figures were originally painted: Moses wore a gold
mantel with a blue lining over a red tunic.
Giovanni Boccaccio. Page with Thamyris. 1402. 14 × 9 1/2”.
• Paul, Herman and Jean Limbourg
• Dutch Painters
• In 1404 employed by the Duke of Berry, who
was an avid book collector
• Created a book of hours
– Prayer/devotional book
– Calendar of holy days
Paul, Herman, and Jean Limbourg. February, Life in the Country.
Très Riches Heures. 1411–1416. 11 3/8 × 8 1/4”. Colors & Ink on Parchment.
Paul, Herman, and Jean Limbourg. January, the Duke of Berry at Table.
Très Riches Heures. 1411–1416. 11 3/8 × 8 1/4”. Colors & ink on Parchment
Mary of Burgundy Painter. Mary at Her Devotions, Hours of
Mary of Burgundy. Before 1482. Size of image 7 1/2 × 5 1/4”. Colors & Ink on
Parchment
• Mary at Her Devotions
• The painting contains two scenes one within the other.
• In the outer scene, Mary, daughter of the Duke of
Burgundy is surrounded by devotional aids: her book,
prayer beads and flowers (carnations symbolizing nails
of the cross and irises symbolizing Mary’s sorrow) Her
lap dog also symbolizes fidelity. As a result of her
devotion she is transported into the inner scene in which
she becomes an attendant of of the Virgin Mary.
Workshop of the Master of Flémalle. Mérode Altarpiece
(Triptych of the Annunciation) (Open). c. 1425–1430s.
Center 25 1/4 × 24 7/8”; each wing approx. 25 3/8 × 10 3/4” Oil on Wood Panel.
Located at the Metropolitan (cloisters collection)
• Merode Altarpiece
• Triptych in which a religious scene has been placed in
contemporary life. Central scene is an Annunciation in
which Mary is reading the Bible and dressed in
Renaissance clothing in a Flemish house. To the left,
the donors watch the scene through the doorway; to the
right Joseph works in a shop which overlooks a Flemish
city. In the annunciation scene, the lilies symbolize
Mary’s purity, the kettle hints at her function as a vessel
and the hanging “towel” is considered to be a Jewish
prayer shawl. A small figure of Christ bearing the cross
heads in on a beam of light, which is centered on Mary.
Workshop of the Master of Flémalle. A Flemish City (Detail of Right Wing of
the Merode Altarpiece).
• Jan Van Eyck
• Active from 1420’s-1441
• Court painter for Duke of Burgundy (Philip the
Good, uncle to king of France)
• Served as a courtier and diplomat to Portugal
• Mistakenly credited with inventing oil painting
• Personal Motto “as I can, not as I would”
• “No other painter equal to his taste or so
excellent in art and science.”
• Trained as a miniaturist
Jan van Eyck. Man in a Red Turban. 1433. 13 1/8 × 10 1/4”. Oil on Wood.
Located at the National gallery in London
Jan van Eyck. Double Portrait of a Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife.
1434. 33 × 22 1/2”. Oil on Wood Panel. Located at national Galley in London
• Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini
• Considered to be a real portrait (not idealized). The
scene shows the wealth and status of the individual
through his silk & velvet heuque (sleeveless robe), the
oriental rug, oranges in the background and lavish bed
(which may also imply fertility). Prayer beads and a
figure of St. Margaret (protector of women in childbirth)
display their piety. The Mirror may also indicate the allseeing eye of God.
Jan van Eyck. Detail of Mirror and Signature in a
Double Portrait of a Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife. 1434.
Jan and Hubert (?) van Eyck. Ghent Altarpiece (Open),
Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. Completed 1432. 11’ 5 3/4" × 15’ 1 1/2”.Oil on
Wood . Located at the cathedral of St Bavo, Ghent
Rogier van der Weyden. Deposition.
Before 1443, possibly c. 1435–1438. 7’ 2 5/8" × 8’ 7 1/8”. Oil on Wood Panel.
Located at the Museo del Prado, Madrid
Petrus Christus. A Goldsmith in His Shop. 1449. 38 5/8 × 33 1/2”.Oil on
Wood Panel. Located at Metropolitan Museum, New York
Hans Memling. Diptych of Maarten Van Nieuwenhove.
1487. Each panel (including frames) 20 1/2 × 16 1/4”. Oil on Wood
Woodcuts and Engravings on Metal.
Martin Schongauer. Demons Tormenting St. Anthony.
c. 1480–1490. 12 1/4 × 9”. Engraving. Located at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art
Michael Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff and workshop. The City
of Nuremberg. Nuremberg Chronicle, published by Anton Koberger in 1493.
Each page 18 1/2 × 12 3/4”. Woodcut, hand-colored