Art history chap._20_a

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Chapter 20Piety, Passion, and Politics:

15th Century Art in Northern Europe and Spain

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages,

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Europe in the 15th Century

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15th Century Art in Northern Europe and Spain•100 Years War, Black Death, Great Schism

•Flanders = principality or county in the Netherlands, a country that consisted of what today is Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and part of N. France

CONSOLIDATING POLITICAL POWER

•Widespread movement toward centralized government

•Structured bureaucracies, royal courts and parliamentary assemblies were becoming the norm

EMERGING CAPITALISM

•Early stage of European capitalism evolved

•Responding to financial requirements of trade, new credit and exchange systems created a network of enterprising European cities

•Trade in money accompanied the trade in commodities, and the former financed industry

•Medici of Florence = example of a trading firm

•1st international commercial stock exchange, established in Antwerp in 1460, became pivotal for Europe’s integrated economic activity

•Thriving commerce, industry and finance contributed to the evolution of cities along with migration of rural population to urban centers

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Flourishing of Art

•15th Century- increased use of oil paints in Flanders

•Maturation of manuscript illumination

•Invention of movable-type printing in Germany

•Art Focus- piety and political power and relationship between the two

FRENCH MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION

•15TH century French manuscript artists- knowledge of stained glass contributed to color mastery

•Developments in French manuscripts = new conception and presentation of SPACE

•Interest in illusionism = increased contact with artists from Italy and development of humanism (revived classical antiquity)

•New relationship between viewer and image developed

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Figure 20-1 Limbourg brothers (Pol, Hennequin, Herman), January, from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1413–1416. Ink on vellum, approx. 8 1/2" x 5 1/2". Musée Condé, Chantilly.

The Very Sumptuous Hours of the Duke of BerryThe Book of Hours: book used for reciting prayers

by the Limbourg Brothers•Calendar pictures most famous in history of manuscript illumination/ 12 months showing seasonal tasks/ alternating nobility and peasantry scenes/ lunette above each picture with chariot of the sun and zodiac signs

•January - New Year’s reception at court/ captures power of duke and his relationship to the peasants

What devices did the Limbourg brothers use to create depth in this composition?

What is integrated with this prayer book? (purpose and subject matter?)

What unifies this composition?

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Figure 20-2 LIMBOURG BROTHERS (POL, HENNEQUIN, HERMAN), October, from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1413–1416. Ink on vellum, approx. 8 1/2” x 5 1/2”. Musée Condé, Chantilly.

Book of Hours - October

•Genre Subjects in a religious book/ peasantry (sower, harrower, washerwoman and city dwellers on front of Louvre)

•Close observation of the natural world (architectural details of the Louvre and cast shadows by objects)

The artists placed an emphasis on . . . .

How are January and October alike?

How are they different?

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Figure 20-3 CLAUS SLUTER, Well of Moses, Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, France, 1395–1406. Limestone with traces of paint, figures approx. 6’ high.

15th Century Flemish Art – The Burgundian Netherlands

•Philip the Bold – among the greatest art patrons in N. Europe/ his interests included illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, workshop of sculptors

•CLAUS SLUTER: Philip the Bold placed him in charge of his workshop

•SLUTER designed for cloister a large sculptural fountain located in a well- the well served a water source for the monastery/ fountain did not work cause made noise and this was not tolerated in the cloister

•Well of Moses – Moses, David and 4 other prophets at base once supported a crucifixion group/ symbolic fountain of life with blood of Christ flowing down on the prophets washing away their sins/ represented the promise of everlasting life

What did the artist have to do to create such realism?

What are the stylistic characteristics of Sluter’s work?

What is missing in terms of the body’s stance?

What do these figures resemble from the Gothic period?

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Figure 20-4 MELCHIOR BROEDERLAM, outer wings of the Retable de Champmol. Annunciation and Visitation (left) and Presentation and Flight into Egypt (right), from Chapel of the Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, France, installed 1399. Panels, each 5’ 5 3/4” x 4’ 1 1/4”. Musée de la Ville, Dijon.

Broederlam’s Altarpiece – Commissioned by Philip the Bold•Altarpiece was large sculptured shrine with pair of exterior panels painted by Broederlam/ Gothic and Romanesque architecture (Rotunda with dome refers to Old Testament and Gothic porch relates to New Testament) + landscape = attempt to render 3-D on 2-D surface/ treatment of figures, halos, flat gold background

What are the medieval characteristics of this painted altarpiece?

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Figure 20-5 JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (closed), Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, completed 1432. Oil on wood, approx. 11’ 6" x 7’ 6".

Public Devotional Imagery: Altarpieces

Jan Van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece

•Altarpieces located behind altar – backdrops for Mass/ teaching tools and stimulated devotion/ polyptychs = hinged multipaneled paintings/ could also be carved relief panels/ closed hinged sides or wings over central panel- like a manuscript/ artists decorated both exterior and interior of the altarpieces

•Ghent Altarpiece in St. Bravo Cathedral at Ghent, Belgium is one of the largest and most admired Flemish altarpieces of the 15th century

•Jan Van Eyck was Philip the Good’s court painter

•Bottom: donors, sculptures of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist/ Middle: Annunciation (Flemish town through window)/ Top: O.T. prophets, sibyls

What is the medium used to create this piece?

How is the artist creating depth in relation to the architecture and the figures?

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Oil Paints, Glazes and Panels

•Broederlam was using oils as early as the 1390s

•Scholars discovered that artists used oil paints as far back as the 8th century, but not until the early 15th century did the painting with this medium become widespread

•Flemish artist used them extensively, often mixing them with tempera

•Oils dry more uniformly and slowly, providing artists time to rework areas

•Flemish painters built up their pictures by superimposing translucent paint layers, called glazes, on a layer of underpainting, which in turn had been built up from a carefully planned drawing made on a panel prepared with a white ground

•15th century Flemish painting characterized: deep, intense tonality/ illusion of glowing light/ hard, enamel-like surfaces (all possible because of oils)

•Through early 16th century wooden panels popular

•Late 16th century: linen canvas became popular (more portable and better in high humidity)

11Figure 20-6 JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (open), Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, completed 1432. Oil on wood, approx. 11’ 6" x 15’.

Jan Van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece – Opened•Subject: Humanities Redemption (Salvation)/ Upper: God the Father (wearing pope’s tiara), the Virgin, St. John the Baptist, choir of angels, Adam and Eve/ Bottom: community of saints, altar of the lamb (symbolizes sacrifice of Son of God), fountain of life/ hermits, pilgrims, knights and judges (Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, Justice)

What elements make this work so extraordinary?

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Figure 20-7 ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN, Deposition, from Notre-Dame hors-les-murs, Louvain, Belgium, ca. 1435. Oil on wood, approx. 7’ 3" x 8’ 7". Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Rogier Van Der Weyden – Deposition – Human Action and Drama•His goal: to move observers emotionally by relating the sufferings of Christ/ Center panel of a triptych commissioned by the Archers’ Guild of Louvain, Belgium

•Created a shallow stage with compressed figures and action to concentrate the observer’s attention

•Maximum in limited space

•His depiction of the agony of loss is among the most authentic in religious art

How has the artist created unity in this painting?

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Figure 20-7 DetailJoseph with the body of Christ

How many different textures do you see in this detail of the Deposition?

Rogier Van Der WeydenCrisp Drawing and Precise Modeling

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Figure 20-8a ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN, Last Judgment Altarpiece (open), Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune, France, ca. 1444–1448. Panel, 7’ 4 5/8” x 17’ 11”. Musée de l’Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune.

Rogier Van Der Weyden – Last Judgment Altarpiece•Polyptych, created for a hospital/ served important function in treatment of hospital patients = praying to saints as a viable component to treatment (warned of potential fate of people’s souls should they turn away from the church)

How did Rogier depict the figures in reference to importance?

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Figure 20-9 DIRK BOUTS, Last Supper (central panel of the Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament), Saint Peter’s, Louvain, Belgium, 1464–1468. Oil on wood, approx. 6’ x 5’.

Dirk Bouts – Last Supper Among first northern paintings to show the use of a single vanishing point

•Central panel of altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament

•Lines on ceiling, floor, walls, etc. lead to a single vanishing point in the room

•Small side room has own vanishing point

•Did not focus on the biblical narrative itself/ Christ is in role of a priest performing a ritual from the liturgy – consecration of the Eucharistic wafer

•Included 4 servants in Flemish attire = portraits of confraternity’s members responsible for commissioning the altarpiece

Where is the single vanishing point in this composition?

Why does the table seem to be placed at an unnatural angle?

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Figure 20-10 HUGO VAN DER GOES, Portinari Altarpiece (open), from Sant’Egidio, Florence, Italy, ca. 1476. Tempera and oil on wood, 8’ 3 1/2" x 10’ (center panel), 8’ 3 1/2" x 4’ 7 1/2" (each wing). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Hugo Van Der Goes – Portinari AltarpieceAdoration of the Shepherds – nativity miracle – central panel/ wings – Portinari and family w/ patron saints•Packed with symbolism: 15 angels = 15 joys of Mary/ Iris and columbine flowers = sorrows of the Virgin/ Sheaf of wheat = Bethlehem, etc.

•Medieval pictorial devices: small scenes in background = flight into Egypt, arrival of the Magi, etc.

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Figure 20-11 Hans Memling, Virgin with Saints and Angels, center panel of the Saint John Altarpiece, Hospitaal Sint Jan, Bruges, Belgium, 1479. Oil on wood, approx. 5’ 7 3/4" x 5’ 7 3/4" (center panel), 5’ 7 3/4" x 2’ 7 1/8" (each wing).

Hans Memling – Specialized in images of the Madonna•Subject: Gathering celebrates Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine – a number of virgin saints were believed to have entered into a special marriage (Mystic Marriage) with Christ

•Rich colors/ carefully depicted tapestries and brocades/ serene figures/ balanced composition/ highest technical quality

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Figure 20-12a ROBERT CAMPIN (Master of Flémalle), Mérode Altarpiece (open), The Annunciation (center panel), ca. 1425–1428. Oil on wood, center panel approx. 2’ 1” x 2’ 1”. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (The Cloisters Collection, 1956).

Private Devotional Imagery – Merode Altarpiece by Campin•Flemish had increased commitment to private prayer because dissatisfied with clergy/ integration of religious and secular became popular = biblical scenes presented in Flemish households

•Annunciation theme occupies the central panel (biblical scene in well-kept middle class Flemish home)/ objects in room are symbolic: the book, lilies, candle, towels, copper basin, etc. symbolize the Virgin’s purity and divine mission

•Right panel: Joseph made mousetrap = Christ is bait set in the trap of the world to catch the Devil/ Left panel: Altarpiece’s donors

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Figure 20-13 JAN VAN EYCK, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride, 1434. Oil on wood, approx. 2’ 8" x 1’ 11 1/2". National Gallery, London.

Jan Van Eyck – Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride

Holiness of Matrimony

•Giovanni was an agent of the Medici family – seen with taking marriage vows

•Symbolism: clogs = event takes place on holy ground/ dog= fidelity/ whisk broom = domestic care/ oranges = fertility, etc.

•He exquisitely painted each object (textures, light source through window reflects off of surfaces, etc.)

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Figure 20-14 JAN VAN EYCK, detail of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride, 1434.

•All-seeing eye of God = burning candle and mirror showing entire room

•Convex mirror: see two other people, one might be the artist himself

•Inscription: Jan Van Eyck was here

•Picture’s purpose: to record and sanctify this marriage

Detail of Giovanni . . . .

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Figure 20-15 PETRUS CHRISTUS, A Goldsmith in His Shop, Possibly Saint Eligius, 1449. Oil on wood, approx. 3’ 3" x 2’ 10". Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (the Robert Lehman Collection, 1975).

A Goldsmith in His Shop - ChristusSecular and Religious – The Sacrament of Marriage

•Commissioned by goldsmith’s guild in Bruges/ items in painting are like advertisements for the guild

•St. Eligius shows couple selection of rings

•Symbolism: bride’s betrothal girdle on table = chastity/ crystal container of Eucharist wafers on lower shelf and scales = Last Judgment

•Mirror in foreground extends the painting’s space into that of the viewer, creates more involvement

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Figure 20-16 JAN VAN EYCK, Man in a Red Turban, 1433. Oil on wood, approx. 10 1/4" x 7 1/2". National Gallery, London.

Portraiture – Man in a Red Turban by Jan Van Eyck

•Emerging capitalism led to urban prosperity that fueled the bourgeois market for art objects

•Growing interest in secular art – landscapes and portraits

•Man in a Red Turban: possible Jan Van Eyck

•No religious purpose – only personal

•Looks directly at viewer – first Western painted portrait in a thousand years to do so

•¾ head pose – the eyes follow you

•Acute observational skills and controlled painting style = beard stubble, veins in bloodshot eye, weathered and aged skin

•Purposes: memorialize themselves/ establish identities, ranks/ use to arrange marriages

Secular Art

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Figure 20-17 ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN, Portrait of a Lady, ca. 1460. Oil on panel, 1’ 1 3/8" x 10 1/16". National Gallery, Washington (Andrew W. Mellon Collection).

Capturing Class and Character – Portrait of a Lady

Rogier Van Der Weyden

•Unknown lady – dress implies noble rank

•Painted to reveal her character as well as likeness

What type of character is depicted in this painting?

How does the artist achieve this?

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Figure 20-18 HIERONYMUS BOSCH, Garden of Earthly Delights. Creation of Eve (left wing), Garden of Earthly Delights (central panel), Hell (right wing), 1505–1510. Oil on wood, center panel 7’ 2 5/8" x 6’ 4 3/4". Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Hieronymus Bosch – Garden of Earthly Delights•No interpretation of this piece is universally accepted/ Large piece – 7 ft. high and 12 ft. wide/ resided in the palace of Henry III of Nassau (regent of the Netherlands) = purpose was secular commission for private use – done for wedding commemoration

•Portrays a visionary world of fantasy and intrigue/ Left panel: God presents Eve to Adam in a landscape, Garden of Eden/ Right panel: Horrors of Hell

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Figure 20-18 Center PanelTotal, center panel

Garden of Earthly Delights – Central Panel

•Nude people in landscape with bizarre creatures and unidentifiable objects

•Fruits and birds = fertility

•Scene suggests Procreation

•Could have served as warning to viewers of the fate awaiting the sinful, decadent and immoral

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Figure 20-19 JEAN FOUQUET, Melun Diptych. Étienne Chevalier and Saint Stephen, (left wing), ca. 1450. Oil on wood, 3’ 1/2” x 2’ 9 1/2”. Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. Virgin and Child, right wing of Melun Diptych, ca. 1451. Oil on wood, 3’ 1 1/4” x 2’ 9 1/2”. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, Belgium.

15th Century French Art – Images for Private Devotion Popular•100 Years’ War destroyed economic enterprise and prevented political stability in France•Fouquet painted diptych for Etienne Chavalier (treasurer of France)/ Left: Chevalier appears with his patron saint = donor portrait/ What is Flemish = pious donor, ¾ stances, sharp, clear focus/ stone on Scriptures identifies the saint/ placed in highly ornamental architectural setting/ Right: Virgin and Child (Virgin modeled after the mistress of King Charles VII – makes it a personal piece

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Figure 20-20 STEPHAN LOCHNER, Madonna in the Rose Garden, ca. 1430–1435. Tempera on wood, approx. 1’ 8" x 1’ 4". Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne.

15th Century German Art

Stephan Lochner – Madonna in the Rose Garden

•Virgin and Child in a rose arbor = traditional reference to Mary’s holiness and symbol of her purity (a rose among thorns)

•Interest in Rosary devotion contributed to the popularity of this theme

•Lochner use stylized conventions: symmetrical, very structured composition/ gold background = Byzantine and medieval works

•Lochner decided on this style because wealthy laypersons (new patronage) desired images that were familiar and recognizable

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Figure 20-21 KONRAD WITZ, Miraculous Draught of Fish, from the Altarpiece of Saint Peter, from Chapel of Notre-Dame des Maccabées in the Cathedral of Saint Peter, Geneva, Switzerland, 1444. Oil on wood, approx. 4’ 3” x 5’ 1”. Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva.

Konrad Witz – Miraculous Draught of Fish

Altarpiece of Saint Peter, Geneva

•Swiss painter

•Landscape’s prominence (observed and depicted so accurately art historians determined exact location – shores of Lake Geneva)

•This painting is one of first 15th century works depicting a specific site

•Study of water effects (reflections, shallow water, etc.)

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Figure 20-22 VEIT STOSS, The Death and Assumption of the Virgin (wings open), altar of the Virgin Mary, church of Saint Mary, Kraków, Poland, 1477–1489. Painted and gilded wood, 43’ x 35’.

Veit Stoss – The Death and Assumption of the VirginSculptor of large wooden retables - Late Gothic Style

•Boxlike shrine with huge figures (some 9 ft. high)

•Wings show scenes of lives of Christ and Mary

•Strives for realism in every minute detail

•Engulfed figures in twisting, curving drapery which gives feel of agitated emotion

•Looks like Late Gothic Architecture – Why?

•Stoss merged architecture and sculpture enhancing it with paint and gilding

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Figure 20-24 MICHEL WOLGEMUT and Shop, "Tarvisium," page from the so-called Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. Printed by Anton Koberger.

Graphic Art – The Letterpress Combined with Woodcuts

•15th century: German invention of letterpress, printing with moveable type

•Printing had been known in China for centuries, but never developed into a revolution in written communication and in the generation and management of information like it did in 15th century Europe

•Rise in literacy and improved economy = production of illustrated books on grand scale

•Artists brought woodcut pictures onto the same page as the letterpress

•Nuremberg Chronicles: a history of the world containing 650 illustrations/ produced in shop of Michel Wolgemut –

Hand-Colored Woodcut/ detailed perspective of town northeast of Italy (Tarvisium)/ used blunt, simple lines

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Graphic Changes – The Development of Printmaking

•A print is an artwork on paper, usually produced in multiple impressions

•Edition: the set of prints an artist creates from a single print surface

•15th and 16th centuries – most common printmaking methods: RELIEF AND INTAGLIO

•Relief: produced by carving into a surface like wood (woodcuts)/ the artist carves away negative areas (subtractive process)/ positive or raised areas are inked with a brayer and paper is placed on top, pressure is applied to make the print

•Intaglio: produced by incising or scratching (engraving or drypoint) an image on a metal plate like copper or chemically etched in acid bath/ artist inks the surface of the plate and wipes it clean, forcing the ink into the incisions/ paper is placed on top of inked plate and rolled through a press (positive process)

•Papers: produced from cotton and linen rags that papermakers mashed with water into a pulp/ applied thin layer of pulp to wire screen and allowed to dry to make paper

•Prints can be sold at cheaper prices than paintings or sculptures = more people buying

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Figure 20-25 MARTIN SCHONGAUER, Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons, ca. 1480–1490. Engraving, approx. 1’ 1" x 11". Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Rogers Fund, 1920).

Metal Engraving - Schongauer

•Metal engraving began in 1430’s/ started to replace woodcuts/ more flexible, could attain finer linear details

•Martin Schongauer was most skilled northern master of metal engraving

•St. Anthony Tormented by Demons: extreme range of tonal values and textures/ use of hatching to describe form (developed by Schongauer) became a standard for German graphic artists

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Figure 20-26 Portal, Colegio de San Gregorio, Valladolid, Spain, ca. 1498.

15th Century Spanish Art – Late Gothic Plateresque Style

•15th and 16th centuries: Plateresque style of architecture prevailed in Spain

•Spanish word platero = silversmith and refers to delicate execution of its ornamentation

•Dramatizes the portal/ lacelike tracery with flamboyant ogival arches

•Center: branches of huge pomegranate tree (symbolizes Granada) with coat of arms of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

•Typical Plateresque and Late Gothic fashion – activity of a thousand intertwined motifs unifies the whole design – this style was inspired by the retables

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Discussion Questions What were some of the most important

innovations in art media and spatial techniques at this time?

How does the court and wealthy merchant patronage shape the content and appearance of religious and secular art?

Why does the portrait – absent in art for nearly 1000 years – return in this period?