15th Century Art in Northern Europe

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Chapter 17

• 15th Century Art in Northern Europe

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New Painting Techniques

• Concern with accurate and precise details
• Symbolism grew more important
• Oil painting was developed
• Originally tempera- dry pigments with egg yolk
• Now- dry pigment mixed with oils, turpentine and
  varnish
• Artists used it for transparent glazes and
  created a transparent glossy surface
• Advantage- slowed down drying time and the
  finished painting looked as if it glowed from
  withing

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Robert Campin1378-1444

• AKA- Master of Flemalle

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Merode Altarpiece
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Merode Altarpiece

• 3 panels- triptych
• Left- donors kneeling in the garden
• Middle- Mary receiving news from angel Gabriel
• Right- Joseph in carpentry shop

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Merode Altarpiece Symbolism

• Left- donors, garden
• Middle- towel (Jewish religion), Holy Spirit
  (flying in), lillies (purity), candle
• Modern home and perspective (?)
• Right- mousetraps (Christ bait for Satan)

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Jan van Eyck1390-1441

• Credited with developing new painting technique
• Made Flanders the art center of Northern Europe

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The Arnolfini Wedding Portrait1434

• Giovanni Arnolfini and his bride, Jeanne de
  Chenay ( a rich merchant who sold silk brocade
  and luxury goods)
• Looked for the best artist available
• The is a pictoral wedding certificate

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• Red- symbol of passion
• Statue of St. Maignet- patron saint of pregnancy
• Single burning candle- symbol of Gods presence
  and luck in conceiving a child
• Innocence suggested by fruit on table and
  windowsill fertility- fruit of the womb
• Shoes removed as a sign of the holy event taking
  place
• Mirror- shows reflection of room, backs of
  Giovanni and bride and 2 people standing in the
  doorway (witnesses to exchanging of vows)
• Illustrated 10 passions of Christ around mirror
• Latin inscription above mirror- Jan Van Eyck was
  here

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Realism and Emotionalisn

• Roger van der Weyden (1399-1464)
• Emphasized emotional impact of subject matter

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van der WeydenDescent from the Cross

• Part of a tritypch
• Emotional
• S shape of Christ and S shape of Mary
• 10 figures in shallow space
• skull -death

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16th CenturyMannerism

• A deliberate revolt by artists against the goals
  of the Renaissance
• Protestant Reformation- movement by a group of
  Christians led by Martin Luther who left the
  Church in revolt to form their own religion in
  1517
• The Protestant Reformation, the French Invasion
  of Italy in 1524 and the French defeat of Rome in
  1527 brought an era of tension and disorder
• Mannerism preferred imbalance
• Nervous art
• Human figures are in impossible poses with unreal
  proportions
• Slender figures, elegant and graceful

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Parmagiannino1503-1540

• Madonna with the Long Neck (1535)

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Madonna with the Long Neck

• Questions- Inside or outside?
• Enormous figure
• Christ child looks lifeless unnatural
  proportions
• Neck concealed and looks unattached
• All other figures look all over and pay little
  attention to the baby
• Jammed figures
• Man in background reading scroll