Northern Europe 1400-1500

1. Northern Europe, 1400 to 1500

2. The Black Forest
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4. Northern Europe
Absent the memories and ruins of
ancient Rome, Northern Europe had
lingering cultural connections to its
“pagan” past.
A whole pantheon of Norse gods distinct
from Greco/Roman existed as did a
closer connection to earth based pagan
superstitions, and holidays.
A stronger connection to nature and the
spirit world, as well as a belief in the
“immanence” of spirituality persisted
even as Northern Europe Christianized.
Much of this is expressed as attention to
worldly DETAILS in art rather than in the
“transcendent” themes of Italian art. In
other words artists of the European
Renaissance saw the spirit immanent in
everyday things and therefore lavished
great attention to DETAILS in their
depiction.
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5. Wheel of the
Year
A focus on seasonal
changes and ancient
activities and festivals
associated with them
were more present in
Northern Europe.
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7. Northern European
Developments
Oil “glazing” technique:
• Invented by Northern European
artists, allowed an unparalleled
exactitude of rendering.
• Transparent glazes of linseed oil
built up luminous, rich, jewel-like
colors and an enamel surface.
• Perfect for wood panels, triptychs,
and alter-pieces.
• Blossoming of printmaking as a
major art form following the
invention of the printing press and
moveable type.
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Europe in the 15th Century

11. Burgundian Flanders
Early stages of European
Capitalism. New credit and
exchange systems produces a
network of commodities and
industry.
Flanders, under control of the Duke
of Burgundy (Phillip the Bold).
Bruges is the major city:
wool trade, banking
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12. Altarpiece
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13. ROBERT CAMPIN (MASTER OF FLEMALLE), Merode Altarpiece (open), ca. 1425-1428. Oil on
wood, center panel 2’ 1 3/8” X 2’ 7/8”, each wing 2’ 1 3/8” X 10 7/8”. Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York (The Cloisters Collection, 1956).
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15. ROBERT CAMPIN (MASTER OF
FLEMALLE), Merode Altarpiece
Annunciation theme Isaiah 7:14
Small altarpieces for household prayer
become common in the average
household.
Religious themes usually depicted in
contemporary, secular settings.
Linear perspective is employed, but
inconsistently (notice the table top).
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16. Closed garden symbolic of Mary’s
purity.
Donors: wealthy merchant Peter
Inghelbrecht (angel-bringer), and
wife Margarete Scrynmakers
(shrine-maker)
Outside we can see street scene of
contemporary Flanders.
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25. DETAILS !
Wash basin refers to Mary’s purity as
a vessel for Christ.
Lily flowers symbolize purity
Single extinguished candle represents
the presence of the divine.

26. Christ descends on a ray of light.

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32. DETAILS !
Joseph has constructed a mousetrap
(symbolizes Christ as bait set to catch
Satan)
Axe, saw, and rod are mentioned in Isaiah
10:15

33. DETAILS!
Second mousetrap
Detailed scene of Flanders and
city-life

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JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (closed),
Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium,
completed 1432. Oil on wood, 11’ 6" X 7’ 6".

40. JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent
Altarpiece (closed)
Jan Van Eyck-
Undisputed master of Oil painting
technique
Court Painter of Philip the good, Duke of
Burgundy
Ghent Altarpiece commissioned by
Jodocus Vyd (Chief Magistrate of Ghent)
Usually closed (like most polyptchs) but
would open for special days.
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41. Saint Bavo Cathedral,
Ghent
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42. Recovered in a salt mine
Hidden away by Nazis during WWII
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43. Depiction of original frame by
brother Hubert Van Eyck (now lost)
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JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (closed),
Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium,
completed 1432. Oil on wood, 11’ 6" X 7’ 6".

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46. Old testament prophets Zachariah and Micah along with sibyls (Greco-Roman female
prophets)
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JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (closed),
Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium,
completed 1432. Oil on wood, 11’ 6" X 7’ 6".

57. Saint John the Evangelist and Saint John the Baptist
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58. Jodocus Vyd

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60. Wife Isabel Borluut

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JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent Altarpiece (open), Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, completed 1432. Oil on wood,
11’ 5" X 15’ 1”.

62. JAN VAN EYCK, Ghent
Altarpiece (open),
Open panel reveals superbly
colored painting of humanity’s
redemption through Christ
God the Father in center, Virgin
Mary to left, John the Baptist to the
Right.
Choir of angels and Adam and Eve
at far ends
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72. Adam and Eve more “realistic” than Italian nudes (working off Ancient idealized figures)
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73. Lower panels:
Community of saints gather around
altar of lamb (symbol of Christ) on
octagonal fountain of life
Right: 12 apostles and a group of
martyrs in red robes
Left: prophets
Far wings: hermits, pilgrims,
knights and judges (4 cardinal
virtues Temperance, Prudence,
Fortitude, Justice)

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77. Octoganol fountain of life
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84. Exquisite detail !
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JAN VAN EYCK, Giovanni Arnolfini and His
Bride, 1434. Oil on wood, approx. 2’ 9" X 1’
10 1/2". National Gallery, London.

86. JAN VAN EYCK, Giovanni Arnolfini
and His Bride
Emerging capitalism leads to urban
prosperity and interest in secular themes
(portraiture).
Giovanni Arnolfini-wealthy financier with
ties to Medici family
Holds hand of second wife during a
ceremony (wedding, legal privileges?)
Every object has symbolic
(iconographic) importance.
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87. Man stands on the left near the
window (outside world), woman
stands inside (domestic world).
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88. Bride is not pregnant
although fashionable
costume makes it appear
so.
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90. Cast aside clogs indicate holy
ground.
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91. Oranges symbolize wealth and
fertility.
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92. Dog symbolizes marital fidelity (“fido”).
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93. Single candle symbolizes
presence of God, bedpost
crowning ornament is Saint
Margaret patron saint of
childbirth)

94. Convex mirror shows two observers
and also symbolizes all seeing eye
of God (framed in the stations of the
cross.)

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96. Jan Van Eyck “was here”. Record and sanctify the marriage ?
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JAN VAN EYCK, Man in a Red Turban,
1433. Oil on wood, 1’ 1 1/8” X 10 1/4".
National Gallery, London.

98. First known portrait in 1,000 years
where sitter looks directly at the
viewer.
Widely considered to be a self-
portrait.
“As I Can” in greek letters
Possible demonstration piece for
prospective clients.
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ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN, Portrait of a
Lady, ca. 1460. Oil on panel, 1’ 1 3/8" X 10
1/16". National Gallery, Washington, D.C.
(Andrew W. Mellon Collection).

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DIRK BOUTS, Last Supper central
panel of the Altarpiece of the Holy
Sacrament, Saint Peter’s, Louvain,
Belgium, 1464–1468. Oil on wood,
6’ X 5’.

105. Last Supper
• Commissioned by Confraternity
of the Holy Sacrement in
Louvian (4 members appear in
work as servants)
• One of the first Northern
Renaissance paintings to
illustrate the use of a single
vanishing point, although not
completely accurate.
• Focus is on consecration of the
Eucharistic wafer rather than
Judas’ betrayal.
• Biblical figures dressed in
contemporary Flemish attire.

106. Northern painters had rich tradition of Manuscript painting, and as
miniaturists, this had a large development on the direction painting took.
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LIMBOURG BROTHERS (POL, JEAN, HERMAN),
January, from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de
Berry, 1413–1416. Ink on vellum, approx. 8 7/8" X 5
3/8". Musée Condé, Chantilly.

108. The Duke of Berry -avid art patron.
A “Book of Hours” was used for
reciting prayers.
Full-page calendar pictures
represent the 12 months and
associated seasonal tasks
alternating between nobility and
peasantry.
Reinforces the image of the Duke
of Berry as a cultured bibliophile
and sophisticated art patron.
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LIMBOURG BROTHERS (POL, JEAN, HERMAN),
October, from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de
Berry, 1413–1416. Ink on vellum, 8 7/8" X 5 3/8”.
Musée Condé, Chantilly.

113. HIERONYMUS BOSCH, Garden of Earthly Delights, 1505-1510. Oil on wood, center panel 7’ 2
5/8” X 6’ 4 ¾”, each wing 7’ 2 5/8” X 3’ 2 ¼”. Museo del Prado, Madrid.
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114. HIERONYMUS BOSCH,
Garden of Earthly
Delights
To write about Hieronymus Bosch’s
triptych, known to the modern age
as The Garden of Earthly Delights,
is to attempt to describe the
indescribable and to decipher the
indecipherable—an exercise in
madness.
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115. HIERONYMUS BOSCH,
Garden of Earthly
Delights
Commissioned by a count of
Nassau in brussels
often been interpreted as an
admonition against fleshly and
worldly indulgence- but this seems
like an ordinary interpretation of a
highly idiosnycratic work.
Very little agreement about the
piece.
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116. Outer panels
Tiny figure of God
If outer panels are the end of
the pictorial cycle, rather than
beginning, this image could
represent the flood sent by
God to cleanse the Earth
after it was consumed by
vice.
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117. The path to vice is depicted in the
inner panels of the triptych. Home
theater for wealthy patrons.
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118. God Introduces Eve to
Adam (and all hell breaks
loose)
In the Garden of Eden surrounded
by all of God’s creatures.
Highlights human procreative
capacity.
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119. The Central Panel –
People Nakedly Cavort
(and All Hell Breaks Loose)
The offspring of Adam and Eve cavort
in a nonsensical landscape full of
alchemical symbols.
Amorous activities, but none explicit.
Humans, plants, and animals all seem
to interact without differentiation.
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120. The impression of a life
lived without consequence,
an "unspoilt and immoral
existence", is underscored
by the absence of children
and old people.

121. Mystery man
The woman below him lies within a
semi-cylindrical transparent shield,
while her mouth is sealed, devices
implying that she bears a secret.
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122. One woman carries a cherry on her
head, a common symbol of pride at
the time, as can be deduced from
the contemporaneous saying:
"Don't eat cherries with great lords–
they'll throw the pits in your face."
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123. Detail showing nudes
cavorting within a transparent
sphere. What appear to be
cracks in the sphere, may
forecast the fragility of joyful
passion. The figures' arms
are entwined, while the
female's head bends towards
the male's attentive mouth.
Their innocence contrasts
with the atmosphere of the
right-hand panel, where
human figures are depicted
in shame of their nakedness.[
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124. The Third Panel –
Finally, All Hell Breaks
Loose
Perhaps not Hell, but Earth before
the Flood….
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125. The Third Panel –
Finally, All Hell Breaks
Loose
Symbols of evil distraction, gluttony,
self-indulgent over-indulgence,
purging, standard catalogue of the
Seven Deadly Sins, in which our
senses deceive our thoughts and
rational decision making.
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126. The Third Panel –
Finally, All Hell Breaks
Loose
Possible self-portrait of Bosch.
A controlling human consciousness
in the center of the bizarre
hallucination.
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127. The Third Panel –
Finally, All Hell Breaks
Loose
Would God, having made the world
and having conferred on man both
the blessing and the curse of free
will-destroy all of his creation in the
face of human failing?
This is the fundamental connection
between these inner panels and the
destructive flood depicted on the
outer wings.
Bosch’s lesson, if there is one,
seems to be that we can choose
good over evil or we can be swept
away.
Man proposes, God disposes.
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128. Symbolism in Bosch Paintings…
• Pigs = false priests; gluttony
• Fruit = carnal pleasure
• Rats = lies against the
Church; filth; sex
• Fish = false prophets; lewdness
• Closed Books = futility of
knowledge in dealing with human
stupidity
• Keys = knowledge
• Lutes and Harps = instruments
for praise of God and pursuit of
earthly love
• Ears = gossip
• Mussel Shells = infidelity
• Black Birds = unbelievers
• Knives = punishment of evil
• Rabbits = multiplication of the
race
• Eggs = sexual creation
• Funnels = deceit and
intemperance
• Strawberries = fleeting joys of
life, love
• Owls = great learning/knowledge

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PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER, Netherlandish Proverbs, 1559. Oil on wood, 3’ 10” x 5’ 4 1/8”.
Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.