1. NORTHERN EUROPE 1400-1500
Early Northern Renaissance

2. Early Northern Renaissance Theme:
Consider
the
NUT!
Har tu r ed
!
d to c d tex
rack l an
! Smal
!
eaty Oily!
and m
Rich

3. What was happening in the
north?
-Emergence of great wealth via INDIVIDUAL
ACCOMPLISHMENT rather than inherited
money
-Fueled an explosion of learning and
creativity  RENAISSANCE
-Intense interest in the natural world and
close observation
-Interest in individual personalities 
PORTRAITS and artist fame!
-Thriving cities: dukes of Burgundy were
most powerful in n. Europe
- International Gothic Style became
prominent style of late 14th c. Europe

5. Philip the Bold – Great patron of
N. Renaissance art
Claus Sluter
Well of Moses
Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, France
1395-1406
stone
figures approximately 6 ft. high

9. Mechior Broederlam
Retable de Champmol
From Chapel of the Chartreuse de
Champmol, Dijon, France
Installed 1399
tempera on panel
panels each 5 ft. 3 3/4 in. x 4 ft. 1 1/4 in.

11. Altarpieces
• Where are they located?
• What purpose do they serve?
• Polyptychs = hinged multipaneled paintings
– Could be carved relief panels
– Closed hinged sides or wings over middle panel (like a
manuscript)
• Artists decorated both exterior and interior of altarpiece
• http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/anatomy-of-an-altarpiece

13. Robert Campin
Merode Altarpiece (open)
ca. 1425-1428
oil on wood
2 ft. 1 in. 2 ft. 1 in. (center) What is significant about the setting?
The patrons?

14. What symbols do you see?

17. Oil Paint
Fresco vs. tempera vs. oil:
What are the advantages?

19. Jan van Eyck – a
painting WIZARD
How does this compare to the early
Renaissance in Italy?
Jan van Eyck
Ghent Altarpiece (closed)
Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium
1432
oil on wood
11 ft. 5 3/4 in. high
Patron St. John the Baptist St. John the Evang. Patron

20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBPiMoltLI8

21. Vocab - Grisaille
Jan van Eyck
Ghent Altarpiece (closed)
(detail of St. John the Evangelist)
Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium
1432
oil on wood
11 ft. 5 3/4 in. high

22. “This is God, all-powerful in his divine
majesty; of all the best, by the gentleness of his
goodness; the most liberal giver, because of
his infinite generosity”
tion
!
Sa lva
Sto
len
!
Jan van Eyck
Ghent Altarpiece (open) “On his head, life without death. On his
Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium brow, youth without age. On his right, joy
without sadness. On his left, security without
1432 fear”
oil on wood
11 ft. 5 3/4 in. high

28. How many symbols can you spot?
Jan van Eyck
Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride
1434
oil on wood
2 ft. 8 in. x 1 ft. 11 1/2 in.

32. Jan van Eyck, 'The Arnolfini Portrait', 1434,
digital infrared reflectogram detail

33. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-
van-eyck-portrait-of-a-man-self-portrait
Why were portraits popular? What
purpose did they serve?
Jan van Eyck
Man in a Red Turban
1433
oil on wood
10 1/4 in. x 7 1/2 in.

36. Rogier van der Weyden
Deposition
from Notre- Hors-les-murs, Louvain, Belgium
ca. 1435
oil on wood
approximately 7 ft. 3 in. x 8 ft. 7 in.

40. Rogier van der Weyden
Portrait of a Lady
ca. 1460
oil on panel
13 3/8 in. x 10 1/16 in.

41. Religious or secular?
….or BOTH?
Petrus Christus
A Goldsmith in His Shop (St.
Eligius)
1449
oil on wood
3 ft. 3 in. x 2 ft. 10 in.

42. What symbols allude to the Last Judgment?

44. Renaissance conventions?
Dirk Bouts
Last Supper
From Saint Peter’s, Louvain,
Belgium
1464-1468
oil on wood
approximately 6 ft. 5 in. high

46. Hugo van der Goes
Portinari Altarpiece (open)
From Sant’Egidio, Florence, Italy
ca. 1476
tempera and oil on wood
8 ft. 3 1/2 in. x 10 ft. (center) 8 ft. 3 1/2 in. x 4 ft. 7 1/2 in. (wings)
http://www.googleartproject.com/collection/uffizi-gallery/artwork/the-portinari-triptych-
hugo-van-der-goes-van-der-goes/329464/

47. Hugo van der Goes
Portinari Altarpiece
(Adoration of the Shepherds)
From Sant’Egidio, Florence,
Italy

49. Hans Memling
Saint John Altarpiece
Hospital Sint Jan, Bruges, Belgium
1479
oil on wood
5 ft. 7 3/4 in. x 5 ft. 7 3/4 in (center) 5 ft. 7 3/4 in. x 2 ft. 7 1/8 in (wings)

51. Limbourg Brothers
January from Les Tres Riche Heures
du Duc de Berry (The Very Sumptuous
Hours of Duke of Berry)
1413-1416
Ink on vellum
8 7/8” x 5 3/8”

53. Limbourg Brothers
February from Les Tres Riche Heures
du Duc de Berry (The Very Sumptuous
Hours of Duke of Berry)
1413-1416
Ink on vellum
8 7/8” x 5 3/8”

55. Jean Fouquet
Melun Diptych
Étienne Chevalier and
Saint Stephen
ca. 1450
oil on wood
3 ft. 1/2 in. x 2 ft. 9 1/2 in.

56. Jean Fouquet
Melun Diptych
Étienne Chevalier and
Saint Stephen
ca. 1450
oil on wood
3 ft. 1/2 in. x 2 ft. 9 1/2 in.

58. Veit Stoss
Death and Assumption of the Virgin
from Church of St. Mary, Kraków, Poland
1477-1489
painted and gilded wood
43 ft. x 35 ft. overall

60. Tilman Riemenschneider
The Assumption of the Virgin
center panel of the Creglingen Altarpiece
Creglingen, Germany
1495-1499
carved lindenwood
6 ft. 1 in. wide

61. Konrad Witz
Miraculous Draught of Fish
from Cathedral of St. Peter, Geneva, Switzerland
1444
oil on wood
4 ft. 3 in. x 5 ft. 1 in.

62. What was the result of the
invention of the
letterpress/printing press?
Michel Wolgemut and Shop
Nuremburg Chronicle
1493
printed ink on paper

63. Martin Schongauer
Temptation of Saint Anthony
ca. 1480-1490
engraving
13 x 11 in.