Northern Renaissance: Devotional Altarpieces

The Northern Renaissance
Devotional Altarpieces

Map 8-1 France, The Duchy of Burgundy, and the Holy Roman Empire in 1477
In the 15th century, a distinctive school of painting emerged in Northern Europe
in a region known as the Netherlands

The Netherlands encompassed what we now refer to as the
Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and parts of Northern France

In the 15th century this region was ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy

Bruges and Antwerp were thriving centers of banking and trade

Engraving depicting the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, built by Hendrik de Keyser c. 1612
The first international stock exchange was established in Antwerp in 1460

Engraving depicting the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, built by Hendrik de Keyser c. 1612
This economic prosperity gave rise to a new class of wealthy bankers and
merchants whose worldly interests encouraged artists to explore religious
subject matter in an entirely new way

Hans Memling, Portrait of a Young Man, c. 1482
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Portraiture also emerged as a major art form during this period, reflecting
the growing self-awareness and pride of this new patron class.

The Merode Altarpiece at the Cloisters depicts the Annunciation with
hallucinatory vividness. Credit: Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
Most of the art that was produced in this region took the form of devotional
altarpieces, which were “made to order” for private individuals for use in the
home

Master of the 1499 Diptych, Virgin in the Church with Abbot Christiaan de Hondt, 1499 Koninklijk Museum voor Schone
Kunsten, Antwerp
Prosperous merchants, bankers, and members of the clergy commissioned
diptychs (two-panel altarpieces) and triptychs (three-panel altarpieces) for private
prayer in the home

Master of the 14pp Diptych, Virgin in the Church with Abbot Christiaan de Hondt, 1499 Koninklijk Museum voor Schone
Kunsten, Antwerp
The interior panels usually include an image of the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ,
with a portrait of the owner in pious prayer (called a “donor portrait”)
Donor portrait:
a portrait of the
individual who
commissioned
the painting

Master of the 14pp Diptych, Virgin in the Church with Abbot Christiaan de Hondt, 1499 Koninklijk Museum voor Schone
Kunsten, Antwerp
The diptych on the
back wall of the
chamber gives us an
idea of how they
may have been
displayed

Master of the Magdalen Legend,
Virgin and Child, 1490/1500.
National Gallery of Art
Painted on carefully prepared wooden panels, the pieces were hinged so that
they could be opened and closed, and easily transported

Hans Memling, Diptych of Martin Von Nieuwenhove, 1487
Oil on panel, Municipal Museums, Bruges
In this diptych, the patron, Martin Van Niewenhoven, is pictured in a richly
appointed interior, praying piously towards an image of the Virgin and Child in
the adjacent panel
Donor portrait:
a portrait of the
individual who
commissioned
the painting

Although the earthly and divine characters are divided by the panels, they are
nevertheless connected by ingenious devices

The Virgin’s red robe spills out of
her picture frame into his

And both of them can be seen
reflected in the mirror on the
back wall, merging the two
realities into one

Mary also seems to be more human and down to earth than was common in
Medieval art

The use of hieratic scale has been abandoned, along with the golden
background that separated the image from the everyday world

Mary is pictured in an earthly setting, rather than a remote heavenly realm, and
there is even a landscape view out the window

We can see the church spires of a town in the distance, and a person strolling
along a garden path

The golden rays emanating from her head indicate her divine nature, but Mary
otherwise appears to be thoroughly human, with soft rounded features, and long
flowing hair

Jesus looks like a pudgy little baby, who playfully reaches for the apple held by
his mother (symbolizing his acceptance of his future role in redeeming humanity
from original sin)

All of this made Mary seem more relatable to the donor, who used the diptych as
a way to forge a closer connection to God
I just want
to get as
close to
God as
possible!

This intermingling of the earthly and divine worlds was at the center of the new
Humanist approach that we have been learning about:

“As Humanism became more popular during the Renaissance, ordinary people
grew to be the same size as saints in paintings and saints began to look more
like ordinary people . . . Saints left their golden atmosphere to occupy the same
gardens, forests and buildings that everyday people lived in.”
Humanism in the Renaissance

But the painting was not only about the patron’s devotion to the Virgin; its also
about his own sense of pride and accomplishment.
It’s all
about
me!

Von Nieuwenhoven is well dressed and well groomed, his clothing, jewelry, and
house all attesting to his wealth and status

Behind his head is a stained glass window representing Saint Martin, his patron
Saint

His motto and coat of arms decorates the window in the Virgin’s chamber, as if to
suggest that she is a guest in his own home

Such a close and intimate relationship between divinity and an earthly mortal
would never have been seen in the middle ages!

“During the Middle Ages . . . art and learning were centered on the church and
religion. But at the start of the 14th century, people became less interested in
thinking about God, heaven and the saints, and more interested in thinking about
themselves, their surroundings and their everyday lives.”
Humanism in the Renaissance

Northern Renaissance: Devotional Altarpieces

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Northern Renaissance: Devotional Altarpieces