15th Century

Northern European Art

Claus Sluter

Well of Moses

1395 - 1406

Sluter executed at the end of the fourteenth century a large fountain (called Well of Moses) in the Carthusian monastery (Chartreuse de Champmol). The monastery was intended to be the burying place of the Prince of Burgundy, Philip the Bold and his family. The monastery was destroyed during the French revolution, but the hexagonal base with the figures of the six prophets who had foreseen the death of Christ on the Cross (Moses, David, Jeremiah, Zachariah, Daniel and Isaiah) survived.

Unfinished Calendar Page

JanuaryThe Très Riches Heures is the classic example of a medieval book of hours. This was a collection of the text for each liturgical hour of the day - hence the name - which often included other, supplementary, texts. Calendars, prayers, psalms and masses for certain holy days were commonly included.

Northern Renaissance 15th Century

Limbourg Brothers, October• From a Book of Hours• Top: paired signs of the

zodiac: Libra & Scorpio• Divide between peasant class

in foreground and ruling nobility in castle in background

• Peasants work at farm routines

• Very detailed observation of nature: from birds eating the seed to the shadows cast by the horse

• Sumptuous colors 1411-16

Northern Renaissance 15th Century

Campin, Mérode Altarpiece• Donors at left: grave, sedate,

middle class, witness a holy event

• In center: Annunciation scene• Domestication of religious

scenes, no haloes • Water and water basin as a

baptism symbol• Candle just snuffed out: divine

light puts out human light• Candles have a phallic

connotation; extinguished candle: consummation of marriage

• Lilies: Mary’s purity

• Three flowers indicate the Trinity, one bud: Christ as yet unborn

• Virgin on floor: her humility• Virgin blocks off entrance to

hell, symbolically the fireplace• At right: Joseph in his

workshop• Outside, a view of a Flemish

city, with a mousetrap for sale in the window; mousetrap as symbol of Christ ensnaring the devil

• Thin figures, sinuous curves of drapery

• Microscopic sense of surface detail

Robert Campin (1425-28)

Northern Renaissance 15th Century

Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece• Outside wings: theme of salvation• Figures sit in small niches,

claustrophobic• Saint John the Evangelist and Saint

John the Baptist done in grisaille; both patron saints of Ghent

• Extreme realism of figures, cf. donors

• Many detailed surfaces from stubble on beard to leaves on trees

• Inscriptions denote Christ’s coming• Donors kneel in Gothic frames• Flemish landscape is revealed in

background

Inside:• No attempt to idealize figures, as in

Adam and Eve• Hierarchy of scale of figures• God the Father enthroned wearing

the Pope’s tiara flanked by Mary and John the Baptist, then the angels, then Adam and Eve

• Sacrifice of Christ symbolized by the Lamb bleeding on the altar in the lower central panel

• The case that housed the altarpiece is now lost

Northern Renaissance 15th Century

Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini and His Bride• Wedding symbolism in painting• Dog as symbol of fidelity• Slippers cast off symbolizing standing on holy ground; slippers also

served as traditional wedding gifts• One candle in the chandelier symbolizes one act of intercourse• Candle burns all night on first night of wedding• Bed curtains are open, revealing marriage bed• Bride pulls up dress as an allusion to a wife’s role as child bearer• Saint Margaret: patron saint of childbirth on the bed headboard• Painting signed and dated: “Jan van Eyck was here 1434”• Tiny medallions surrounding mirror depict Passion of Christ• Priest not necessary for a wedding, only two witnesses who appear in

the mirror• Figures are extremely pale, very richly robed• Attention to detail, light, texture and luster

The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami; 1434 (130 Kb); Oil on wood, 81.8 x 59.7 cm (32 1/4 x 23 1/2 in); National Gallery, London

Northern Renaissance 15th Century

Van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece• Painted in Bruges, installed on altar of

a Florentine church attached to the city’s largest hospital

• Virgin represents alleviation of suffering

• Oddly different sizes of figures• Solemn grandeur• Shepherds in wonder, gazing in

curiosity• Wheat, serving as the bed for the

Christ Child, is a Eucharistic symbol• Painted for a church associated with a

maternity hospital in Florence• Mary as the great mother of childbirth

• Flowers are symbolic of suffering: scarlet lily, white and purple irises, Mary’s suffering in childbirth, Christ’s suffering on the Cross

• Many of the flowers were known for their healing properties, appropriate for hospital setting of work

• Background left wing: Mary’s pregnant state revealed as Joseph helps her

• Christ: tiny and frail newborn• Margaret: patron saint of

childbirth on right panel with female donors

• Left panel: male donors and saints

Hugo van der Goes, c. 1436-1482 (Flem.),

Northern Renaissance 15th Century

Van der Weyden, Escorial Deposition• No deep landscape, figures on a shallow stage, silhouetted against a

gold ground• Dynamically curved composition• Strong emotional impact on the observer, particularly in the tear-

streaked face of swooning Mary• Dramatic stress• Zigzag rhythm and profiles• Parallel relationships in positioning of the figures: Mary and Christ,

the two figures holding them, and the two end figures• Brilliantly colored

Northern Renaissance 15th Century

Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights• Left: Garden of Eden with God and Adam and Eve• Center: Garden of Earthly Delights: a treacherous peril-filled paradise• Right: Hell• Reverse: the earth in a glass globe, surrounded by water• Four panels are an allusion to the four states of alchemy: bringing

together of opposites, unification of elements in a balanced whole, purging in a fire and rinsing clean

• Also an allusion to the Four Ages of Man• Filmy transparent surface• People are soft and boneless, glowing, have no dignity or power• High horizons get as much detail in the paintings as possible• Humans are without individuality, have no will, follow trends, are a

helpless tool in the power of greater forces• Sexual scenes suggested, commonly understood Flemish symbols of

lust include the birds and berries

Northern Renaissance 15th Century

Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights (continued)• Behind Eve is a rabbit, indicating how she will reproduce • Central panels has phallic symbols, as in the spiky towers

and the pond in the center• Arrangements suggest the consequences of a sinful life• Many of the consequence of the middle panel are

graphically exposed in the right panel• Compositional elements continue from one panel to

another: horizontal line through each scene