ARTH 4413 Test 1 (copy)

“The Entombment” from (The Seilern Triptych)

Rober Campin

C. 1425

Importance: gold background, one of the first oil paintings, early renaissance, naturalistic and sculptural rather than international gothic style “ars nova”

“Nativity” from the Dijon Nativity

Robert Campin

C. 1420-25

Oil on wood

Three different episodes on one panel (nativity, legend of the midwives, adoration of the shepherds)

Apocryphal gospels of the nativity

Expansive background (secular)

“Madonna Breastfeeding, St. Veronica with the Veil, The Trinity”

Robert Campin

C. 1428-30

From a workshop of Campin, parts of a winged altarpiece

Precious gems used in Mary and baby Jesus’s halo (alluding to a projection into space)

Jeweled edges in St. Veronica’s cloak; holds the sudarium (the linen square cloth with an image of the face of Christ); finely painted fabric

Intense colors, variety of textures and contrasts (ie red/white clothing and backgrounds)

Advanced levels of painting to depict a 3D sculpture on a 2D surface

Illusionistic qualities imply the presence of the sacred in our spaces

“Merode Altarpiece” (Annunciation, St. Joesph in His Carpentry Shop, and Donors Panel)

Robert Campin

C. 1425-30

Center panel: typical iconography of the annunciation in a 15th century domestic interior

Heaviness, three dimensionality (shadows of light)

Incoherent anatomy

Gabriel is dressed as a Deacon with a white “alb”

Use of primary colors

Strycsitten (medieval bench)

Secular cityscape behind St. Joseph (different perspective)

Donor’s panel = left wing

Depicts Peter Engebrechts (patron) and wife kneeling in prayer by the open door

“Virgin and Child before a Firescreen” “Madonna of the Firescreen” “Salting Madonna”

Robert Campin

c. 1430

Heavy form

Strycsitten

Firescreen is an overt symbol for a halo (Similar to a Limbourg piece)

“Portrait of a Man and Portrait of a Woman”

Robert Campin

C. 1435

Pendants

Husband and Wife

Man is wearing a chaperon and fur lined jacket

Realism aspect in the pinned veil, pieces of the veil mimic the corner of the eyes

Book of Hours and Medieval Manuscripts

• books used for private devotions

• Includes Liturgical calendar, perpetual calendar, hours of the virgin, hours of the cross, suffrages of the saints, litany of Saints, office of the Dead, Psalms and Prayers

• Literary works of Greek and Roman antiquity; texts of healing

• Romance narrative tales

• Apocalypses stories that depict the end of the world

• Made of parchment

• Used ink, gold, and lapis (lapis was more expensive than gold)

• Expensive (only for the very wealthy)

• Inhabited initial - enlarged letter with human or animal figures with no identifiable narrative scene

• Historical initial - enlarged letter with a scene related to the text

• Smaller meant to be carried in a pocket, sleeve, or belts

• Can be a wedding gifts or family heirloom

• Recording marriages, births, deaths, and recipes

“Annunciation”

Anonymous artist

13th cent.

Uses typical iconography of the annunciation

Iconography of the Annunciation

Mary

• on the right

• Dressed in blue

• Expression of humility and acceptance

• Halo

• Reading a book

Archangel Gabriel

• on the left

• Wings and halo

• Movement (moment of arrival)

White lilies

Doves (the being of the immaculate conception)

Mary and Gabriel are separated by something (whether it is a pillar, building, or plant)

Iconography of the Crucifixion

• central cross

• Mary and Saint John the Younger (mourning at the foot of the cross)

• Secondary story elements

“Annunciation” from the The Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry

The Belles Heures

• 206 Folios

• 131 miniatures

• 300 gold initials

• 1800 gilded ornamental borders

Limbourg brothers

C. 1405-08

Opening image of the book of hours

Matins illustration

Gothic chapel

• Light through the stained-glass window

• Illusionistic sculptures of Old Testament Prophets

Elaborately carved lectern

Three white lilies: trinity

Angels playing stringed instruments

Attributes of the Duc du Berry

Gold fleur-de-lis on blue ground

Bear and swan

“The Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux”

Jean Pucelle

1325-28

209 folios, 25 full pages, 700 images in the margins

Woman’s wedding or coronation book

Italian Trecento style mixed with Parisian Court style

Three-dimensional architecture (not to scale)

Gothic curvilinear forms (S shaped figures)

International gothic style

Grisaille, Drolleries, Bas-de-page

“Annunciation” from the Hours of Marshal Boucicaut

• Patron: Jean II, Marshal Boucicaut

• wide borders with decoration

• International gothic style

• Anonymous illustrator

• 242 folios

• New style of landscape depiction

• Light and atmospheric perspective

“Folio 1v: January”

From the Tres Riches Heurs

Limbourg Brothers

One of he most famous Book of Hours

Final book commissioned by the Duc de Berry

Importance of calendar (framed with season/zodiac)

Heavy use of lapis lazuli (imported expensive stone)

New Years Celebration

• calendar in the top arch

• Unfinished

Members of the Duke’s court

Attention to fashion

Possible known serving pieces

Luxury and gift giving

Duc de Berry next to the Firescreen

Uses fashion of the time

“Meeting of the Maji”

Limbourg Brothers

High horizon

Atmospheric perspective

Wise men arrive in three directions

Patterns on horse’s blankets

• Persian textiles

• Lavish textural representation

Various animals (Bear is a representation of the Duc de Berry)

“Adoration of the Magi”

1410-16 and 1485-89

• Melchior

• Balthasar

• Gaspard

Limbourg Brothers

Shepherds in the distance

Women in 15th century dress

Foreign visitors

Joseph as an old man

Cathedral of Bourges in background

“Folio 2v: February”

From the Tres Riches Heurs

Limbourg Brothers

Aquarius to Pices

Winter (grey sky)

Peasants within a house

Man returning to the warmth of home

• can see his breath

Atmospheric innovations

• earliest landscape with snow

• Smoke from the chimney

• Condensation of breath

• Footprints in the snow

• Snow on haystacks

• Sheep huddled together

• Birds pecking at seed

Long vista

“Calendar: March/April”

From Tres Riches Heurs

Limbourg Brothers

March

• landscape like February

• Ploughman is representative of rural life

• Distinguished between peasants from nobles by dress and occupation

April

• golden dragon (a medieval fairytale)

• Engagement of Charles, Duke of Orleans and Bonnie d’Armagnac (1410)

• Emphasis on luxury and courtly manners (international gothic style)

• Large figures in the foreground

• Iridescent robes

• Emphasis of colo

• Prince garments (gold crowns, fur trimmed)

• Subtle emotion

Incipient naturalism

• natural effects applied to lower class and animals, but not to aristocrats or biblical figures

“Calendar: June”

From Tres Riches Heurs

Limbourg Brothers

Duc de Berry’s Summer home

• hotel de Nesle

Conciergerie

• two orange conical towers

• Marie Antoinette imprisoned here in 1793

Haymaking on the banks of the Seine

Use of color and perspective

“October folio”

From Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Intermediate illuminator (incomplete and finished by another artist, perhaps Barthelemy d’Eyck)

Sowing the winter grain

• one man on a horse harrowing the land while the other sows the seeds

Central ground - sown filed with scarecrow dressed as an archer; criss cross strings

Details

• cast shadows

• Footprints

• Reflection cast by the boats on the water

• Earliest known representation of this type of reflection

Shows people’s daily lives

Louvre

• large central tower: dungeon/royal treasure house

• Square courtyard

• View from the area of Duc de Berry’s Paris residence

“Anatomical Man”

From the Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

1410-16 and 1485-89

Limbourg Brothers

Unique theme and image in a book of hours

End of the calendar

Mirror images of a youth

Mandorla

• almond shaped

• Signs of the zodiac

Influence of the zodiac/stars (medical or astronomy)

Coat of arms of the Duc de Berry

Latin inscriptions

• properties of each sign

• Four humors/temperaments

• Degree of hot or dry

• Cardinal points

“Annunciation”

From the Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux

Jean Rucelle

First interior in a convincing 3D manner north of the Alps (3D but not to scale)

International gothic figural style

Courtly: refined

Italian influence

Annunciation iconography

Specific place: enclosed architecture

Typically separated by column or on different panels

Historiated Initial

“Betrayal: Kiss of Judas”

From Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux

Jean Pucelle

C. 1326 CE

• peter cutting off the ear of a solider

• Medieval weapons

• Crossbow anticipates the crucifixion

Mock tournament

• bas-de-page

• Theme associated with conflict

• Knights on a goat and a ram (sin)

• Charge at a keg on a post

• “Titling at the water-butt”

• Here a wine barrel

“Nativity”

Boucicaut Master from the Boucicaut Hours

C. 1408

Interest in landscapes

• morning light

• Ox and ass

• Mary in blue cloak with a book

International gothic

• tied to the tastes of European courts

• Sinuous, carving forms

• Undulation hems

Golden rays of sun

“Adoration of the Magi”

Boucicaut Master from the Boucicaut Hours

C. 1408

Star of Bethlehem

Placement of figures adds dimension

Retention of Medieval features

Gold haloes and stars

High point of view

Same location as Nativity turned 90 degrees

“Cloth of honor”

“Jean de Boucicaut before St. Catherine”

From the Boucicaut Master/ Boucicaut Book of Hours

C. 1408

Iconography of St. Catherine

• wheel

• Sword

• Palm frond of Matyrdom

References to the Patron

• coat of arms

• “Impaled” coat of arms of prime-died and windows

• Heraldic colors: green and white

• Ce que vous voudres “whatever you wish”

Importance of scale

Implication of interior

“Fall of Adam and Eve”

Tres Riches Heurs

Limbourg Brothers

Continuous narrative

Gothic fountain

Female imagery

“Annunciation”

Simone Martini

1333

International gothic

• late 14th to mid 15th centuries

• Courtly painting, sculpture, and decorative art

• Western Europe and Italy

• Naturalistic details

• Spatially illogical

• Figures with oval heads and small mouths

Front of the “Wilton Diptych”

Anonymous artist

1395

King Richard II of England presented by his patron saints (Edmund, Edward the Confessor, and John the Baptist) to the Virgin and Child with Angels

Named comes from the owner’s estate

• Wilton House in Wiltshire, England

King Richard II kneeling

• young man (He was an adult at the time of creation; image of him at 10 when he became king)

Three saints

• two were English kings

• Golds crowns with pearls

Gesture toward King Richard

• support and present

• Richard as a Holy King like his predecessors

Tooled background

St. Edmond: arrow (object os his murder)

St. Edward: ring (miracle)

St. John the Baptist: Lamb

White stag on the chain of pearls and Broom-cod

Design of the gold fabric

Right panel : Garden of Heaven

• eleven angels

• Pins of the white hart (stag)

• Broom-cod collars

• Roses instead of haloes

Interaction between figures

allusions to the crucifixion

• lamb

• Crown of thorns

• Position of Christ

Back/Exterior of “Wilton Diptych”

Anonymous artist

C. 1395

Coat of arms of Richard II

• lion with white hart

• Elaborate chain

• Crown

• Antlers

• Field of Rosemary

Condition is not as good as is the interior

Shield

• “impaled”

• Gold fleur de lys

• Shadows of the three lions

• Cross with five birds (Coat of arms of King Edward the Confessor)

Melchior Broederlam - Dijon Altarpiece Exterior

1394-99

Painted panels to protect precious relief sculpture

• wings closed

Infancy/Life of Christ cycle

• annunciation/visitation

• Presentation/flight into Egypt

• Alternating interior/ exterior space

Gold background

• Byzantine convention

• Paradise, otherworldly

Odd shape

• contrived obligation to fill space

Annunciation

• Iconography of the annunciation

• Perspective: rudimentary

• Shadow/light

• Horus conclusus: enclosed garden

• Gothic vs. Romanesque architecture

• New Testament vs Old Testament

Annunciation and Visitation

• Sacred architecture

• Buildings in realistic manner

• First time seen in Flemish painting

• Gothic forms

• Rectangular pavement

• Colorful

Visitation

• essence of the text from St. Luke

• Mary and Elizabeth (gold halos; pregnant with John the Baptist and Christ)

• Craggy mountains

• Outdoors

• Light and shadow

• Early perspective

• Creates depth

Presentation in the Temple and Flight into Egypt

• apocryphal accounts

• Stream/well in the desert

• Statue falling from a high pedestal

• Candlemas: February 2 (Date of the Presentation)

Flight into Egypt

• Event from the Book of Matthew

• Holy family crossing the desert (contemporary cistern replaces stream)

• Statue broken from its base (destruction of pagan images)

• Netherlandish interest in depicting detail

• Very early if not the first

• Joseph as an ordinary man

Left Panel of “Diptych of Melun”

Jean Fouquet

Estienne Chevalier with St. Stephen

• portrait vs idealized

Patron Saint of Estienne Chevalier

• first Christian martyr

• Jerusalem

• 36 CE

• First patron on return to France from Rome

• C. 1450

• Treasurer of France

• Reign of King Charles VII (1422-61)

“IER ESTIEN”

• engraving behind chevalier’s head

Marble panels

Perspective

• Italian influence

Left Panel of “Diptych of Melun”

Jean Fouquet

C. 1450

Madonna and Child (enthroned)

Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim (hierarchy of angels)

• red, white, and blue

• Heraldic colors of the king

Identification

• Agnes Sorel : Mistress of King Charles V

• Cathrine Bude : Wife of Cevalier

Diptych of Melun

• worldly vs heavenly

• Child points to the patron, Etienne Chevailier

• Interactions between the panels

“Portrait of a Man” (possible self portrait)

Jan van Eyck

• first early Netherlandish artist to sign his paintings

• In 1425, appointed painter and barley du chamber to Phillip, Duke of Burgundy

C. 1433

Signed and inscribed on the frame

“ALS ICH CAN” : “I do as I can”

“Jan van Eyck made me on 21 October 1433”

Only early Netherlandish artist to adopt a personal motto

“Turin-Milan Hours”

C. 1420-35

“Hand G” possible attribution to Jan van Eyck

Only two miniatures survived

Innovative approach to illusionism and play of light

Depicts the Birth of St. John the Baptist, The Funeral Mass, and the Baptism of Jesus

“Crucifixion and Last Judgement”

Jan van Eyck

C. 1430

Diptych or wings of a triptych

Death and Resurrection

• sorrow and triumph

• Mortal and immortal

• Highly detailed iconography

“Microcosmic”

Original gilt (gold leaf)

Latin text around the inner edge of the original frames

Low relief decoration in gesso or clay

Traditional iconography of the crucifixion

• Sybil (pre-Christian) who predicted Christ’s birth

Patron: looking out to the viewer. Blue Chaperon and Ermine lined clothing

Last Judgment

• top and bottom vs left and right

• Jesus sitting in judgement

• Archangel Michael (warrior angel, rainbow wings)

• Personifications of death (winged grinning skeleton)

Earliest evidences of the use of optical projections is in the paintings of Jan van Eyck

Concurrent with the invention of spectacles in Italy in 1276

“Annunciation”

Jan va Eyck

1400s

vertical format (tradition from French manuscript illumination)

perspective is from the left side

• evidence of a possible triptych?

classic Annunciation iconography

• including the prie-dieu that Mary sits on

• except Gabriel wears a crown not a halo and he is wearing a red and gold jeweled cope with a scepter

Color symbolism

speaking from the manuscript (verses from Luke)

forms have weight and volume

• naturalism

Eyck was interested in distinguishing between textures

Gabriel and Mary are speaking; Mary’s words are upside downs because she is speaking to God.

Details

• early gothic church interior (not representing a particular church)

• difference in arches (romanesque vs gothic)

• symbolism of light (darker in upper stories)

• Gabriel wears “a gothic smile”

• bottle glass windows (Netherland style)

• repetition of seven (arches, lilies, gold beams of light)

• historiated pavement (scenes of Old Testament)

Signs of the zodiac

• Gabriel stands over Aries (the Annunciation happened on March 25, during Aries season)

• Mary stands of Virgo (for the virgin)

Relationship between the Old Testament and New Testament

“The Madonna with Canon Van der Paele”

Jan van Eyck

set up like a triptych but is one painting

depicts the Madonna and child enthroned

• in the center of the painting (most important part of a painting)

• acts as almost an altar

romanesque religious building

reality of the fabrics and gems

asymmetrical

• Mary and Christ look to the left

Nosegay and parakeet are allusions to the Garden of Eden

• paradise

• Mary and Christ are referred to as the second Adam and Eve (those who save the world from sin)

The patron (Canon Van der Paele) looks through Mary meaning he is only seeing the saints spiritually

Gleaming metal

St. George stands next to the patron

theme of defeat over death

Old Testament stories represented as wood cravings on the throne

• Abraham sacrificing Isaac

• Adam and Eve

• Cain killing Abel

• Samson and the Lion