Early Renaissance

Early Renaissance in the North

• Flanders: Area north that is belgium, Luxemborg and northern france.

  • catholic

• art still inspired by medieval art (gothic art)

  • ornamental: lots of plants

• Flanders economy:

  • banking

  • tapistry: textiles and tapestry

    • often made of wool, silk, thread

• “The Beloved Tamed“ - Tapestry

  • suggests the unicorn wants to stay

  • pomegranites are in trees: fertility and happy marriage, marital aids

• the black death still had a lasting impression on people - appeared in art

• suspicion towards clergy

• north liked oil painting

  • pigment (color,), linseed/walnut oil (binder), mineral spirits or turpentine (vehicle, modifies viscosity)

  • very detail oriented but not completely lifelike either

  • on parchment (stretched leather)

• a book of hours: like a calendar-like book of prayers that marks when to pray and have feasts, very expensive

  • wealthy people only owned these: portayed the poor class empathetically, romanticized lifestyle, and humorous; rich class empathized

• images inside are perspective is not accurate to show the characters more

• oil painting panel

  • triptych: made of 3 panels

  • catholic

    • had saints in the painting for various health concerns

    • center piece is nativity

  • made for a hospital

    • vase: used to mix medicine

    • flowers bear symbolism

      • white: purity of Mary

      • red: sacrifice of Jesus

      • blue: royalty

  • inaccurate technicalities

    • tilted floor that is theatrical to the nativity scene

    • hierarchical scale for Mary

The Annunciation - Jan Van Eyck

• annunciation: when Mary finds out she will have Jesus

• Gabriel comes to tell Mary she will have Jesus

• Mary doesn’t look at Gabriel as court ettiquette since it was rude for women to look at men directly

• Dove coming down to angel represents the Holy Spirit for conception

Merode Altarpiece - Jan Van Eyck

• portable

  • you can take it home and use it to pray

• annunciation scene

  • left: painter portrayed

  • center: annunciations

  • right: Joseph making mouse traps (a holy act because mice were seen as unclean)

  • gabe just arrived (candle blown out, pages flipping) and Mary doesnt notice him yet

• vessel in the back symbolizes the Virgin Mary will cary Jesus, she is the vessel of Christ

• Northern European elements:

  • house decoration

  • drapery

• baby jesus coming through window (not broken)

Van Der Weyden

• was northern but leaned to Italian art

Man in a Red Turban, Jan Van Eyck

• glazed to sparkle

• northern style: dark background

  • a formal portrait (like todays passport photo)

• painted on wood, makes it sparkle

• self portrait!

  • Jan always wore a red turban painting

  • showed his reliability

• signed paintings on the frame (made by Jan)

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife

• Giovanni is on the left side near the window = he does outside business

• wife on right near bed: domestic duties

  • may not be

• a wedding painting

• symbolism

  • mirror: sign of wealth, all seeing eye of God

  • clogs: appropriate wedding gift

    • they are taken off = standing barefoot: place you are standing on is sacred

  • dog: fidelity

• maybe meaning:

  • tribute to his 1st wife who died in childbirth

  • 2nd wife’s engagement

• Jan Van Eyck sign on wall, “JVE was here“

Deposition - Roger van der Weyden

• deposition: taking Christ’s body off of cross

• Jesus’ pose mirrors the virgin mary who has fainted