Art of the 15th Century Neherlandish Regions
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The art of the Netherlandish region in the fifteenth century constitutes one of the most important moments in Western art history. Yet, for various reasons, the art of this period has persistently been seen largely from the perspective of its relationship to contemporary art in Italy. A review of the accomplishments of the Netherlandish painters demonstrates, however, that their work was not important primarily in relation to the art of other regions. This great flourishing of painting had its beginnings in the courtly art of the International Gothic style that flourished at the Burgundian court. The poorly documented artists of the early part of the century, such as Robert Campin and the Master of FlTmalle, influenced the great generation of van Eyck and van der Weyden. These artists in turn were the source of the new approach to painting that thrived throughout the century in Bruges, Ghent, Haarlem, and many other cities. The Netherlandish painters are credited with the invention and development of the technique of oil painting as well as with various innovations such as the new self-consciousness of the artist, the professionalization of painting, significant contributions to the arts of portraiture and landscape painting, and a novel approach to pictorial realism. In all these respects, the painters of the fifteenth century had an enormous influence on the art of Europe in the centuries to come. Even leaving questions of impact aside, they created in a limited tim
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he marital theme. The crystal beads hanging on the wall and the mirror are symbols of the Virgin's purity and, "by extension, of virginity in general" while the fruit placed on the sill refers to the state of grace of the first marriage of Adam and Eve, prior to the fall, and the little dog is a reference to fidelity (Smith 24).
The van Eyck altarpiece is one of the most complex fifteenth-century works, a polyptych which has as its central subject the adoration of the Lamb of God (i.e., Christ). This huge composition--which consists of 24 individual paintings--demonstrates how van Eyck used aspects of his realist approach symbolically. In the panels at the top of the opened altarpiece van Eyck depicted God enthroned, flanked by Mary and John the Baptist. This trio was flanked by pictures of angelic musicians and, at either end, the naked figures of Adam and Eve. Harbison notes that Jan employed a different perspective system for each set of pictures. The central trio has one system; there is another for the angels, and Adam and Eve, quite unusually, are observed from the position of the spectator, who would have been some distance below the 12-foot painting located above an altar. His tendency to produce more refined type
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Approximate Word count = 3237
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)
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