The document provides information on 15th century art in Northern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula presented in chapter 18 of some student slides. It discusses several key artworks from the time period including their artists, dates, locations, materials, subjects, and significance. The document focuses on analyzing stylistic features and providing context for the artworks within the larger developments and themes of 15th century Northern European art.
1. 15th Century Art In Northern Europe
and the Iberian Peninsula (ch.18)
Student Slides
2. • 9. 18-2 (A Flemish City) Jason
• 10. 18-4 (Champmol Altarpiece) Kavita
• 11. 18-6 (February, Life in the Country, Tres Riches Heures)
Mary
• 12. 18-9 (Cope of the Order of the Golden Fleece) George
• 13. 18-15 (Last Judgment Altarpiece – show open and
closed) Katie Z.
• 14. 18-17 (Portrait of a Lady) Mike
• 15. 18-18 (A Goldsmith in his Shop) Catie C.
• 16. 18-19 (Wrongful Execution of the Count, Justice of Otto
III) Phil
• 17. 18-22 (Etienne Chevalier and Saint Stephen / Virgin and
Child –diptych) Guillermo
3. A Flemish City
● Made by Robert Campin
● Created from 1425-1428 C.
● Materials used include Oil, and wood panel wing
● It can now be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
● The painting itself shows windows looking into a very wealthy city
with well kept houses along side.
● A message that Robert was trying to portray was showing open
windows and doors with people gathered around, this showed security
which was ideal
● Similar piece that portrays ideal message-Champol Altarpeice
● Both pieces of work give off a prosperous view, which engage
security
● Much of work portrays later Renaissance style
● Characteristics include detailed architecture features, and
vibrant colors.
● International gothic style can be seen as well- Landscape and
architecture are miniturized
4. Champmol Altarpiece
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1393 – 1399
Oil on wood panel
5’5¼” X 4’1¼”
Altarpiece for the Chartreuse de
Champmol
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Carved by Jacques de Baerze
Duke ordered a magnificent carved
and painted altarpiece
Depicts scenes of the Crucifixion
along with scenes of the Adoration
of the Magi and the Entombment
Protective shutters painted by
Melchior Broederlam with scenes
from the life of the Virgin and the
infancy of Christ
International Style
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Located in Dijon, which is now in
France
Tangible figures in fanciful
miniature architectural and
landscape settings
Both the interior and exterior of
the building are shown
Christian religious symbolism
present everywhere
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Archangel Gabriel presents Mary with the news of her motherhood
Door means to lead to the Temple of Jerusalem – symbol of Old Law
Tiny enclosed garden and a pot of lilies = Mary’s virginity
Right shutter shows when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the
temple for the Jewish purification rite
Landscape has been arranged to lead the eye up from the foreground
and into the distance along a rising ground plane
Artist creates a sense of light and air around solid figures
Reflecting a new realism coming into art, a hawk flies through the
golden sky, and Joseph drinks from a flask and carries the family
belongings in a satchel over his shoulder
Statue of a pagan god breaks and tumbles from its pedestal as Christ
approaches
5. February, Life in the Country, Tres Riches
Heures
Paul, Herman, and Jean Limbourg. Colors and ink on Parchment.
1411-16 (15th century, of course). Located in Museé Condé, Chantilly, France
• Purpose: a page in a Book of Hours - a book of prayers/religious passages for
daily spiritual use also including a calendar that marked religious holidays. For
Duke John of Berry, the Limbourg brothers (Paul, Herman, Jean) illuminated a
Book of Hours called Tres Riches Heures, and February was a calendar page in it
• Achieves this purpose by adequately illustrating the February calendar page.
Decorative February calendar above scene. Scene depicts typical February day for
peasant farmers
• Cold February atmosphere made prominent by bundled and shivering workers,
grey sky, barren trees, snowy fields, and chimney smoke highlighting the warmth
of indoors
• Gothic style prominent. High horizon line, people larger and more prominent than
surroundings, side of house removed to show indoors and outdoors
• Colors mostly dull and grey (like February) with a few bright patches
• Backround slowly getting smaller, shows depth
• The pages of Tres Riches Heures depicted scenes of the lives of both aristocrats
and peasants. The February page in particular represents the culture of peasant
farmers and their tough labors as they work through the winter
• The January page is similar in terms of layout but not much else. Both have
calendar and scene depicting a common day of that month, but January depicts a
day in the life of aristocrats whereas February depicts peasants. The January page
colorfully depicts a feast of luxury and leisure; the February page dully depicts
tough labor
6. Cope of the Golden Fleece
•Flemish mid 15th Century
•Cloth with gold and colored silk
embroidery
•About 5’ 5” X 10’ 9”
•Made for Honorary Fraternity The Order
of the Golden Fleece founded by Duke
Phillip the Good of Burgundy
•Show moral character and bravery of
members
•Fraternity serve religious purposes
•Surface divided into sections filled with
standing figures of saints.
•Top Center is Jesus Christ enthroned –
flanked by scholar saints
•Creates illusion of Flemish painting
•Shows importance of religion in daily life
•Differs from paintings of the time with
religious focus rather than individuals
7. Phil
Hochman
Wrongful Execution of the Count,
Justice of Otto III
•Dieric Bouts, 15 century, oil
painting, Italy
•Two of four panels( the last
two were never completed)
•Hangs in City Hall of the city’s
province
•warn city officials not to end
up like the empress of Otto III
•In the first panel, Otto III has
the count beheaded because
empress falsely accused him of
sexual impropriety
•In the second panel, countess
successfully proves count’s
innocence, causing the emperor
Otto III to have the empress
burned at a stake
•The first artist to produce an
illusion of space that recedes
slowly from the picture plane to
the distant horizon
•Ultimately, work shows
elegance in nobility- represents
the high rank of the nobility in
Italian culture
•To achieve this effect, he used
devices such as walkways,
walls, and winding roads along
which characters in the scene
are laced. His use of
atmospheric perspective can
be seen in the gradual
lightening of the sky and the
smoky blue hills at the horizon
•Similar to other works from
Italy in the 15th century, the
International Gothic Style is
shown
•Similar to The Last Supper, the
Upper Class is being portrayed
in elaborate robes-the robes
conceal and show their bodies
in different ways
•Additionally, both show the
first time artists understand
how to effectively use
perspective
•like many artists will copy
Bouts, used a group portrait in
which people and religious
figures are in narrative (justice
angles watching execution)
8. Last Judgment Altarpiece
Rogier van der Weyden
After 1443
Oil on wood panel; painted panel set on an
altar of a church
Musee de I’Hotel-Dieu, Beaune, France
For the hospital in Beaune, found by the
chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy, Nicolas
Rolin
Rogier’s largest and most elaborate work.
Could have known iconography from medieval
church tympana, or could have been inspired
by paintings and mosaics of the theme in
Rome.
9. Tall, straight figure of the archangel Michael, dressed in a white robe and cope,
dominate the center of the wide polypstych as he weighs souls under the direct order
of God, who sits on the arc of a giant rainbow above him
Virgin Mary and John the Baptist kneel at either end of the rainbow
Behind them on each side, six apostles and a host of saints (men at the right side of
Christ and women on the left) witness the scene
Cloudy gold background signifies events in the heavenly realm or in a time remote from
that of the viewer
Bodily resurrection takes place on a narrow, barren strip of earth that runs across the
bottom of all but the outer panels
Men and women climb out of their tombs, turning in different directions as they react
to the call to judgment
They scales of justice held by Michael tip in an unexpected direction; instead of Good
outweighing Bad, the saved soul has become pure spirit and rises, while the damned
soul sinks, weighed down by unrepented sins
The damned throw themselves into the flaming pit of hell- no demons drag them down;
the saved greet the archangel Gabriel at the shining gate of heaven, depicted as a
Gothic portal.
Altarpiece shutters are closed, show Rogier’s debt to Jan and the Ghent Altarpiece
Donors, Nicolas RolinadnGuigone de Salins, kneel in prayer before sculptures of the
patron saints of the hospital chapel (Sebastian and Anthony)
Upper level: angel Gabriel greets Virgin Mary, in another version of the Annunciation
High status of donors is indicated by coats of arms and gold brocade on the walls of
their room.
In contrast, central images of Mary, Gabriel, and the 2 saints are represented in grisaille
(unpainted stone sculptures set in shallow niches)
10. Portrait of a lady (c. 1455)
Rogier van der Weyden
oil and tempera on wood panel
14 1/16”×10 5/8” (~0.25×0.18 sq. Eeman)
The actual person isn't known, and Rogier didn't bother
titling his painting himself
Idealized features—paints almond eyes, “smooth
translucent” skin, well-proportioned features: narrow
shoulders, high forehead, elongated features
Idealization is common to many Rogier women—
apparently a lot of them look the same
Contrast light body and veil with dark everything
Popularizes “half-length pose”: high waistline, clasped
hands
Also found in pictures of Virgin and Child (although
that's probably more because there are lots of Maries
and Jesuses)
Shows woman pious, humble, wealthy but proper,
modest; fingers: controlled emotion
Shows contradictory balance of patrons' pride, (feigned,
let's be honest) modesty
11. Goldsmith in his Shop (Possibly Saint Eligius)
Petrus Christus, 1449, Netherlands, Oil on wood
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Depicts goldsmith displaying his
workshop and the pieces of civic and
religious significance he has created
for the aristocrats behind him
Customers (patrons) are buying a
wedding ring
Goldsmith may represent Saint Eligius,
patron saint of goldsmiths, but also
may represent an actual goldsmith of
the time, living in the area where
Petrus Christus was painting
Type of advertisement for the
goldsmith’s guild of Bruges
Extension of the painter’s support of
his own cause—the painter’s guild.
Unusual that the piece is signed, not
typical of the time
Reflects growing wealth of Northern
Europe in the Early Renaissance as
trade with Spain increases
12. Phil
Hochman
Wrongful Execution of the Count,
Justice of Otto III
•Dieric Bouts, 15 century, oil
painting, Italy
•Two of four panels( the last
two were never completed)
•Hangs in City Hall of the city’s
province
•warn city officials not to end
up like the empress of Otto III
•In the first panel, Otto III has
the count beheaded because
empress falsely accused him of
sexual impropriety
•In the second panel, countess
successfully proves count’s
innocence, causing the emperor
Otto III to have the empress
burned at a stake
•The first artist to produce an
illusion of space that recedes
slowly from the picture plane to
the distant horizon
•Ultimately, work shows
elegance in nobility- represents
the high rank of the nobility in
Italian culture
•To achieve this effect, he used
devices such as walkways,
walls, and winding roads along
which characters in the scene
are laced. His use of
atmospheric perspective can
be seen in the gradual
lightening of the sky and the
smoky blue hills at the horizon
•Similar to other works from
Italy in the 15th century, the
International Gothic Style is
shown
•Similar to The Last Supper, the
Upper Class is being portrayed
in elaborate robes-the robes
conceal and show their bodies
in different ways
•Additionally, both show the
first time artists understand
how to effectively use
perspective
•like many artists will copy
Bouts, used a group portrait in
which people and religious
figures are in narrative (justice
angles watching execution)
14. Significance:
-The red and blue cherubs block the view on
the background
-Their presence does give the work something
sacred, contrary to Mary's bare chest
-The fine details in the throne and in the jewels
are noteworthy
-Suggest that Fouquet was influenced by
Flemish painters, who where well known for
their skills in that field
Original Location:
Collegiate Church of
Notre Dame
Medium: Oil Painting
Features:
-Right panel depicts the patron Etienne
Chevalier with St. Stephen
-Left panel depicts the Virgin and Christ child
surrounded by cherubim
-Each wooden panel measures about 93 by 85
centimeters and the two would have been
hinged together at the center
-Virgin can be seen breastfeeding Christ
-Onlookers of right panel pray and hold stone,
as they were stoned to death
Artist: Jean Fouquet
Date: 1452