NORTHERNEUROPE,1400-1500GARDNER CHAPTER 20-3PP. 532-538

FRANCE – MANUSCRIPT PAINTING

In the 15th century French painters built on the achievements of the Gothic painters -> produced exquisitely refined ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS

New conception and presentation of space

More pronounced characteristics as illusionistic scenes

Increased contact with Italy = pictorial principles of classical antiquity = French interest in illusionism

15th century Flanders = peace and prosperity

15th century France = the Hundred Years’ War -> crippled economy and political instability

LIMBOURG BROTHERS

Limbourg Brothers, January, from Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1413-1416, ink on vellum

International Gothic Style

Full page illustrations contain the months of the year for a BOOK OF HOURS = a book used for reciting of daily prayers from matins to compline

The calendar pages from THE VERY RICH HOURS OF THE DUKE OF BERRY are perhaps the most famous in the history of manuscript painting

Represent the twelve months in terms of associated seasonal tasks -> alternating scenes of nobility and peasantry

LES TRES RICHES HEURES DU DUC DE BERRY Limbourg Brothers, October, from Tres

Heures du Duc de Berry

Above each picture is a LUNETTE depicting the Apollo riding a chariot bringing up the sun along with associated zodiac signs

Functions as a religious book and captures the power of the duke and his relationship to the peasants

Naturalism of details; meticulously rendered castles; cast shadows

JEAN FOUQUET

Jean Fouquet, Melun Diptych, Etienne Chevalier and Saint Stephen (left wing), Virgin and Child (right wing), 1450-1451, oil on wood

Diptych painted for Etienne Chevalier, treasurer of Charles VII

Chevalier depicted with his patron saint -> devout, pious patron kneeling w/hands clasped in prayer

Saint Stephen shown w/rock of his martyrdom atop bible

¾ stance and sharp, clear focus

Secular on the left and sacred on the right

Model for the Virgin was Agnes Sorel, King Charles VII’s mistress

HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE - SCULPTURE

The Holy Roman Empire = Germany = was not involved in the Hundred Years’ War -> econ remained stable and prosperous

Did not have a dominant court culture to commission artworks

Patronage came from wealthy merchants and clergy

Art of the early “Northern Renaissance” displays pronounced stylistic diversity

Some followed developments in Flemish painting

Many artists display the power of the lingering Late Gothic style

VEIT STOSS

Veit Stoss, Death and Assumption of the Virgin (wings open), altar of the Virgin Mary, Krakow, Poland, 1477-1489. painted and gilded wood, almost 24’

Altarpiece for the church of Saint Mary in Krakow -> figures in central panel are 9 feet high

On the wings -> scenes from the lives of Christ and Mary

Intense piety of the Late Gothic period -> designed to heighten emotion and glorify the sacred event

TILMAN RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Tilman Riemenschneider, The Assumption of the Virgin, center panel of the Creglingen altarpiece, Germany, ca, 1495-1499, lindenwood, 6’ wide

Tilman Riemenschneider specialized in carving large wooden retables -> his works feature intricate Gothic tracery and religious figures who almost lost within their swirling garments

RETABLE = another name for an altarpiece

KONRAD WITZ Konrad Witz, Miraculous Draught of

Fish, from the Altarpiece of Saint Peter, Cathedral of Saint Peter, Geneva, Switzerland, 1444, oil on wood

One of the most notable 15th century German altarpieces

Exterior wing of a triptych -> Peter, the first pope, trying to emulate Christ and walk on water

Significant because of the prominence of the landscape -> study of water effects -> sky glaze on the lake surface; mirrored reflections of the figures in the boat; transparency of the shallow water in the foreground

GRAPHIC ARTS – MICHEL WOLGEMUT

Revolution in written communication w/the 1450 invention by Johannes Gutenberg of movable type and the printing press

Using a gouging instrument wood blocks are a carved with raised letters -> ridges are inked and hollows remain dry of ink and do not print

Michel Wolgemut, Tarvisium, page from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493, woodcut

Early example of woodcut illustrations in printed books -> more than 650 pictures include detailed views of towns, but they are generic rather than specific portrayals

WOODCUTS, ENGRAVINGS, AND ETCHINGS

PRINT = artwork on paper

EDITION = the set of prints created from a single print surface

Printmaking involves the transfer of ink from the printing surface to the paper

Relief prints -> produced by carving into a surface, usually wood -> subtractive process

Intaglio process = artist draws the image onto the plate

The paper and ink the artists use affect the finished look of the printed image

15th and 16th century -> development of paper from cotton and linen rags

Prints can produce multiple copies -> prints can be sold at cheaper prices

MARTIN SCHONGAUER

Martin Schongauer, Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons, ca. 1480-1490

Metal engraving produces an intaglio (incised) surface for printing

Marvelous variety of tonal values and textures