15th-Century Northern Europe: Imagery [CHRONOLOGICAL]

Question 1

Where does the Merode Altarpiece (Annunciation Triptych) originate? What does the piece provide to the context of 15th-century Northern Europe art?

Answer 1

Robert Campin (Master of Female) and workshop, Merode Altarpiece (Annunciation Triptych), c. 1425-30s, Oil on Wood Panel, Late Medieval/ Proto-Renaissance

• Depicts interest of the natural world and pictorial illusionism= creates an illusion of reality through carefully details.–> spaces are occupied by the figures=approximated perspective, appearance of recession and 3D setting and location.
• Interest in oil paints, and detail/description= mundane objects with symbolic meanings.
• Private piety and devotion–> private artworks made for family homes for growing merchant class. Market now for individuals and family, not just elite class. Usually includes portraits of owners= expressing/commemorating their piety/devotion

Question 2

Where does the Mary reading, from the Hours of Mary of Burgundy originate? What does the piece provide to the context of 15th-century Northern Europe art?

Answer 2

The Mary Burgundy Painter, Mary reading, from the Hours of Mary of Burgundy, c. 1482, Colors and Ink on Parchment, Late Medieval/ Proto-Renaissance.

• Individual prayer books= private item, a luxury item, decorated for elite patrons/audience–> scene depicts the inside of a gothic church, Mary kneeling in veneration for Mary. Vision moves audience.
• oblivious to the viewer, showing piousness, surrounded by nice textiles and luxury goods.

Question 3

Where does the St. Wolfgang Altarpiece originate? What does the piece provide to the context of 15th-century Northern Europe art?

Answer 3

Michael Pacher, St. Wolfgang Altarpiece, c. 1471-81, Carved Painted and Gilt wood; Oil on Wood panel, Late Medieval/ Proto-Renaissance

• Continuing ideas: Usage of Vibrant, jewel like colors, attempts yo suggest three dimensional space, and bodies interest in surface description and details.
• Three dimensional devotional objects: aimed to entice viewers to elicit emotional connection and response–> complicated theological messages that were given embodied and pictorial form–> performative elements of faith/ drama/theatrical performance.
• Gothic forms–> pointed arches, highly sorted of decorative and lobe curvature.

Question 4

Where does the Ghent Altarpiece originate? What does the piece provide to the context of 15th-century Northern Europe art?

Answer 4

Jan Van Eyck (and Hubert Van Eyck?), Ghent Altarpiece, c. 1432, Oil on Wood panel, Late Medieval/Proto-Renaissance.

• Patron portraits; kneeling before the statues of angels portrayed in Grisaille–> arch frames on slender collar nut and voluminous drapery, sharp folds= reflect contemporary approaches to sculpture.
• Imagery contains excessive highlights and shadows with paint, stressing naturalistic detail and the description of surface appearances–> appearance of opulence (International gothic (?)) in gold and luxury material portraying god= associated with markers of the divine.
• Increasing naturalism in representation; exploration of depicted bodies and realistically appear within a spatial sense–> naturalism in adherence to light and shadow–> expression of emotion with descriptive veracity–> portrayal of wealth and luxury in materials.

Question 5

Where does the Man in a Red Turban originate? What does the piece provide to the context of 15th-century Northern Europe art?

Answer 5

Jan Van Eyck, Man in a Red Turban, c. 1433, Oil on Wood Panel, Late Medieval/ Proto-Renaissance.

• Expansion of secular subject matter–> usually intertwined with religion, this portrait does not present an individual here in the guise of a saint, or a guise of any holy figure–> surface detail veracity. Painted frame seeming like its carved.

Question 6

Where does the Nuremberg Chronicles originate? What does the piece provide to the context of 15th-century Northern Europe art?

Answer 6

Michael Wolgemut, Wilheim Pleydenwurff and Workshop, Nuremberg Chronicles, c. 1493, Printed Book with Hand-Colored woodcuts, Late Medieval/ Proto- Renaissance

• Images reveal that these are generic views, representing ideas of a city and its different components. Some images reused multiple times for different locations= reproduction in paper created a boom in text production, cheaper availability of quality paper, not limited to the wealthy.
  -Hand colored, and depicts Medieval Europe.