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Early Netherlandish painting

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Early Netherlandish painting is a term art historians use to designate the work of a group of painters who were active primarily in the Low Countries in the 15th and early 16th centuries, approximately the period starting with Van Eyck and ending with Gerard David.They embodied at the same time the culmination of the Middle Ages and the transition to Renaissance.

The period corresponds to the Italian Renaissance, but the style is generally not seen as a part of the Renaissance. The art is usually categorized as Early Renaissance or Late Gothic painting.

Designation

There is no consensus regarding the name given to this group. The painting is also called "Late Gothic", emphasizing the continuity with the Middle Ages. In some languages (for example Dutch and Spanish) the 15th century painters are known as the Flemish Primitives, not at all because their art would have lacked sophistication, but because they were at the origin of a whole new tradition in painting with the use of oil paint, instead of tempera. This term used to be common in English until about the end of the nineteenth century, and is falling into disuse in all languages .

During the 15th to mid 16th centuries, Flanders, currently in Belgium, and parts of today's Netherlands were under the control of the Dukes of Burgundy and later the Hapsburg dynasty. In this period, Flemish and Netherlandish are often used interchangeably. Many of the painters were not Flemish but came to work in the flourishing cities such as Bruges and Ghent, which were centers of international banking and trade.

A clear difference with the Italian Renaissance is the importance of religious symbolism. Man is not put in the center of the Universe. Signs of the new age are visible, however. Artists begin to sign their works and become well-known figures, with positions at court. Wealthy merchants order paintings for the glory of God, but also request donor portraits.

Relation to the Italian Renaissance

The new style emerged in Flanders almost simultaneously with the beginning of the Italian Renaissance. The masters were very much admired in Italy, and may have had a bigger influence in Italy than the other way around. The Italian Renaissance did not have a great influence in the north until around 1500. However, while in Italy we see radical changes in architecture, sculpture and philosophy as well, the revolution in Flanders is restricted to painting. For painting in the period after 1500 and before the Dutch Revolt, see Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting

List of Painters

Timeline by year

See also

External links

References and further reading

General - Introductory

  • Frere, Jean-Claude. Early Flemish Painting. Vilo International, 1997 ISBN 2-87939-120-2
  • Harbison, Craig. The Mirror of the Artist: Northern Renaissance Art. Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN 0-13-183322-7
  • Smith, Jeffrey Chips. The Northern Renaissance (Art and Ideas). Phaidon Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7148-3867-5
  • Snyder, James. The Northern Renaissance: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575. 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, 2004. ISBN 0-13-189564-8
  • de Vos, Dirk. The Flemish Primitives: The Masterpieces. Princeton University Press, 2003 ISBN 0-691-11661-X

General - in depth

  • Ainsworth, Maryan (ed.) Early Netherlandish Painting at the Crossroads: A Critique of Current Methodologies. New York, # Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002 ISBN 0-300-09368-3
  • Friedländer, Max J. Early Netherlandish Painting. Translated by Heinz Norden. Leiden: Praeger, 1967-76 AISN B0006BQGOW
  • Pächt, Otto. Van Eyck and the Founders of Early Netherlandish Painting. New York: Harvey Miller, 2000 ISBN 1-872501-28-1
  • Pächt, Otto. Early Netherlandish Painting from Rogier van der Weyden to Gerard David. New York: Harvey Miller, 1997 ISBN 1-872501-84-2
  • Ridderbos, Bernhard (ed.) Early Netherlandish Paintings: Rediscovery, Reception, and Research. Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum; new ed. 2005 ISBN 0-89236-816-0
  • Rothstein, Bret Sight and Spirituality in Early Netherlandish Painting (Studies in Netherlandish Visual Culture). Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-521-83278-0

Museum catalogs

  • Ainsworth, Maryan M. and Keith Christiansen, eds. From Van Eyck to Bruegel Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998. ISBN 0-300-08609-1
  • Campbell, Lorne. The Fifteenth-Century Netherlandish Paintings. London, National Gallery. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-300-07701-7
  • Hand, John Oliver. Early Netherlandish Painting (The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue). Cambridge University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-521-34016-0
  • Hand, John Oliver, Metzger, Catherine, and Spronk, Ron. Prayers and Portraits, Unfolding the Netherlandish diptych. National Galery of Art, Washington & Yale University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-300-12155-5
  • Hand, John Oliver and Spronk, Ron. Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych: Essays in Context.Harvard University Art Museums, 2006. ISBN 0-300-12140-7
  • Die schönsten Diptychen der Flämischen Primitiven/Les plus beaux diptyques, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium 2007. ISBN 978-90-5544-660-5

Relation to contemporary European art

  • Belozerskaya, Marina. Rethinking the Renaissance: Burgundian Arts Across Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002 ISBN 0-521-80850-2
  • Borchert, Till-Holger ed. Age of Van Eyck: The Mediterranean World and Early Netherlandish Painting, 1430-1530. Exh. cat. Groeningemuseum, Stedelijke Musea Brugge. Bruges: Luidon, 2002 ISBN 0-500-23795-6
  • Nuttall, Paula. From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004 ISBN 0-300-10244-5
  • Historical Information about the 15th-Century Burgundian Court:
  • Calmette, Joseph. The Golden Age of Burgundy: The Magnificent Dukes and their Courts.Phoenix Press; New ed., 2001 ISBN 1-84212-459-5
  • Huizinga, Johan. (aka "the Waning of the Middle Ages" in an earlier translation - Penguin etc.) The Autumn of the Middle Ages. Translated by Rodney J. Payton and Ulrich Mammitzsch. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996 ISBN 0-226-35994-8
  • Vaughan, Philip R. The Apogee of Burgundy 1419-1467. UK: Boydell & Brewer, 2004 ISBN 0-85115-917-6



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