The Other Renaissance: Three Masters of 15th-century Northern European Art

Dr. Laurinda Dixon

Art History "The Other Renaissance: 3 Masters of 15th-century Northern European Art"

When we think of the "Renaissance," often what comes to mind are the optical experiments and anatomical discoveries that define Italian art. But this is only part of the story. Northern Europe - France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland - simultaneously experienced their own artistic revolutions. Though the differences between North and South were distinct, artists shared a common goal - to produce simulacra of the real world that powerfully engaged their audience. In Italy, where remnants of Ancient Classical art could be found around every corner, artists were more directly influenced by Antique forms and subject matter. They employed optical effects and anatomical observations to enhance the immediacy and realism of their forms. Northern painters, however, achieved this effect through observational accuracy and complex iconography. The result was works that display microscopic realism and great depth of meaning. Many assume that communication between Northern European and Italian cultural centers did not exist, or was minimal at best in the 15th century. We will see that this was not true, as evidenced by three renowned Northern Renaissance painters: Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, and Hugo van der Goes. Clearly, the word "Renaissance" applied to all of Europe.

Lesson 1 - Jan Van Eyck: Creator of Microscopic Macrocosms
Jan van Eyck was the most famous painter in Europe - both Italy and the North - in the early years of the fifteenth century. He is acknowledged as the "father of Northern Renaissance Art," so it is fitting that we begin with him. Van Eyck perfected the medium of oil painting, and created optical environments of astounding naturalism and detail. As a treasured member of the fabulously wealthy Burgundian Court (present day Holland and Belgium), he imbued his works with deep meaning and intellectual depth. Aware of his own importance, Van Eyck was the first artist to sign his paintings - not with a signature, but with his own self-effacing motto, "Als ich kan" (This is the best I can do.) We are still decoding his meticulous imagery.

Lesson 2 - Rogier van der Weyden: Painter of the Human Soul
Whereas Van Eyck specialized in the glitz and glory of the Burgundian court, his successor Rogier van der Weyden delved beneath the surface to reveal human emotion. He was the first artist to represent tears. Rogier painted on a larger scale than did his predecessor, specializing in elegant society portraits. He sometimes disguised the famous figures of his day - dukes, emperors, and kings - as Biblical patriarchs, thereby merging current political scenarios with Biblical precedents. We can interpret his works as allusions to the precarious balance of princely and papal power in the mid-fifteenth century.

Lesson 3 - Hugo van der Goes: The Italian Job
The troubled life of Hugo van der Goes is often cited as an example of the depths of melancholy that often seizes the creative mind. Indeed, Hugo was diagnosed as insane, and spent much of his life in the peaceful, cloistered environment of a monastery. Nonetheless, his fame as an artist was universal, and wealthy aristocrats commissioned important paintings from him. One such patron was the Italian Tomasso Portinari, who represented the Medici bank in Bruges. The triptych he commissioned from Hugo is a monument to his family legacy, and contains the first still-life in European art. The work is housed today in the Uffizi museum in Florence.

Laurinda Dixon is a specialist in northern European Renaissance art. Currently retired, she served as the William F. Tolley Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the Humanities at Syracuse University for many years. Her scholarship considers the intersection of art and science - particularly alchemy, medicine, astrology, and music - from the fifteenth though the nineteenth centuries. She has lectured widely in both the USA and Europe, and is the author of many articles, reviews, and eleven books, including Perilous Chastity: Women and Illness in Pre-Enlightenment Art and Medicine (1995), Bosch (2003), and The Dark Side of Genius: The Melancholic Persona in Art, ca. 1500-1700 (2013). Laurinda holds a Ph.D. in art history from Boston University, as well as a degree in piano performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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