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The Cloth Hall, Ypres: an example of the wealth of Flanders in the 15th century |
An
unusually full week, full of enjoyable activities and lots of
culture. I didn’t manage to write a blog mainly because pockets of
free time seemed to be full of locating, transferring and eventually
arranging in order, over 70 images to accompany the talk I shall give
to the Art Appreciation group in May. Entitled Flemish Primitives
it offers a little insight into some of that group of painters
established mainly during the second half of the fifteenth century,
chiefly in Flanders. I have had such an
interesting time researching info on Jan Van Eyck, Petrus Christus,
Hans Memling and Rogier Van Der Weyden.
Between the twelfth and
sixteenth centuries, Bruges had risen from being the administrative
centre of Flanders to become one of the leading trade metropolises of
the Middle Ages. The rapid economic expansion this entailed was due
to the extraordinary growth of the cloth industry which formed the
basis of wealth for Flanders as a whole, and in particular, for the
cities of Ghent, Ypres and Brugge. Additionally, Bruges had become
seriously important because of its geographical location near the
sea, enhanced particularly after the catastrophic floods off the
Flemish coast in 1134 created the Zwin channel which connected Brugge
directly to the North Sea via the outer ports of Damme and Sluis. I
knew that Bruges was seriously important during mediaeval times but
had absolutely no idea that, by 1500 there were 200,000 people living
in Brugge, more than twice the number then living in London and twice
the number living in Bruges now!
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City view of Bruges 1562 Marcus Gerards |
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Burgundian court in Bruges, reconstruction |
The
Dukes of Burgundy, one of the great early mediaeval European powers,
held court in various parts of the Burgundian Netherlands
encompassing the Low
Countries; Belgium,
the Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern France from the end of the
fourteenth to the end of the fifteenth century. The
era was also marked by tremendous
artistic
and cultural growth and this huge region
under Burgundian rule attracted and inspired some of the most
talented artists of the European Renaissance with the
presence of the Court
naturally attracting the best artists. Bruges, an especially favoured
destination of the dukes, became the artistic hub while the Church,
too, wealthy and of central importance to life generally, presented
huge opportunities for artistic commissions. Large numbers of Flemish
painters and craftsmen developed, virtually making the city of Brugge
in particular, their atelier, providing the conditions for the
eventual emergence of the Flemish
Primitives
who also colonised Brussels,
Ghent and Antwerp.
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Portrait of a Man. Jan van Eyck Considered to be a self portrait. |
Possibly the best known artist
of the Flemish school was Jan Van Eyck who worked with his talented
older brother, Hubert, until the latter’s death in 1426. They
researched over several years the properties of oil paint [though
they did not invent oil paint] and Jan discovered that if the essence
of turpentine was added to the pigment, it allowed a slower drying
time preserving a greater shine on the pigments used. In turn, this
permitted far greater detail in the scene depicted than when tempera
paint, which was egg-based and presented with a more opaque
characteristic, was used. Details of this important development were
kept secret by the Van Eyck brothers but Jan’s painting, in
particular, benefitted from this discovery.
Jan’s
masterpiece, The Adoration
of The Mystic Lamb, made
for, and still in, St Baafskathedraal in Ghent, was, in fact, begun by
his brother Hubert who probably designed this huge 12
panelled altarpiece before
his death in 1426 but painted entirely by Jan before its installation
on May 6 1432. It is still considered one of the major masterpieces in the
world and Jan van Eyck counts as an art supremo across the centuries.
That being so, it is delightful to read the lovely story of the
inscription on an original frame [lost in a storm in 1521] which
declared, “Hubert van
Eyck ‘greater than anyone’ started the altarpiece but Jan van
Eyck ‘second best in the art’ completed it in 1432.”
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The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb St Baafskathedraal, Ghent Designed by Hubert van Eyck Painted by Jan van Eyck 1432 |
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