Introducing the Flemish Primitives

  

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!

City view of Bruges 1562
Marcus Gerards

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.

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.”

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
St Baafskathedraal, Ghent
Designed by Hubert van Eyck
Painted by
Jan van Eyck 
1432