Painting of the Northern Renaissance. The generally accepted, but conditional concept of "Northern Renaissance" (about 1500 - between 1540 and 1580) is applied by analogy with the Italian Renaissance to the culture and art of Germany, the Netherlands, France; one of the main features of the artistic culture of these countries is its genetic connection with the art of the late Gothic.
In the 15th century. the dominant place among the northern European art schools was occupied by Dutch painting: the works of R. Kampen, Jan van Eyck, D. Bouts, Hugo van der Goes, Rogier van der Weyden, H. Memling are marked by a pantheistic worldview, close attention to every detail and every phenomenon of life; the deep symbolic meaning hidden behind them underlies the broadest generalized paintings of Pieter Brueghel the Elder and Hieronymus Bosch.
Portrait (A. More, J. van Scorel), landscape (I. Patinir), and genre (Luca Leiden) developed independently in the Dutch Renaissance art. Romanism became a peculiar phenomenon, the masters of which tried to combine the artistic techniques of Italian art with the Dutch tradition.
In Germany, the first features of the new art appeared in the 1430s. (L. Moser, H. Mulcher, K. Witz), and the Renaissance itself, whose art was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Reformation and the events of the Peasant War of 1524-1526, began at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. and ended already in the 1530-1540s. (paintings and graphics by Albrecht Durer, M. Grunewald, Lucas Cranach the Elder, A. Altdorfer, H. Holbein the Younger).
The cheerful and graceful style of the French Renaissance was most clearly manifested in the paintings and pencil portraits of J. Fouquet (also known as an outstanding master of miniature).
The features of the Renaissance received a peculiar refraction in the art of England, where, under the influence of H. Holbein Jr., who worked in London, the national school of portraiture was formed (N. Hilliard), and Spain, whose artists (A. Berruguete, D. de Siloé, L. de Morales) used experience of Italian painting to create your own, austere and expressive style. Certain features, individual elements or techniques of Renaissance art are found in the artistic culture of Croatia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania and other European countries.
Jan van Eyck, Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder personify the early, middle and late stages of Dutch Renaissance painting in their work. A. Dürer, Grunewald (M. Niethardt), L. Cranach the Elder, H. Holbein the Younger approved the principles of new art in Germany.
Individual, author's creativity is now replacing medieval anonymity. The theory of linear and aerial perspective, proportions, problems of anatomy and cut-off modeling is of great practical importance. The center of Renaissance innovations, an artistic "mirror of the era" was an illusory-nature-like pictorial painting, in religious art it displaces the icon, and in secular art it gives rise to independent genres of landscape, everyday painting, portrait (the latter played a primary role in the visual confirmation of the ideals of humanistic virtu).
Danube School, the direction in painting and graphics of Southern Germany and Austria in the 1st half of the 16th century. The Danube school includes early paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, works by A. Altdorfer (see first slide "The Battle of Alexander the Great at Issus" in 1529), W. Huber and other artists, distinguished by freedom of artistic imagination, vivid emotionality, pantheistic perception nature, forest or river landscape, interest in the fabulous and legendary coloring of the plot; they also stand out for their dynamic, impetuous manner of writing, the sharp expressiveness of the drawing, and the intensity of color solutions. Renaissance art trends are intertwined in the Danube School with the traditions of the late Gothic. Dürer's work determined the leading direction of the art of the German Renaissance. His influence on contemporary artists, including those of the Danube School, was great; it even penetrated Italy, France. Simultaneously with Dürer and after him, a galaxy of major artists appeared. Among them were Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), who felt the harmony of nature and man, and Matthias Gotthardt Neithardt, endowed with tremendous power of imagination, known as Matthias Grunewald (c. 1475-1528), associated with mystical folk teachings and the Gothic tradition. His work is imbued with the spirit of rebellion, desperate frenzy or jubilation, high intensity of feelings and painful expression of flashing, then dying, then extinguishing, then flaming color and light.
The art of printed woodcut and metal engraving, which became truly widespread during the Reformation, gets its final intrinsic value. Drawing from a working sketch turns into a separate type of creativity; the individual style of the stroke, stroke, as well as the texture and effect of incompleteness (non-finito) are beginning to be appreciated as independent artistic effects.
Monumental painting also becomes picturesque, illusory-three-dimensional, gaining more and more visual independence from the mass of the wall.
All types of visual arts now, in one way or another, violate the monolithic medieval synthesis (where architecture prevailed), gaining comparative independence. Types of absolutely round statues, equestrian monument, portrait bust (which in many respects revive the ancient tradition) are formed, and a completely new type of solemn sculptural and architectural tombstone is formed.
The ancient order system predetermines a new architecture, the main types of which are harmoniously clear in proportions and at the same time plastically eloquent palace and temple (architects are especially fascinated by the idea of \u200b\u200ba centric temple building). Utopian dreams characteristic of the Renaissance do not find full-scale embodiment in urban planning, but latently inspire new architectural ensembles, whose scope accentuates "earthly", centrically-perspectively organized horizontals, and not the Gothic vertical aspiration upward. Various types of decorative arts, as well as fashion, acquire a special, in their own way "picture" picturesqueness. Among the ornaments, grotesque plays an especially important semantic role.
Netherlands. Genre motifs gradually penetrated into the religious subjects of Dutch painting, concrete details accumulated within the decorative and refined style of late Gothic art, and emotional accents intensified. The leading role in this process was played by miniature, which was widespread in the 13-15 centuries at the courts of the French and Burgundy aristocracy, which gathered around talented craftsmen from city workshops. Among them, the Dutch were widely known (the Limburg brothers, master of Marshal Busico). The books of hours (more precisely, books of hours are a kind of prayer books, where prayers timed to a specific hour are arranged by months) began to be decorated with scenes of work and entertainment at different times of the year and landscapes corresponding to them. With loving care, the masters captured the beauty of the world around them, creating highly artistic works, colorful, full of grace (Turin-Milan hours of the 1400-1450 years). Miniatures depicting historical events and portraits appeared in historical chronicles. In the 15th century, portrait painting spreads. Throughout the 16th century, household painting, landscape, still life, paintings on mythological and allegorical subjects stand out as independent genres.
Since the 40s of the 15th century in Dutch painting, on the one hand, the elements of narrative have become stronger, on the other, dramatic action and mood. With the destruction of patriarchal ties that cement the life of medieval society, the feeling of harmony, orderliness and unity of the world and man disappears. A person realizes his independent vital significance, he begins to believe in his mind and will. His image in art is becoming more and more individually unique, in-depth, intimate feelings and thoughts, their complexity are revealed in him. At the same time, a person reveals his loneliness, the tragedy of his life, his destiny. Anxiety and pessimism begin to shine through in his appearance.
This new concept of the world and a person who does not believe in the strength of earthly happiness is reflected in the tragic art Rogier van der Weyden (about 1400-1464), in his compositional canvases on religious subjects ("Descent from the Cross", Madrid, Prado) and wonderful psychological portraits, of which he was the greatest master.
In the first quarter of the 15th century, a radical revolution in the development of Western European painting took place - an easel painting appeared. Historical tradition connects this coup with the activities of the brothers van Eyck - the founders of the Dutch school of painting, the founders of realism in the Netherlands, who generalized in their work the searches of the masters of late Gothic sculpture and miniatures of the late 14th - early 15th centuries.
The Ghent Altarpiece is a large two-tier multi-part fold - rows of paintings and hundreds of figures are united in it by idea and architectonics. The content of the compositions is taken from the Apocalypse, the Bible and the Gospel texts. However, medieval plots seem to be rethought and interpreted in concrete living images. The theme of the glorification of the deity, his creation, reflections on the fate of mankind, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe unity of mankind and nature, the feeling of enlightenment, admiration for the diversity of forms of the world for the first time in Dutch art found a perfect pictorial expression here. In the lower tier of the fold, there is "Adoration of the Lamb". The composition is designed as a majestic mass scene in a landscape, the space of which here has a heightened perspective - the gaze slides into the depths of the landscape.
In the upper tier of the fold, there are heavenly spheres inhabited by celestials: in the center, on golden thrones, the father-god in the royal tiara, Mary and John the Baptist, exceeding human height. In the side panels, there are singing and musical angels illuminated by sunlight.
The artist also solves the problem of depicting the naked human body in a new way. In the image of Adam there are no traces of the influence of the ancient classics, on the basis of which the Italians painted a nude figure that was ideal in its proportions. Van Eyck's construction of the human figure corresponds only to this particular individuality. This new, more direct vision of man is an important discovery in Western European art.
In the years of his maturity, Jan van Eyck creates works in which the emotionality, the detailed narrative, characteristic of the Ghent Altarpiece, are replaced by the laconicism of integral monumental altar compositions. They consist of two or three figures surrounded by a "multiple" environment, beautiful and expensive objects, subordinate to the harmony of the whole. The heroes and their environment are united not by plot action, but by a common contemplative mood, inner concentration. "Madonna of Chancellor Rolen", "Madonna of Canon van der Palais" Van Eyck rejects the type of heroic profile portrait characteristic of miniaturists of the late 14th century and Italian painters of the 15th century. Overcoming the alienation and isolation of the portrait images of Italians, Jan van Eyck turns the face of the portrait by three quarters, emphasizing the depth of the image, brings it closer to the viewer, usually puts his hands in perspective, enlivens the background with the play of light and shade. "Portrait of Cardinal Albergati", "Timothy", "The Man in the Red Turban".
A special place not only in the work of Jan van Eyck, but also in all Dutch art of the 15-16th centuries belongs to the "Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife". The artist pushes the boundaries of a purely portrait image, turning it into a scene of a wedding, into a kind of apotheosis of marital fidelity, the symbol of which is the dog depicted at the couple's feet.
Robert Campin... Flemish master. Associated with the 14th century Dutch miniature and sculpture tradition, Kampen was the first among his compatriots to take steps towards the artistic principles of the Early Renaissance. Kampen's works (the triptych "Annunciation", "Wehrle's Altar") are more archaic than the works of his contemporary Jan van Eyck, but stand out for their democratic simplicity of images, a tendency to everyday interpretation of plots. The images of saints in his paintings are usually placed in cozy urban interiors with lovingly reproduced details of the furnishings. The lyricism of images, elegant coloring based on the contrasts of soft local tones, Kampen combines with the sophisticated play of folds of robes carved in a tree, as it were. One of the first portrait painters in European painting ("Portrait of a Man", paired portraits of spouses).
"Madonna and Child". she is depicted at home - it seems that she has just put down a book to feed a baby. All details are shown in great detail; the cityscape seen through the window is as clear and precise as the figures in the foreground, and the pages of the book, the decoration on the hem of the Madonna's dress and the reed fire screen are painstakingly painted.
Rogier van der Weyden (about 1400-1464). Emphasis on feelings and emotions of faces... Rogier van der Weyden's work is characterized by a kind of reworking of Jan van Eyck's artistic techniques. In his religious compositions, the characters of which are located in interiors with views opening to distant shots, or against conventional backgrounds, Rogier van der Weyden focuses on the foreground images, without attaching much importance to the exact reproduction of the depth of space and everyday details of the situation. Rejecting the artistic universalism of Jan van Eyck, the master in his works concentrates on the inner world of a person, his experiences and mood. The paintings of the artist Rogier van der Weyden, which in many respects still retain the spiritualistic expression of late Gothic art, are characterized by a balanced composition, softness of linear rhythms, emotional saturation of a refined and bright local color ("The Crucifixion", "Christmas", the middle part of "Bladelin's Altar", "Worship Magi ", Old Pinakothek," Descent from the Cross ").
The Gothic stream in Roger's work appears especially clearly in two small triptychs - the so-called "Altar of Mary" ("Lamentation", on the left - "Holy Family", on the right - "The Appearance of Christ to Mary") and later - "Altar of St. John" ("Baptism", on the left - "Birth of John the Baptist" on the right - "Execution of John the Baptist", Berlin). Roger's work, to a much greater extent than the work of Jan van Eyck, is associated with the traditions of medieval art and is imbued with the spirit of strict church teaching.
Painting by artist Rogier van der Weyden "Descent from the Cross". The grief and sorrowful behavior of the characters makes this painting one of the most exciting in art history and one of the masterpieces of 15th century painting. Details such as tears streaming down Mary Magdalene's face and the way the fabric of her robe falls as she throws her hands mournfully show that Van der Weyden was an astute observer of life. Nevertheless, the composition as a whole, with the figures huddled in the foreground, near the frame, as if they were placed in a shallow box, resembles a living picture from a Christmas procession rather than an accurate depiction of a real event. Making individual participants in a dramatic event bearers of various shades of feelings of grief, the artist refrains from individualizing images, just as he refuses to transfer the scene into a real concrete setting.
Hugo van der Goes (about 1435-1482). The work of Huss, who continued the traditions of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden in Dutch art, is characterized by a tendency towards the courageous truthfulness of images, the intense drama of action. In his compositions, somewhat conditional in terms of spatial construction and scale ratios of figures, full of delicate, lovingly interpreted details (fragments of architecture, patterned robes, vases with flowers, etc.), the artist Hugo van der Goes introduced many characters that are brightly individual in character. united by a single experience, often giving preference to acute common people. The background for the altar images of Hus is often a poetic landscape, subtle in colorful gradations ("The Fall"). Gus's paintings are characterized by careful plastic sculpting, flexibility of linear rhythms, cold refined coloring based on the consonances of gray-blue, white and black tones (the triptych "Adoration of the Magi" or the so-called Portinari altar, "Adoration of the Magi" and "Adoration of the Shepherds", Picture Gallery , Berlin-Dahlem). The features characteristic of late Gothic painting (the dramatic ecstaticity of images, the sharp, broken rhythm of the folds of clothes, the tension of contrasting, sonorous colors) were manifested in "The Assumption of Our Lady" (Municipal Art Gallery, Bruges).
"The Fall". The half-lizard, half-man, serpent in this depiction of the fall of Adam and Eve watches with concern as Eve, shyly covered by a thoughtfully planted iris, reaches out to the Tree of Knowledge for a second apple, having tasted a piece of the first. The meticulousness with which each leaf, blade, curl of hair is drawn is amazing. (Noteworthy is the unusual braid on the back of the snake's head).
Memling Hans (about 1440-1494). In the works of Memling, who combined in his work features of late Gothic and Renaissance art, everyday, lyrical interpretation of religious subjects, soft contemplation, harmonious composition of the composition is combined with the desire to idealize images, canonize the techniques of Old Dutch painting (triptych "Our Lady with the Saints", altar The Last Judgment "; triptych of the mystical betrothal of St. Catherine of Alexandria,). Memling's works, among which "Bathsheba", a life-size depiction of a naked female body, which is rare in the art of the Netherlands, and portraits (male portrait, Mauritshuis, The Hague; portraits of Willem Morel and Barbara van Vlanderberg), are distinguished by their elongated proportions, graceful linear rhythms.
Painting by Hans Memling "Descent from the Cross", Granada diptych, left wing. The thrilling moment of Christian history is reduced to a painfully simple depiction of three people supporting the body of Christ and a fragment of a staircase resting on a cross. The figures are twisted in the foreground space, while the landscape in the distance represents a visible, but not volumetric, part of the composition.
Bosch Hieronymus. Painting is entertaining(about 1450 / 60-1516), Hieronymus Bosch in his multi-figure compositions, paintings on the themes of folk sayings, proverbs and parables ("The Temptation of St. Anthony", triptychs "Garden of Delights", "Adoration of the Magi", "Ship of Fools") combined a sophisticated medieval fiction, grotesque demonic images generated by boundless imagination with folk-satirical and moralizing tendencies, with realistic innovations unusual for the art of his era. Poetic landscape backgrounds, bold life observations, aptly captured by the artist Hieronymus Bosch, folk types and scenes from everyday life, paved the way for the formation of the Dutch genre and landscape; a craving for irony and allegory, for the embodiment in a grotesque-satirical form of a broad picture of folk life, contributed to the formation of the creative manner of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and other artists.
Bosch's style is unique and has no analogies in the Dutch painting tradition. The painting of Hieronymus Bosch is not at all like the work of other artists of the time, such as Jan van Eyck or Rogier van der Weyden. Most of the plots of Bosch's paintings are associated with episodes from the life of Christ or saints who resist vice, or are gleaned from allegories and proverbs about human greed and stupidity.
The vivid authenticity of Bosch's works, the ability to depict the movements of the human soul, the amazing ability to draw a fat bag and a beggar, a merchant and a cripple - all this gives him an important place in the development of genre painting.
Bosch's art reflected the crisis mood that gripped Dutch society amid the growing social conflicts of the late 15th century. At this time, the old Dutch cities (Bruges, Tent), bound by narrow local economic regulations, lost their former power, their culture was fading away. In the work of some artists, a decrease in the artistic level is noticeable, archaizing tendencies or a tendency to be carried away by insignificant everyday details appeared, which hindered the further development of realism.
Durer (Durer) Albrecht (1471-1528), German painter, draftsman, printmaker, art theorist. The founder of the art of the German Renaissance, Dürer studied jewelry from his father, a native of Hungary, painting - in the workshop of the Nuremberg artist M. Wolgemut (1486-1489), from whom he adopted the principles of Dutch and German late Gothic art, got acquainted with drawings and engravings by the masters of early Italian Renaissance (including A. Mantegna). During these years, Dürer was strongly influenced by M. Schongauer. In 1490-1494, during the wanderings on the Rhine, obligatory for the guild's apprentice, Durer made several easel engravings in the spirit of late Gothic, illustrations for "Ship of Fools" by S. Brunt and others. The impact on Durer of humanistic teachings, intensified as a result of his first trip Italy (1494-1495), manifested itself in the artist's desire to master scientific methods of understanding the world, to in-depth study of nature, in which his attention was attracted as the most seemingly insignificant phenomena ("Bush of Grass", 1503, collection of Albertine, Vienna), and complex problems of communication in the nature of color and light-air environment ("House by the Pond", watercolor, circa 1495-1497, British Museum, London). Dürer asserted a new Renaissance understanding of personality in portraits of this period (self-portrait, 1498, Prado).
The mood of the pre-Reformation era, the eve of powerful social and religious battles, Durer expressed in a series of woodcuts "Apocalypse" (1498), in the artistic language of which the techniques of German late Gothic and Italian Renaissance art were organically merged. The second trip to Italy further strengthened Dürer's striving for clarity of images, orderliness of compositional constructions ("The Feast of the Rosary", 1506, a careful study of the proportions of the naked human body ("Adam and Eve", 1507, Prado, Madrid). At the same time, Dürer did not lose ( especially in graphics) vigilance of observation, object expressiveness, vitality and expressiveness of images inherent in the art of late Gothic (cycles of woodcuts "Great Passion", about 1497-1511, "Life of Mary", about 1502-1511, "Small Passion", 1509 The amazing accuracy of the graphic language, the finest development of light-air relations, the clarity of the line and volume, the most complex philosophical basis of the content are distinguished by three "mastery engravings" on copper: trials of fate; "Melancholy" (1514) as the embodiment of the inner conflict of the restless creative spirit of man; "Saint Jerome" (1514) - the glorification of the human static inquisitive research thought. By this time, Dürer had won an honorable position in his native Nuremberg, gained fame abroad, especially in Italy and the Netherlands (where he traveled in 1520-1521). Durer was friends with the most prominent humanists in Europe. Among his customers were wealthy burghers, German princes and the Emperor Maximilian I himself, for whom he, among other major German artists, performed pen drawings for the prayer book (1515).
In a series of portraits of the 1520s (J. Muffel, 1526, I. Holzschuer, 1526, - both in an art gallery, Berlin-Dahlem, etc.), Durer recreated the type of man of the Renaissance era, imbued with a proud consciousness of the intrinsic value of his own personality, charged with a tense spiritual energy and practical dedication. An interesting self-portrait of Albrecht Durer at the age of 26 with gloves. The model's hands on a pedestal are a well-known technique for creating the illusion of closeness between the subject and the viewer. Dürer could learn this visual trick from such works as, for example, Leonard's Mona Lisa, - he saw her during a trip to Italy. The landscape seen through an open window is a characteristic of northern artists such as Jan Van Eyck and Robert Campen. Dürer revolutionized Northern European art by combining the experience of Dutch and Italian painting. The versatility of aspirations was also manifested in the theoretical works of Durer ("Guide to Measurement ...", 1525; "Four Books on Human Proportions", 1528). Dürer's artistic quest was completed by the painting "The Four Apostles" (1526, Alte Pinakothek, Munich), which embodies the four character-temperaments of people bound by a common humanistic ideal of independent thought, willpower, and perseverance in the struggle for justice and truth.
"Never trust a computer that you can" t throw out a window. "- Steve Wozniak
Dutch painter, usually identified with the Flemish master - an unknown artist who stands at the origins of the tradition of early Dutch painting (the so-called "Flemish primitives"). Mentor Rogier van der Weyden and one of the first portrait painters in European painting.
(The Liturgical Vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece - The Cope of the Virgin Mary)
Being a contemporary of miniaturists who worked on illuminating manuscripts, Kampen nevertheless was able to achieve such a level of realism and observation as no other painter before him. Yet his works are more archaic than those of his younger contemporaries. Democracy is noticeable in everyday details, sometimes there is a household interpretation of religious subjects, which will later be characteristic of Dutch painting.
(Virgin and Child in an Interior)
Art critics have long tried to find the origins of the Northern Renaissance, to find out who was the first master who laid this style. It was long believed that the first artist to deviate slightly from the traditions of the Gothic was Jan van Eyck. But by the end of the 19th century, it became clear that van Eyck was preceded by another artist, whose brush belongs to the triptych with the Annunciation, which previously belonged to the Countess Merode (the so-called "triptych Merode"), as well as the so-called. Flemish altar. It was assumed that both of these works belong to the hand of the Flemalian master, whose identity was not yet established at that time.
(The Nuptials of the Virgin)
(Holy Virgin in Glory)
(Werl Altarpiece)
(Trinity of the Broken Body)
(Blessing Christ and Praying Virgin)
(The Nuptials of the Virgin - St. James the Great and St. Clare)
(Virgin and Child)
Gertgen to Sint Jans (Leiden 1460-1465 - Haarlem until 1495)
This early deceased artist, who worked in Haarlem, is one of the most significant figures in North-Dutch painting of the late 15th century. Possibly studied in Haarlem in the workshop of Albert van Auvater. Was familiar with the work of the artists of Ghent and Bruges. In Haarlem, as a painter's apprentice, he lived under the Order of the Johannites - hence the nickname "from the [monastery] of St. John" (tot Sint Jans). Hertgen's painting style is characterized by a subtle emotionality in the interpretation of religious subjects, attention to the phenomena of everyday life and a thoughtful, poetically inspired elaboration of details. All this will be developed in the Dutch realistic painting of the following centuries.
(Nativity, at Night) 
(Virgin and Child)
(The Tree of Jesse)
(Gertgen to Sint Jans St. Bavon)
Van Eyck's rival for the title of the most influential master of early Dutch painting. The artist saw the goal of creativity in comprehending the individuality of the individual, he was a profound psychologist and an excellent portrait painter. Preserving the spiritualism of medieval art, he filled the old pictorial schemes with the Renaissance concept of an active human personality. At the end of his life, according to TSB, "he abandons the universalism of van Eyck's artistic perception of the world and concentrates all his attention on the inner world of man."
(Discovery of the relics of Saint Hubert)
Born into the family of a woodcarver. The artist's works testify to a deep acquaintance with theology, and already in 1426 he was called "Master Roger", which allows us to put forward the assumption that he had a university education. He began to work as a sculptor, in adulthood (after 26 years) he began to study painting with Robert Campen in Tournai. He spent 5 years in his workshop.
(Reading Mary Magdalene)
The period of creative formation of Rogier (to which, apparently, the Louvre "Annunciation" belongs) is poorly illuminated by sources. There is a hypothesis that it was he who in his youth created works attributed to the so-called. Flemish master (a more likely candidate for their authorship is his mentor Kampen). The student has so much assimilated Kampin's desire to saturate biblical scenes with the cozy details of home life that it is almost impossible to distinguish between their works of the early 1430s (both artists did not sign their works).
(Portrait of Anton Burgundy)
The first three years of Rogier's independent work are not documented in any way. Perhaps he spent them in Bruges with van Eyck (with whom he probably crossed paths before in Tournai). In any case, his famous composition "Luke the Evangelist Painting the Madonna" is imbued with the obvious influence of van Eyck.
(Evangelist Luke, painting the Madonna)
In 1435 the artist moved to Brussels in connection with his marriage to a native of this city and translated his real name Roger de la Pasture from French to Dutch. He became a member of the city guild of painters, got rich. He worked as a city painter commissioned by the ducal court of Philip the Good, monasteries, nobles, Italian merchants. He painted the city hall with paintings of the administration of justice by famous people of the past (the frescoes are lost).
(Portrait of a lady)
By the beginning of the Brussels period belongs the grandiose emotionally "Descent from the Cross" (now in the Prado). In this work, Rogier radically abandoned the pictorial background, focusing the viewer's attention on the tragic experiences of numerous characters who fill the entire space of the canvas. Some researchers are inclined to explain the spread in his work by his fascination with the doctrine of Thomas the Kempis.
(Descent from the cross with donor Pierre de Ranchicourt, Bishop of Arras)
Rogier's return from the crude Kampin realism and sophistication of the Vaneik \u200b\u200bproto-Renaissance to the medieval tradition is most evident in the Last Judgment polyptych. It was written in the years 1443-1454. commissioned by Chancellor Nicolas Rolen for the altar of the chapel of the hospital, founded by the latter in the Burgundy city of Beaune. The place of complex landscape backgrounds here is taken by the golden glow, tested by generations of his predecessors, which cannot distract the viewer from reverence for the holy images.
(Altar of the Last Judgment in Bonn, right outer wing: Hell, left outer wing: Paradise)
In the jubilee 1450, Rogier van der Weyden made a trip to Italy and visited Rome, Ferrara and Florence. He was warmly greeted by Italian humanists (there is a commendable review of Nikolai of Cusansky about him), but he himself was mainly interested in conservative artists like Fra Angelico and Gentile da Fabriano.
(Beheading of John the Baptist)
It is customary in the history of art to associate this trip with the first acquaintance of Italians with the technique of oil painting, which Rogier perfectly mastered. Commissioned by the Italian dynasties Medici and d'Este, the Fleming made the Madonna of the Uffizi and the famous portrait of Francesco d'Este. them upon returning to Flanders.
(Adoration of the Magi)
Rogier's portraits have some common features, which is largely due to the fact that almost all of them depict representatives of the highest nobility of Burgundy, on whose appearance and manner they were imprinted by the general environment, upbringing and traditions. The artist draws in detail the hands of the models (especially the fingers), refines and lengthens the features of their faces.
(Portrait of Francesco D "Este)
In recent years, Rogier worked in his Brussels workshop, surrounded by numerous students, among whom, apparently, were such prominent representatives of the next generation as Hans Memling. They spread his influence across France, Germany and Spain. In the second half of the 15th century, in northern Europe, Rogier's expressive manner prevailed over the more technically complex lessons of Kampen and van Eyck. Even in the 16th century, many painters remained under his influence, from Bernart Orlais to Quentin Massey. By the end of the century, his name began to be forgotten, and already in the 19th century, the artist was remembered only in special studies on early Dutch painting. Restoring his creative path is complicated by the fact that he did not sign any of his works, with the exception of the Washington portrait of a woman.
(Annunciation to Mary)
Hugo van der Goes (about 1420-25, Ghent - 1482, Odergem)
Flemish artist. Albrecht Dürer considered him the largest representative of early Dutch painting, along with Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden.
(Portrait of a Man of Prayer with St. John the Baptist)
Born in Ghent or Ter Gus in Zeeland. The exact date of birth is unknown, but a decree from 1451 was found, which allowed him to return from exile. Consequently, by that time, he had managed to do something wrong and had been in exile for some time. Joined the guild of St. Luke. In 1467 he became the master of the guild, and in 1473-1476 he was its dean in Ghent. He worked in Ghent, from 1475 in the Augustinian monastery of Rodendal near Brussels. In the same place in 1478 he was ordained a monk. His last years were marred by mental illness. However, he continued to work, filled orders for portraits. In the monastery he was visited by the future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian Habsburg.
(The Crucifixion)
He continued the artistic traditions of Dutch painting of the first half of the 15th century. Artistic activities are varied. Bouts' influence is noticeable in his early works.
Participated as a decorator in decorating the city of Bruges on the occasion of the wedding in 1468 of the Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold and Margaret of York, later in the decoration of the celebrations in the city of Ghent on the occasion of the entry into the city of Charles the Bold and the new Countess of Flanders in 1472. Obviously, his role in these works was leading, for according to the surviving documents, he received a greater pay than the rest of the artists. Unfortunately, the paintings that were part of the decoration have not survived. The creative biography has many ambiguities and gaps, since none of the paintings are dated or signed by the artist.
(Benedictine Monk)
The most famous work is the large altarpiece "Adoration of the Shepherds", or "Altar of Portinari", which was painted ca. 1475 commissioned by Tommaso Portinari - the representative of the Medici bank in Bruges - and had a deep influence on the Florentine painters: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Leonardo da Vinci and others.
(Altar of Portinari)
Jan Provost (1465-1529)
The master Provost is mentioned in documents from 1493, kept in the Antwerp City Hall. And in 1494 the master moved to Bruges. We also know that in 1498 he married the widow of the French painter and miniaturist Simon Marmion.
(The Martyrdom of St. Catherine)
We do not know who Provost studied with, but his art clearly developed under the influence of the last classics of the early Dutch Renaissance Gerard David and Quentin Massey. And if David strove to express a religious idea through the drama of the situation and human experiences, then in Quentin Masseys we will find something else - a craving for ideal and harmonious images. First of all, the influence of Leonardo da Vinci, with whose work Massys met during his trip to Italy, affected here.
In Provost's paintings, the traditions of G. David and C. Masseis are combined into one. In the collection of the State Hermitage there is one work by Provost, Maria in Glory, written on a wooden board using the technique of oil paint.
(The Virgin Mary in Glory)
This huge painting depicts the Virgin Mary, surrounded by a golden glow, standing on a crescent moon in the clouds. In her arms is the Christ child. God the Father, St. A spirit in the form of a dove and four angels. Below - the kneeling king David with a harp in his hands and the emperor Augustus with a crown and scepter. In addition to them, the painting depicts the sibyls (characters of ancient mythology, predicting the future and interpreting dreams) and prophets. In the hands of one of the sibyls, a scroll with the inscription "The bosom of the virgin will be the salvation of the nations."
In the depths of the painting, one can see a landscape striking in its subtlety and poetry, with city buildings and a port. All this complex and theologically intricate plot was traditional for Dutch art. Even the presence of ancient characters was perceived as a kind of attempt at religious justification of the ancient classics and did not surprise anyone. What seems difficult to us was perceived by the artist's contemporaries with ease and was a kind of alphabet in his paintings.
However, the Provost takes a certain step forward on the path of mastering this religious subject. He unites all his characters in a single space. He combines in one scene the earthly (King David, Emperor Augustus, the Sibyls and the prophets) and the heavenly (Mary and the angels). By tradition, he depicts all this against the background of a landscape, which further enhances the impression of the reality of what is happening. Provost diligently translates the action into his contemporary life. In the figures of David and Augustus, you can easily guess the clients of the painting, the wealthy Dutch. Ancient sibyls, whose faces are almost portrait, vividly resemble the rich townspeople of that time. Even the magnificent landscape, for all its fantasticness, is deeply realistic. He, as it were, synthesizes the nature of Flanders, idealizes it.
Most of Provost's paintings are of a religious nature. Unfortunately, a significant part of his works have not survived, and it is almost impossible to recreate a complete picture of his work. However, according to the testimony of contemporaries, we know that Provost took part in the design of the ceremonial entry of King Charles to Bruges. This speaks of the fame and great merits of the master.
(Virgin and Child)
According to Dürer, with whom Provost traveled for some time in the Netherlands, the entrance was furnished with great splendor. All the way from the city gates to the house where the king stayed was decorated with arcades on the columns, wreaths, crowns, trophies, inscriptions, torches were everywhere. There were also many live paintings and allegorical depictions of the "talents of the emperor"
The Provost took a great part in the design. 16th century Dutch art, of which Jan Provost was a typical representative, gave rise to works that, in the words of BR Wipper, "captivate not so much as the creations of outstanding masters, but as evidence of a high and diverse artistic culture."
(Christian Allegory)
Jerun Antonison van Acken (Hieronymus Bosch) (circa 1450-1516)
The Dutch painter, one of the greatest masters of the Northern Renaissance, is considered one of the most enigmatic painters in the history of Western art. In Bosch's hometown - 's-Hertogenbosch - Bosch's creative center has been opened, which displays copies of his works.
Jan Mandijn (1500/1502, Haarlem - 1559/1560, Antwerp)
Dutch artist of the Renaissance and Northern Mannerism.
Jan Mundane belongs to the group of Antwerp artists-followers of Hieronymus Bosch (Peter Hayes, Herri meth de Bles, Jan Wellens de Kokk), who continued the tradition of fantastic images and laid the foundations of the so-called Northern Mannerism, as opposed to Italian. The works of Ian Mundane, with his demons and evil spirits, come closest to the legacy of the mysterious.
(Saint Christopher. (State Hermitage, St. Petersburg))
The authorship of paintings attributed to Mandain, except for "The Temptations of St. Anthony ”, has not been established for certain. It is believed that Mundane was illiterate and therefore could not leave Gothic signatures on his Temptations. Art critics suggest that he simply copied the signature from the finished sample.
It is known that around 1530 Mundane became a master in Antwerp, his students were Gillis Mostert and Bartholomeus Spranger.
Martin van Heemskerk (real name Martin Jacobson van Ven)
Martin van Ven was born in North Holland to a peasant family. Against his father's will, he went to Haarlem, to study the artist Cornelis Willems, and in 1527 he passed on as a student to Jan van Scorell, and now art critics are not always able to determine the exact belonging of individual paintings by Scorel or Heemskerk. Between 1532 and 1536, the artist lives and works in Rome, where his works are very popular. In Italy, van Heemskerk creates his paintings in the artistic style of Mannerism.
After returning to the Netherlands, he received numerous orders from the church for both altar painting and the creation of stained glass windows and wall tapestries. Was one of the leading members of the Guild of Saint Luke. From 1550 until his death in 1574, Martin van Heemskerk served as church headman in the Church of St. Bavo in Haarlem. Among other works, van Heemskerk is known for his series of paintings Seven Wonders of the World.
(Portrait of Anna Codde 1529)
(St Luke Painting the Virgin and Child 1532)
(Man of Sorrows 1532)
(The Unhappy Lot of the Rich 1560)
(Self-Portrait in Rome with the Colosseum1553)
Joachim Patinir (1475/1480, Dinan in the province of Namur, Wallonia, Belgium - October 5, 1524, Antwerp, Belgium)
Flemish painter, one of the founders of European landscape painting. He worked in Antwerp. He made nature the main component of the image in compositions on religious subjects, in which, following the tradition of the Van Eyck brothers, Gerard David and Bosch, he created a majestic panoramic space.
He worked with Quentin Masseys. Presumably, many of the works now attributed to Patinir or Masseis are actually their joint works.
(Battle of Pavia)
(Miracle of St. Catherine)
(Landscape with The Flight into Egypt)
Herri meth de Bles (1500/1510, Bouvigne-sur-Meuse - circa 1555)
The Flemish artist, along with Joachim Patinir, is one of the founders of European landscape painting.
Almost nothing is known for certain about the artist's life. In particular, his name is unknown. Nicknamed "meth de Bles" - "with a white spot" - he probably got a white lock in his hair. He also bore the Italian nickname "Civetta" (Italian: Civetta) - "owl" - as his monogram, which he used as a signature to his paintings, was a small figurine of an owl.
(Landscape with a scene of flight to Egypt)
Herri meth de Bles spent most of his career in Antwerp. It is assumed that he was the nephew of Joachim Patinir, and the artist's real name was Herry de Patinir (Dutch. Herry de Patinir). In any case, in 1535 a certain Gerry de Patinir joined the Antwerp guild of Saint Luke. Herri meth de Bles is also ranked among the group of South Dutch artists - followers of Hieronymus Bosch, along with Jan Mundane, Jan Wellens de Kock and Peter Gays. These masters continued the tradition of Bosch's fantastic painting, and their work is sometimes called "Northern Mannerism" (as opposed to Italian Mannerism). According to some sources, the artist died in Antwerp, according to others - in Ferrara, at the court of the Duke del Este. Neither the year of his death, nor the fact itself, whether he ever visited Italy is known.
Herri meth de Bles painted mainly landscapes, modeled on Patinira, which also depict multi-figure compositions. The landscapes carefully convey the atmosphere. Typical for him, as for Patinira, is a stylized image of rocks.
Lucas van Leiden (Luke Leiden, Lucas Huygens) (Leiden 1494 - Leiden, 1533)
He studied painting with Cornelis Engelbrekts. He mastered the art of engraving very early and worked in Leiden and Middelburg. In 1522 he joined the guild of St. Luke in Antwerp, then returned to Leiden, where he died in 1533.
(Triptych with dances around the golden calf. 1525-1535. Rijksmuseum)
In genre scenes, he took a bold step towards an acutely realistic depiction of reality.
Luke Leydensky is not inferior in his skill to Dürer. He was one of the first Dutch graphic artists to demonstrate an understanding of the laws of light and air perspective. Although, to a greater extent he was interested in the problems of composition and technique, and not the fidelity of tradition or the emotional sound of scenes on religious themes. In 1521 in Antwerp, he met Albrecht Durer. The influence of the great German master's work manifested itself in a more rigid modeling and in a more expressive interpretation of figures, but Luka Leydensky never lost the features inherent only in his style: tall, well-built figures in somewhat mannered poses and tired faces. In the late 1520s, the influence of the Italian engraver Marcantonio Raimondi appears in his work. Almost all of Luke Leiden's prints are signed with the initial "L" and about half of his works are dated, including the famous Passion of the Christ series (1521). About a dozen of his woodcuts survive, mostly depictions of scenes from the Old Testament. Of the small number of surviving paintings by Luke Leiden, one of the most famous is the Last Judgment triptych (1526).
(Charles V, Cardinal Walsley, Margaret of Austria)
Joos van Cleve (date of birth unknown, presumably Wesel - 1540-41, Antwerp)
The first mention of Jos van Cleve dates back to 1511, when he was admitted to the Antwerp guild of St. Luke. Prior to that, Jos van Cleve studied with Jan Just van Kalkar along with Bartholomeus Brain the Elder. He is considered one of the most active artists of his time. His stay in France is evidenced by his paintings and the position of an artist at the court of Francis I. There are facts confirming Jos's trip to Italy.
The main works of Jos van Cleve are two altars depicting the Dormition of the Virgin (currently in Cologne and Munich), which were previously attributed to an unknown artist, the Master of the Life of Mary.
(Adoration of the Magi. 1st third of the 16th century. Art Gallery. Dresden)
Jos van Cleve is classified as a novelist. In his techniques of soft modeling of volumes, he feels the echo of the influence of Leonardo da Vinci's sfumato. Nevertheless, in many essential aspects of his work, he is closely associated with the Dutch tradition.
The "Dormition of the Virgin" from the Old Pinakothek was once in the Cologne church of the Virgin Mary and was commissioned by representatives of several rich, related Cologne families. The altarpiece has two side panels depicting the patron saints of the customers. The central flap is of the greatest interest. Van Mander wrote about the artist: “He was the best colorist of his time, he knew how to convey a very beautiful relief to his works and very close to nature conveyed the color of the body, using only one body paint. His works were highly appreciated by art lovers, which they fully deserved. "
Jos van Cleve's son Cornelis also became an artist.
Flemish painter of the Northern Renaissance. He studied painting with Bernard van Orly, who initiated his visit to the Italian peninsula. (Coxcie are sometimes written by Coxie, such as in Mechelen on a street dedicated to the artist). In Rome in 1532 he painted the chapels of the Cardinal Enckenvoirt in the Church of Santa Maria Delle by the Anima and Giorgio Vasari, his work is done in the Italian manner. favorable examples of their skills.
Returning to the Netherlands, Coxie developed his practice in this field of art significantly. Coxie returned to Mechelen, where he designed the altarpiece in the chapel of the Guild of St. Luke. In the center of this altar is represented Saint Luke the Evangelist, the patron saint of artists depicting the Virgin, on the side parts there is a scene of the martyrdom of Saint Vitus and the Vision of Saint John the Evangelist in Patmos. He was patronized by Charles V, the Roman emperor. His masterpieces 1587 - 1588 kept in the cathedral in Mechelen, in the cathedral in Brussels, museums in Brussels and Antwerp. He was known as the Flemish Raphael. He died in Mechelen on March 5, 1592, after falling from a flight of stairs.
(Christina of Denmark)
(Killing of Abel)
Marinus van Reimersvale (c. 1490, Reimersvale - after 1567)
Marinus's father was a member of the Antwerp Artists Guild. Marinus is considered a student of Quentin Masseis, or at least was influenced by his work. However, van Reimerswale was not only engaged in painting. After leaving his native Reimersval, he moved to Middelburg, where he participated in the robbery of the church, was punished and expelled from the city.
Marinus van Reimerswale remained in the history of painting thanks to his images of St. Jerome and portraits of bankers, usurers and tax collectors in elaborate clothes carefully painted by the artist. Such portraits were very popular in those days as the personification of greed.
South Dutch painter and graphic artist, the most famous and significant of the artists who bore this name. Master of landscape and genre scenes. Father of the artists Pieter Brueghel the Younger (Hell) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (Paradise).
Gershenzon-Chegodaeva N. Dutch portrait of the 15th century. Its origins and destinies. Series: From the history of world art. M. Art 1972 198 p. ill. Hardcover, Encyclopedic format.
Gershenzon-Chegodaeva N. M. Dutch portrait of the 15th century. Its origins and destinies.
The Dutch Renaissance is perhaps even more striking than the Italian Renaissance, at least in terms of painting. Van Eyck, Bruegel, Bosch, later - Rembrandt ... The names, of course, left a deep mark in the hearts of people who saw their canvases, regardless of whether you feel admiration in front of them, as before “Hunters in the Snow”, or rejection, as before "The Garden of Earthly Delights." The harsh, dark tones of the Dutch masters are different from the light and joyful creations of Giotto, Raphael and Michelangelo. One can only guess how the specificity of this school was formed, why it was there, to the north of the flourishing Flanders and Brabant, that a powerful center of culture arose. About this - let's keep quiet. Let's look at the specifics, what we have. Our source is the canvases and altars of the famous creators of the Northern Renaissance, and this material requires a special approach. In principle, this should be done at the intersection of cultural studies, art history and history.
A similar attempt was made by Natalia Gershenzon-Chegodaeva (1907-1977), the daughter of the most famous literary critic in our country. In principle, she is a fairly well-known personality, in her circles, first of all, by an excellent biography of Pieter Bruegel (1983), and the above work belongs to her. To be honest, this is a clear attempt to go beyond the boundaries of classical art history - not just to talk about artistic styles and aesthetics, but - to try to trace the evolution of human thought through them ...
What are the features of images of a person at an earlier time? There were few secular artists, monks were not always talented in the art of drawing. Therefore, often, images of people in miniatures and paintings are very conventional. It was necessary to paint pictures and any other images as it should be, in everything obeying the rules of a century of emerging symbolism. By the way, this is precisely why the tombstones (also a kind of portraits) did not always reflect the true appearance of a person, rather they showed him in the way he needed to be remembered.
The Dutch art of portraiture breaks through such canons. Who are we talking about? The author examines the works of such masters as Robert Compen, Jan Van Eyck, Rogier Van der Weyden, Hugo Van der Goes. They were true masters of their craft, living by their talent, doing work to order. Very often the customer was the church - in conditions of illiteracy of the population, painting is considered the most important art ... painting, a city dweller and peasant who was not trained in theological wisdom had to explain the simplest truths on his fingers, and the artistic image made up for this role. This is how such masterpieces as the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan Van Eyck arose.
The customers were also rich townspeople - merchants, bankers, guildiers, nobles. Portraits appeared, single and group. And here - for that time a breakthrough - an interesting feature of the masters was discovered, and one of the first to notice it was the famous agnostic philosopher Nikola Kuzansky. Not only did the artists, creating their images, paint a person not conditionally, but as he is, they also managed to convey his inner appearance. Turning the head, looking, hairstyle, clothes, bending the mouth, gesture - all this in an amazing and accurate way showed the character of a person.
Of course, this was an innovation, no doubt about it. The above-mentioned Nikola wrote about this. The author connects the painters with the philosopher's innovative ideas - respect for the human person, the cognizability of the surrounding world, the possibility of its philosophical knowledge.
But here a quite reasonable question arises - is it possible to compare the work of artists with the thought of an individual philosopher? In spite of everything, Nicholas of Cusan in any case remained in the bosom of medieval philosophy, he in any case relied on the inventions of the same scholastics. And what about the master artists? We know practically nothing about their intellectual life, did they have such developed ties with each other and with church leaders? This is the question. No doubt they had succession to each other, but the origins of this skill remain a mystery. The author does not deal with philosophy in a specialized way, but rather fragmentarily tells about the connection between the traditions of Dutch painting and scholasticism. If Dutch art is distinctive and has no connection with the Italian humanities, where did the artistic traditions come from and their peculiarities? Vague reference to "national traditions"? What kind? This is a question ...
In general, the author perfectly, as befits an art critic, tells about the specifics of the work of each artist, and quite convincingly interprets the aesthetic perception of a person. But as for the philosophical origins, the place of painting in the thought of the Middle Ages is very contour, the author has not found an answer to the question about the origins.
Bottom line: the book has a very good selection of portraits and other works of the early Dutch Renaissance. It is quite interesting to read about how art critics work with such a fragile and ambiguous material as painting, how they note the smallest features and specific features of the style, how they connect the aesthetics of a painting with time ... However, the context of the era is visible, so to speak, in a very, very long perspective ...
Personally, I was more interested in the question of the origins of this specific direction, ideological and artistic. Here the author failed to convincingly answer the question posed. An art critic defeated a historian, before us - first of all, an art work, that is, rather, for great lovers of painting.
The fifteenth century was a watershed in the development of the culture of northern Europe. Its social structure was changing, under the influence of new progressive forces, the medieval world began to collapse. This process, which began earlier in Italy, captured in the 15th and 16th centuries the countries located north of the Alps - the Netherlands, Germany, France. This gave rise to the name of the culture of the transalpine countries of the Northern Renaissance.
The formation of the Renaissance culture in Germany and the subjects of the German emperor Austria and Switzerland took place in conditions of complex political, social and spiritual contradictions. In the 15th century, Germany was a conglomerate of separate territorial entities, principalities, bishoprics, "imperial" and "free" cities. Their geographical position in Central Europe strengthened the economic and cultural ties of the German lands with neighboring countries. The invention of the printing press by John Gutenberg around 1445 contributed to the development of education, the dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge. By the middle of the 15th century, humanism, which originated in Italy, gained recognition in university circles in Germany. However, the country still had a fairly strong medieval way of life. In Germany, an artist in his position for a long time remained an artisan, he was completely ruled by the laws of the workshop and the will of the customers, which strictly regulated the artist's work, fettered the freedom of search.
The Catholic Church had tremendous power in a fragmented country. Her wealth, politics, the behavior of the clergy provoked protest, which was expressed in the spread of religious movements calling for a return to the "sincere faith of early Christians." Humanism, spreading in Germany, directed its main efforts against the omnipotence of the Church. The forces accumulated in the country, leading at the beginning of the 16th century to the Reformation (1517-1555).
Since the XIV century, new forms of carved sculpture and easel painting, the so-called altars, began to spread in Western Europe. They represented monumental folds that were placed in the apse of the church behind the throne. Images on a carved or painted folding altar were associated with the liturgy and made it possible to more directly illustrate the service, and the pilgrims to worship sacred images.
Altars were three-part (triptychs) and multi-part (polyptychs). In the central part of the fold was placed the main image - the image of Christ or the Mother of God, on the movable side panels - the Gospel scenes or images of saints. On weekdays, such an altar was closed, so the images were placed on the outer side of the doors. In Germany, where there were many forests, altars were originally mostly carved, with the figures being brightly colored. Later, picturesque folds appeared.
In the following centuries, as a result of religious wars, the secularization of church estates, after the closure of monasteries, altars were sold, often scattered. Some of them ended up in various collections, museum and private. It is these scattered parts of the altars that are mainly represented in the Museum's collection of the art of the 15th century, formed in the possession of the German emperors.
Most of the 15th century works that have come down to us are anonymous. The name of the owner of the painting workshop appeared in the contract concluded with her. The artist himself, for various reasons, including pious ones, did not put his signature. The large altar was created by the efforts of the entire workshop, while each painter had his own area of \u200b\u200bwork: the chief master created the composition, often painted the faces of the main characters. There were specialists in individual parts of the image, masterfully depicting costumes, objects and decorations, and landscape details. At the same time, the style of each workshop was distinguished by its unity and originality. This allows researchers, on the basis of stylistic analysis and other research techniques, to combine the works published from there. The circle of such works is united under a conventional name: according to the name or place of storage of the most significant work for a given master, or according to a specific painting technique.
The rise of artistic life in the Netherlands, which began in the 15th century, was more prolonged, powerful and significant in its consequences. Its influence was felt not only by German and French contemporaries, its breath was felt in the citadel of the Renaissance - in Italy. "Lowlands" (as the name of the country is translated) on the coast of the North Sea in the lower reaches of the Scheldt, Meuse, Rhine (the territory of modern Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and partly northeastern France) were an area of \u200b\u200bEurope where cities grew intensively, crafts and trade developed, manufacturing production was born. The country achieved its greatest successes at the beginning of the 16th century, when trade routes, after the discovery of America, moved to the north of Europe.
However, the political life of the Netherlands during this period was unusually tense. In 1516, the country became part of the Habsburg Empire, which ruled the Spanish throne. Progressive changes, the growth of self-awareness of the human personality, the spread of humanism came into conflict with foreign domination, the dominance of Catholicism, in which the Spaniards saw the support of their power. Foreign oppression led to disaster for the masses. The anti-feudal struggle that began in the Netherlands acquired the character of Protestant movements, and in the 60s of the 16th century grew into an open armed struggle. This made the artistic process in the Netherlands of the 16th century complex and diverse, and general European tendencies acquired a pronounced national flavor here.
The art of the Netherlands is represented in the museum mainly by works of the 16th century.
Since the 15th century, painting has been the leading type of Dutch art. The traditions of the great masters of this century were still quite strong at the beginning of the next century. Fidelity to their precepts was cultivated by painters grouped around the patriarchal city of Bruges. The artistic life of Antwerp, a large trade and craft center, was more diverse, where people of different nationalities and artistic tastes gathered, where the ideas of humanism were spread, and book printing developed. Here the searches were more intense, the inertia of the degenerated tradition was felt more sharply. The third artistic center was Brussels - the seat of the governor.
In addition to religious compositions in the 16th century, a significant place in Dutch art belonged to the portrait, developed landscape backgrounds develop into an independent painting genre - landscape.
In the Dutch art of the XVI century, two directions stand out. One adheres to national traditions, the second largely focuses on contemporary Italian art. It got the name of Romanism (from the Latin Roma - Rome).
In the second half of the 16th century, when the Netherlands became the scene of turbulent events associated with the war of liberation against Spanish oppression, the Italianizing direction recedes into the background. Art that turned to the national theme and image of the people became more vital. At this time, the formation of new painting genres - landscape, still life, genre genre - falls.
The Netherlands is a historical region that occupies a part of a vast lowland on the northern European coast from the Gulf of Finland to the English Channel. At present, the states of the Netherlands (Holland), Belgium and Luxembourg are located on this territory.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Netherlands turned into a motley cluster of large and small semi-independent states. The most significant among them were the Duchy of Brabant, the Counties of Flanders and Holland, the Utrecht Bishopric. In the north of the country, the population was mainly Germanic - the Frisians and the Dutch, in the south the descendants of the Gauls and Romans - the Flemings and Walloons - predominated.
The Dutch labored selflessly with their special talent “to do the most boring things without boredom,” as the French historian Hippolyte Teng put it about these people who are completely devoted to everyday life. They did not know the sublime poetry, but the more reverently they revered the simplest things: a clean, comfortable home, a warm hearth, modest but tasty food. The Dutchman is used to seeing the world as a huge house in which he is called to maintain order and comfort.
Main features of Dutch Renaissance art
Common to the art of the Renaissance in Italy and in the countries of Central Europe is the desire for a realistic depiction of man and the world around him. But these tasks were solved differently due to the difference in the nature of the cultures.For Italian Renaissance artists, it was important to generalize and create an ideal, from the point of view of humanism, image of a person. For them, science played an important role - artists developed theories of perspective and the doctrine of proportions.
Dutch masters were attracted by the diversity of the individual appearance of people and the richness of nature. They do not seek to create a generalized image, but convey the characteristic and special. Artists do not use theories of perspective and others, but convey the impression of depth and space, optical effects and the complexity of the cut-off relationship through careful observation.
They are characterized by love for their land and amazing attention to all the little things: to their native northern nature, to the peculiarities of everyday life, to the details of the interior, costumes, to the difference in materials and textures ...
Dutch painters with the utmost care reproduce the smallest details and recreate a sparkling richness of colors. These new pictorial tasks could only be solved with the help of the new technique of oil painting.
The discovery of oil painting is attributed to Jan van Eyck. Since the middle of the 15th century, this new "Flemish manner" supplants the old tempera technique in Italy as well. It is no coincidence that on the Dutch altars, which are a reflection of the whole Universe, you can see everything that it consists of - every blade of grass and tree in the landscape, architectural details of cathedrals and city houses, stitches of embroidered ornaments on the robes of saints, as well as many others, the smallest, details.
Art of the 15th century - the golden age of Dutch painting.
Its brightest representative Jan Van Eyck. OK. 1400-1441.
The greatest master of European painting:
he opened with his creativity a new era of the Early Renaissance in Dutch art.
He was the court painter of the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good.
He was one of the first to master the plastic and expressive possibilities of oil painting, using thin transparent layers of paint, laid one on top of the other (the so-called Flemish manner of multilayer transparent writing).
Van Eyck's largest work was the Ghent Altarpiece, which he performed together with his brother.
The Ghent Altarpiece is a grandiose multi-tiered polyptych. Its height in the central part is 3.5 m, width when unfolded is 5 m.
On the outside of the altar (when closed) the daily cycle is depicted:
- in the bottom row donators are depicted - the townsman Yodok Veidt with his wife, praying in front of the statues of Saints John the Baptist and John the Theologian, patrons of the church and the chapel.
- Above is the scene of the Annunciation, and the figures of the Mother of God and the Archangel Gabriel are separated by the image of a window in which the city landscape appears
The festive cycle is depicted on the inside of the altar.
When the altar doors open, a truly stunning transformation takes place in front of the viewer:
- the size of the polyptych is doubled,
- the picture of everyday life is instantly replaced by the spectacle of an earthly paradise.
- the cramped and gloomy closets disappear, and the world seems to swing open: the spacious landscape lights up with all the colors of the palette, bright and fresh.
The painting of the festive cycle is dedicated to the theme of the triumph of the transformed world, which is rare in Christian fine art, which should come after the Last Judgment, when evil will be finally defeated and truth and harmony will be established on earth.
Top row:
- in the central part of the altar, God the Father is depicted sitting on the throne,
- to the left and right of the throne are the Mother of God and John the Baptist,
- further on both sides are angels singing and playing music,
- the nude figures of Adam and Eve close the row.
The bottom row of pictures depicts a scene of worship of the Divine Lamb.
- an altar rises in the middle of the meadow, a white Lamb stands on it, blood flows from its pierced chest into a bowl
- closer to the viewer there is a well from which living water pours out. 
Hieronymus Bosch (1450 - 1516)
The connection of his art with folk traditions, folklore.
In his works, he fancifully combined features of medieval fantasy, folklore, philosophical parables and satire.
He created multi-figured religious and allegorical compositions, paintings on the themes of folk proverbs, sayings and parables.
Bosch's works are filled with numerous scenes and episodes, life-threatening and bizarre images and details, full of irony and allegory.
Bosch's work had a huge impact on the development of realistic trends in Dutch painting of the 16th century.
The composition "The Temptation of St. Anthony ”is one of the most famous and mysterious works of the artist. The masterpiece of the master was the triptych "The Garden of Delights", an intricate allegory that has received many different interpretations. In the same period, the triptychs "The Last Judgment", "Adoration of the Magi", compositions "St. John on Patmos ”,“ John the Baptist in the wilderness ”.
The triptych "Heaven and Hell", compositions "Tramp", "Carrying of the Cross" belong to the late period of Bosch's work.
Most of Bosch's paintings of the mature and late periods are bizarre grotesques containing deep philosophical overtones.
A large triptych "Carriage of Hay", highly appreciated by Philip II of Spain, belongs to the mature period of the artist's work. The altar composition is probably based on the old Dutch proverb: "The world is a haystack, and everyone tries to grab as much as he can from it."
The temptation of St. Anthony. Triptych. Central part Oil on wood. 131.5 x 119 cm (center), 131.5 x 53 cm (panel) National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon 
Pleasure garden. Triptych. Around 1485. Central part
Oil on wood. 220 x 195 cm (center), 220 x 97 cm (sash) Prado Museum, Madrid
Dutch art of the 16th century marked by the emergence of interest in antiquity and the activities of the masters of the Italian Renaissance. At the beginning of the century, a trend based on the imitation of Italian models was formed, which was called "Romanism" (from Roma, the Latin name for Rome).
The pinnacle of Dutch painting in the second half of the century was creativity Peter Bruegel the Elder. 1525 / 30-1569. Nicknamed Muzhitsky.
He created a deeply national art based on Dutch traditions and local folklore.
He played a huge role in the formation of the peasant genre and the national landscape. Bruegel's works are intricately intertwined with rude folk humor, lyricism and tragedy, realistic details and fantastic grotesque, an interest in detailed narrative and a desire for broad generalization.
In the works of Bruegel - closeness to the moralizing performances of medieval folk theater.
The joke duel between Maslenitsa and Lent is a common scene of fairground performances held in the Netherlands on the days of seeing off winter.
Life is in full swing everywhere: there is a round dance, windows are washed, some are playing dice, others are trading, someone is asking for alms, someone is being taken to bury ...
Proverbs. 1559. The painting is a kind of encyclopedia of Dutch folklore.
Bruegel's characters lead each other by the nose, sit between two chairs, bang their heads against a wall, hang between heaven and earth ... The Dutch proverb "And there are cracks in the roof" is close in meaning to the Russian "And the walls have ears." The Dutch “throw money into the water” means the same as the Russian “waste money”, “waste money”. The whole picture is devoted to the waste of money, energy, all life - here they cover the roof with pancakes, shoot arrows into the void, shear pigs, warm themselves with the flame of a burning house and confess to the devil.
There was one language and one dialect throughout the whole earth. Moving from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to each other: "Let's make bricks and burn them with fire." And they had bricks instead of stones, and earthen pitch instead of lime. And they said: “Let us build ourselves a city and a tower as high as heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves before we are scattered over the face of the earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building. And the Lord said: “Here is one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they began to do, and they will not leave behind what they intended to do. Let us go down and confuse their language there, so that one does not understand the speech of the other. " And the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth; and they stopped building the city and the tower. Therefore, the name was given to him: Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over all the earth (Genesis, ch. 11). Unlike the motley bustle of Bruegel's early works, this picture amazes the viewer with its calmness. The tower depicted in the painting resembles the Roman amphitheater Colosseum, which the artist saw in Italy, and at the same time - an anthill. On all floors of the huge structure, tireless work is in full swing: blocks rotate, stairs are thrown, figurines of workers scurry about. It is noticeable that the connection between the builders has already been lost, probably due to the beginning of the "confusion of languages": somewhere construction is in full swing, and somewhere the tower has already turned into ruins.
After Jesus was betrayed to be crucified, the soldiers lifted a heavy cross on Him and took him to the place of execution called Golgotha. On the way, they caught Simon of Cyrene, who was returning home from the field, and forced him to carry the cross for Jesus. Many people followed Jesus, among them were women who wept and wept for Him. Carrying the Cross is a religious, Christian painting, but it is no longer a church painting. Bruegel correlated the truths of Scripture with personal experience, meditated on the biblical texts, gave them his own interpretation, i.e. openly violated the imperial decree of 1550 in force at that time, which, on pain of death, prohibited independent study of the Bible.
Bruegel creates a series of landscapes "Months". "Hunters in the Snow" is December-January.
Each season for the master is, first of all, a unique state of the earth and sky.
A crowd of peasants, caught up in the rapid rhythm of the dance.
