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Early Netherlandish painting (or Flemish Primitive, Late Gothic or Ars nova) refers to the work of artists active in the Low Countries during the 15th- and early 16th-century Northern renaissance, especially in the flourishing Burgundian cities of Bruges and Ghent. The period begins approximately with the career of Jan van Eyck in the early 1420s and ends with Gerard David's death in 1523. The artists of this era made significant advances in natural representation and illusionism, and their work often features complex iconography. Subjects are usually religious scenes or small portraits; narrative painting or mythological subjects are relatively rare. The artists produced mostly panel paintings, although illuminated manuscripts and sculptures were also common, especially at the higher end of the market. The paintings may comprise single panels or more complex altarpieces, usually in the form of hinged triptychs or polyptychs.

The major Early Netherlandish artists include van Eyck, Robert Campin, Dirk Bouts, Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Simon Marmion, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes, Geertgen tot Sint Jans and David. The period corresponds to the early and high Italian Renaissance but is seen as an independent artistic culture, separate from the Renaissance humanism that characterises simultaneous developments in central Italy. Because these painters represent the culmination of the northern European Mediaeval artistic heritage and incorporate Renaissance ideals, their art is categorized as belonging to both the Early Renaissance and the Late Gothic.

The work of the Early Netherlandish painters fell out of favour between the mid 1600s and mid 1900s, and so little is known about even the most significant artists. Their biographies are for the most part scant, reconstructed from scattered mentions in legal records, and in many instances the artist's names are not known or are contested. Many of the surviving panels are fragments or wings from lost larger altarpieces. The most significant early research on the early Netherlandish painters occurred in the 1920's, in Max Jakob Friedländer's pioneering Meisterwerke der niederländischen Malerei des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, which was followed by the analysis of Erwin Panofsky in the 1950s and 60s. This research tended to focus on establishing biographies and interpreting the complex iconography, while more recent research, notably by Lorne Campbell of the National Gallery, London, relies on X-ray and infra-red photography to develop a understanding of the techniques and materials used by the painters.

Terminology and scope

Early Netherlandish painting and painters are known by a variety of of terms, "Late Gothic" and the "Flemish Primitives" being other common designations. Art historian Erwin Panofsky applied the term "Ars nova" ("new art") and "Nouvelle pratique" ("new practices"), thereby linking the movement with innovative composers such as Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois favoured by the Burgundian court of the time. "Late Gothic" emphasizes continuity with the Middle Ages, while "Flemish Primitives" is a traditional art historical term borrowed from the French "Primitif flamand". It came into fashion in the 19th century and is still the primary label in French as well as in Dutch, Italian and Spanish.

"Primitives" in this case does not refer to a perceived lack of sophistication; rather it identifies the artists as the originators of a new tradition in painting, one noted, for example, for the use of oil paint instead of tempera. Following the lead of Friedländer, Panofsky, Pächt and other German language art historians, English-language scholars typically describe the period as "Early Netherlandish painting" (German: Altniederländische Malerei).

During the 15th to mid 16th centuries, the modern national borders of France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands did not exist. Flanders, which now refers specifically to distinct parts of Belgium, and other areas of the region were under the control of the Dukes of Burgundy and later the Habsburg dynasty. Painters and merchants both native and foreign congregated in the Flemish cities of Bruges and Ghent, the main regional centres of international banking, trade and art. The terms Flemish and Netherlandish (that is, "of the Low Countries") became interchangeable based on the location of the dominant cities. Moreover, art historians often include the artistic traditions of Cologne and other Lower Rhine centres within the same context, or note that painters like Geertgen tot Sint Jans were active in the northern Netherlands and not Flanders.

A further point of contention is the linguistically French origins of many painters, such as Rogier van der Weyden, who was born as Rogier de le Pasture. The German Hans Memling and Estonian Michael Sittow both worked in the Netherlands in a fully Netherlandish style. The use of the term "Early Netherlandish painting", as well more general descriptors like "Ars nova" and the inclusive "Northern Renaissance art", allows for a broader geographical base for the artists associated with the period than the more exclusive "Flemish". Also, like the concept of the Italian Renaissance itself, it stresses the birth of a new age rather than the culmination of an old one.

Timeline

A number of different schools of painting developed across northern Europe in the early 15th century. By 1400, the International Gothic era was waning and giving way to the influence of the Italian Renaissance. New and distinctive painterly traditions and innovations were taking foot across the region, with Ulm, Nuremberg, Vienna and Munich being the most important artistic centers at the turn of the century. A number of vital technical innovations and new media emerged, including printmaking (using woodcuts or copper engravings), coupled with innovations borrowed from France and southern Italy profoundly changed the art of the region. A consolidating change in approach came with van Eyck's manipulation of paint using the oil medium, a technique quickly addopted and developed by Campin and van der Weyden. These three artists are considered the first rank and most influential of the first generation of Early Netherlandish painters, although there were other, less immediate, responses in regions of northern Europe, from Swabia to Austria.

Template:Timeline of Early Netherlandish painters

Technique and material

The work of van Eyck, Campin and van der Weyden from the mid 1430s marked a revolution in naturalism and realism in Northern European painting. Artists sought to more closely reflect the natural world. Figures were depicted with a visual realism that made them more human looking and allowed a greater complexly of emotions than had been seen before. The artists became interested in accurately reproducing physical objects (according to Panofsky they painted "gold that looked like gold") and both optical or natural phenomena such a beams of light or the plays of reflection. They abandoned the flat spaces and outlined figuration of earlier painting in favour of more complex three-dimensional pictorial spaces, while the position of the viewers and how they might relate to the scene became important for the first time. Van Eyck positions viewers of the Arnolfini Portrait as if they have just entered the room containing the two figures.

Innovations in the use of materials and painterly techniques allowed far richer, more luminous and closer detailed representations of people, landscapes, interiors and objects than had been seen before. The chief innovation came from the handling of oil paint. Oil is known to have been used as a medium in painting in Northern Europe from the 12th century, however until the 1430s egg tempera dominated. Egg when used as a binder tends to dry quickly and produce bright and light colours, therefore it is a difficult medium in which to achieve naturalistic texture or deep shadow.

In contrast, oil creates smooth translucent surfaces, and can be applied in a range of thicknesses, from fine lines to thick broad strokes. It dries slowly and thus can be manipulated while still wet, giving the artist more time to add subtle detail and allow hatching, wet-on-wet painting and the ability to achieve smooth transition of colours and tones by removing layers of paint to expose those below. In addition oil allows differentiation between degrees of reflective light, from shadow to bright beams as well as minute depictions of light effects through use of transparent glazes. This new freedom in controlling light gave rise to more minute and realistic depiction of surface textures, seen notably in van Eyck portrayals of light falling on jewellery, wooden floors, rich textiles and household objects.

Glue was often used as an inexpensive alternative to oil. Although a large number of works using this medium were produced, few survive today, mainly due to both the high perishability of linen cloth to which the pigment was applied and the solubility of the hide glue from which the binder was derived. Well-known and relatively well-preserved—though substantially damaged—examples include Quentin Matsys' c. 1415-25 The Virgin and Child with Saints Barbara and Catherine and Dirk Bouts' c 1440-55 Entombment.

The paint was generally handled with brushes, but sometimes applied with the thin sticks or the handles of the brushes. The contours of shadows were sometimes softened by spreading the paint with the artist's thumb (eg van Eyck used his thumb in his Arnolfini portrait to shape the dogs shadow), while the artists fingers and or the palm of his hand could be used to blott or reduce the glaze.

Patronage and status

The majority of the major Netherlandish painters of the first generation were literate and well educated and came from middle-class backgrounds, for example van Eyck used elements of the Greek alphabet in his signature, while a number of Ghent painters thought members of their workshops to read and write. Within their lifetimes many achieved great financial success, being much sought after both in the Low Countries and from foreign patrons from as far as Spain and Italy. Van der Weyden was able to send his son to the University of Louvain, while many, including Gerard David, Dirk Bouts and van der Weyden were able to afford to donate large works to churches, monasteries and convents of their choosing. Vrancke van der Stockt was able to invest in land. Jan van Eyck was a valet de chambre at the Burgundian court, and appears to have had easy access to Philip the Good.

The taste of the Burgundy dukes tended towards opulence and luxury goods. They favoured cups lined with pearls and rubies and gold-edged tapestries. This taste for finery trickled down through their court and nobles, to the people who for the large part commissioned the local artists of the era. While the Early Netherlandish paintings did not contain gold or jewelery and so did not contain the same intrinsic value, their perceived value was seen by those that mattered as approaching the same worth. A 1425 document written by Philip the Good details why he hired the painter for his "excellent work that he does in his craft" (pour cause de l'excellent ouvrage de son mėtier qu'il fait).

The prestige held by the Burgundian princes impressed foreign royalty as far as Italy and Spain, and a market development of the paintings for export; by the 1460's they were being commissioned specifically for export to to Naples or Florence. Campbell notes that the works that works that were exported tend to have had a higher survival rate; mainly due to the mid 16th iconoclasm in the region and the devastation of the second world war. Such wealthy foreign patronage and the development of international trade afforded the established masters to build up workshops of assistants; who were normally either younger apprentices earning entry into the painters guild or journeymen artists who were fully trained but had not earned the dues required to establish their own workshop.

Often the master would paint the focal and important portions of the work, such as the face or fingers (especially in single panel portraits) of the figures, the fingers, richly embroidered clothing. The more prosaic sections would be left to the assistants, and in many works it is possible to discern from abrupt shifts in style the areas of the surface separating those worked on by the master from those by his workshop. If the master was secure enough financially, as van Eyck was, he could dedicate his workshop to the production of copies of his commercially successful works, or on new compositions in his style. In this case, usually the master would produce the underdrawing, or at least the design. It is because of this practice that so many surviving works are today attributed to The workshop of...".

The mid 1400s saw a huge increase on demand for art works, which were sold either from the workshop or or at market stalls specialising in luxury goods. The period saw the rise of art dealers; some masters acted as dealers, attending fairs where they could also buy frames, panels and pigments.

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 in the 15th century. Hugo van der Goes's Portinari Altarpiece played an important role in introducing Florentine painters to trends in the north, and artists like Antonello da Messina probably came under the influence of Netherlandish painters working in Sicily, Naples and later Venice. Early Netherlandish painters were not immune to the innovations in art that were occurring south of the Alps, however. Jan van Eyck, for example, might have travelled to Italy around 1426 to 1428, a trip that would have affected his work on the Ghent Altarpiece, and the international importance of cities like Bruges meant a great influx of foreign influence.

Religious paintings - church decoration or altarpieces for churches and private use, for example - remained popular subjects in both Early Netherlandish and Italian Renaissance painting. The role of Renaissance humanism, however, was not as strong in the north as it was in Italy. Instead, local trends, such as Devotio Moderna are more apparent and had an impact on the subject and format of many artworks. For example, emphasis on the suffering of Christ and other emphatic subject matter was more popular.

Like Florence, where banking and trade led to numerous private commissions, wealthy merchants commissioned religious paintings for private devotion (often including themselves in the form of donor portraits) as well as secular portraits. Additionally, the presence of the Burgundian court, like the situation in Urbino and other Italian cities, allowed court artists to flourish. Painters were increasingly self-aware of their position in society: they signed their works more often, painted self portraits, and become well-known figures because of their artistic activities alone.

One of the most obvious differences is the influence of classical antiquity. It is far less pronounced in the north, only fully entering Netherlandish painting in the 16th century. Moreover, while in Italy saw radical changes in architecture, sculpture and philosophy, the revolution in Netherlandish art was largely restricted to painting. Gothic architecture, for example, remains the dominant style through the 16th century, and even informs the local style of Italian Renaissance architecture when the Italian influences do eventually appear.

As Bruges diminished as an artistic center around 1500, and Antwerp's position increased, one manifestation of the shift is seen in the artists identified as Antwerp Mannerists. Although largely anonymous, and only active from about 1500 to 1530, they mark the end of Early Netherlandish painting and instigate the shift to the next stage. The Antwerp Mannerists are so-called because, although incorporating Italian influence, they were thought to represent a "latent Gothic" still informed by Netherlandish traditions of the preceding century.

Rediscovery, acquisition and research

The Flemish "primitives" fell out of fashion and were forgotten during the 17th and 18th centuries. When Johanna Schopenhauer, mother of the great philosopher, became interested in the work of Jan Van Eyck and his followers (also published in 1822), having seen early Netherlandish and Flemish paintings in the collection of the brothers Sulpiz and Melchior Boisserée in Heidelberg, she had to undertake fundamental archival searches. Specialist German collectors were in the vanguard, and Edward Solly's unusually far-sighted 1818 purchase of six panels from van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece hung in Berlin. When in 1848 the paintings of Prince Ludwig of Oettingen-Wallerstein at Schloss Wallerstein were forced onto the market, his cousin Prince Albert arranged a viewing at Kensington Palace; though a catalogue of works attributed to the School of Cologne, Jan Van Eyck and Rogier Van der Weyden was compiled by Waagen, there were no takers; the Prince Consort purchased them himself.

In 1860, when Charles Eastlake purchased for the National Gallery Rogier van der Weyden's panel The Magdalen Reading from Edmond Beaucousin's "small but choice" collection of early Netherlandish paintings that also included two Robert Campin portraits and panels by Simon Marmion, it was a ground-breaking acquisition. The opening phase of the rediscovery of early Netherlandish painting climaxed in Max Jakob Friedländer's two works, Meisterwerke der niederländischen Malerei des 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, 1903 ("Masterpieces of Netherlandish painting of the 15th and 16th centuries"), 1903, and Von Jan van Eyck bis Bruegel, ("From Jan van Eyck to Bruegel"), 1916.

Painting formats

Portraits

Before 1430, dedicated portrait panels showing known historical figures in secular European art were rare. A large number of independent panels showing saints and biblical figures were being produced, but the practice of depicting historically real and known individuals did not begin until the era of the Netherlandish painters, with van Eyck being the pioneer. His 1432 Portrait of a Man is the earliest surviving example, and is emblematic of the new style. It is noted as marking a new approach to representation in a number of ways; primarily in its realism and acute observation of the small details of the (unknown) man's appearance, including his narrow shoulders, pursed lips and thin eyebrows, down to the moisture of his blue eyes.

In 1508-09 Albrecht Dürer described the basic function of portraiture as "preserving a person's appearance after his death" (Awch behelt daz gemell dy gestalt der menschen nach jrem sterben). During the fifteenth century portraits were status objects, and served to ensure that the individuals personal success was recorded and would endure after their death. Before 1500, most portraits tended to exclusively show royalty, the upper nobility or princes of the church. However the new affluence in the Burgundian Netherlands saw a wider variety of clientele as members of the upper middle class were now able to afford to commission a portrait, or more usually commission a religious work in which their likeness would be inserted. These latter portraits, known as Donor portraits, generally show the individual kneeling to one side in the foreground. Although the Netherlandish artists saw portraiture as a very different and seperate activity to painting religious subjects, more depictions of the Virgin and Child may have been intended are belonging to the portrait tradition. The painters guild across Europe was under the protection of Saint Luke, the patron saint of artists. Luke is said to have painted at least on portrait of the Virgin, and depictions of Saint Luke painting the Virgin became common during the period.

• Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man, 1432
• Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), 1433
• Petrus Christus, Portrait of a Carthusian, 1446
• Dirk Bouts, Portrait of a Man, 1460-1470
• Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Young Woman, c. 1435
• Jan van Eyck, Portrait of Margaret van Eyck, 1439
• Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady, c. 1460
• Petrus Christus, Portrait of a Young Girl, after 1460

The Netherlandish artists replaced the traditional profile view, popular since Roman coinage and medals, with the three-quarters view . In this pose, more than one side of the face is visible, as the sitters body is, almost but not quite, directly facing the viewer, while the far ear is generally not visible. The three-quarters pose allows a better view of the shape and features of the head and allows the sitter to look out directly at the viewer. van Eyck's 1433 Portrait of a Man is an early example of the method, and is all the more notable as the panel is probably a self-portrait, that it its likely van Eyck himself who stares out at us. Yet the gaze of the sitter rarely engages the viewer. Although there is direct eye contact between subject and viewer, normally the look is detached, aloof and uncommunicative, perhaps to reflect the subject's high social position. There are exceptions, typically in bridal portraits or in the case of potential betrothals where the object of the works is to make the sitter as attractive as possible to the intended assessors. In these cases the sitter was often shown smiling with an engaging, fresh and radiant facial expression.

Although van Eyck was the innovator in the new approach to portraiture, Rogier van der Weyden developed the technique and was arguably more influential on the following generations of painters. Rather than follow van Eyck's meticulous attention to detail, van der Weyden's focus was on providing a more abstract and sensual representation. He was highly sought after as a portraitist, a there is a noticeable similarity in his portraits, likely because, as a labour-saving device, he used and reused the same underdrawings, that met a common ideal of rank and piety, for his works. He would then add finishing touches to highlight the facial expressions of the particular sitter.

Diptychs

Diptychs originated in the Netherlands in the mid 15th century and were especially popular from the 1430s to the 1560s as a new pictorial device for engaging the viewer. Usually small in scale, they comprise two panels each painted on either side and joined together with flexible hinges. Typically the primary image is painted on the interior panels: when the wings are closed, the paintings on the exterior can be seen. The exterior panels were typically auxiliary, and usually formed from such motifs as the coats of arms of the donors. Diptychs were usually devotional in nature but were sometimes created as portrait pendants. The format was used most notably by Rogier van der Weyden and Hans Memling.

• Jan van Eyck, Crucifixion-Last Judgement Diptych, late 1920-early 1930s
• Rogier van der Weyden, Crucifixion Diptych, c. 1460-65
• Hans Memling, Annunciation, 1467-70
• Hans Memling, Adam and Eve, 1485
• Hans Memling, Diptych with the Allegory of True Love, c 1485-90

Triptychs and altarpieces

Altarpieces produced in the Low Countries became popular across Europe from the late 14th c, and there was a high level of demand until the early 1500s. The Burgundian empire was at the height of it's influence, and the innovations made by the Netherlandish painters were soon recognised accross the continent. The earliest know altarpieces of the era are compound works incorporating both engraving and painting; usually a carved central corpus which could be folded over by two painted wings. Such types were being commissioned by German patrons by the 1380's, however large scale export did not begin until around 1400. Due to the iconoclasm of the 1560's in which many of thoes kept in the Low Countries were destroyed, examples dating from pre 1400 mostly come from German churches and monasteries.

• Robert Campin, Center panle from the Annunciation, 1420s
• Gerard David, Triptych of the Sedano family, 1523
• van der Weyden, Polyptych with the Nativity, c 1450
• Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece, c. 1475

References

Notes

1. van Eyck was already championed as the "new Apelles" of northern European painting by Karel van Mander at the turn of the 17th century
2. Some scholars controversially extend the period to the death of Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1569. See Spronk, 7
3. Campin is usually identified as the Master of Flemalle
4. Ridderbos et al, 5
5. ^ Janson, H.W. Janson's History of Art: Western Tradition. New York: Prentice Hall, 2006. ISBN 0-13-193455-4
6. Flemish and Netherlandish art were only distinguished from each other from the early 17th c. See Spronk, 7
7. Panofsky (1969), 165
8. To Giorgio Vasari all northern painters were "fiamminghi", or "Flemmings".
9. Vlieghe, Hans. "Flemish Art, Does It Really Exist?". In: Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, vol. 26, 1998. 187-200) points to recent instances where institutions in the French-speaking parts of Belgium have refused to loan painters to exhibitions labeled "Flemish".
10. ^ Kemperdick, in "van Eych to Durer". 55
11. Ridderbos et all, 378
12. Panofsky (1969), 163
13. Smith, 58-60
14. The oil was usually derived from flax but also from walnuts and other sources.
15. Jones, 9
16. Smith, 61
17. Jones, 10-11
18. Borchert, 22
19. Borchert, 24
20. "The Virgin and Child with Saints Barbara and Catherine". National Gallery, London. Retrieved 7 November 2011
21. "The Entombment". National Gallery, London. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
22. Campbell, 31
23. ^ Campbell 1998, 20
24. Châtelet, Albert. "Early Dutch Painting, Painting in the northern Netherlands in the fifteenth century". Montreaux: Montreaux Fine Art Publications, 1980. 27-8. ISBN 2-8826-0009-7
25. ^ Jones, 25
26. Campbell, 21
27. ^ Jones, 28
28. Jones, 29
29. ^ The north to south-only direction of influence arose in the scholarship of Max Friedländer and was affirmed by Panofsky; see Lisa Deam, "Flemish versus Netherlandish: A Discourse of Nationalism", in Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 51, no. 1, 1998. 1-33. Also noted (28–29) is the increased interest by art historians in demonstrating the importance of Italian art on Early Netherlandish painters.
30. Howell Jolly, Penny. "Jan van Eyck's Italian Pilgrimage: A Miraculous Florentine Annunciation and the Ghent Altarpiece". Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte. Vol. 61, no. 3, 1998. 369-394
31. Campbell, 20
32. van den Brink, Peter; Lohse Belkin, Kristin; van Hout, Nico. ExtravagAnt!: A Forgotten Chapter of Antwerp Painting, 1500-1538 (catalogue). Antwerp: Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 2005. This was the language of Mannerism popularised by Walter Friedlaender in his book Mannerism and anti-mannerism in Italian painting, one of the first attempts to define Mannerism.
33. The Boisserée collection was bought in 1827, on the advice of Johann Georg von Dillis, to form part of the nucleus of the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
34. Ridderbos et al, viii
35. Herrmann, Frank. 1972. The English as Collectors: "Edward Solly", 204
36. John Steegman, 1950. Consort of Taste, excerpted in Frank Herrmann, The English as Collectors, 240; Queen Victoria donated the best of them to the National Gallery after the Prince Consort's death.
37. Bauman, 4
38. Kemperdick, 19
39. Dürer's father, a goldsmith, spent time as a journeyman in the Netherlands with, according to his son, "the great artists". Dürer himself traveled there between 1520-21 and visited Bruges, Ghent and Brussels amongst other places. See Borchert, 83
40. Rupprich, Hans (ed). "Dürer". Schriftlicher Nachlass, volume 3. Berlin, 1966. 9.
41. Smith, 95
42. Bauman, 5
43. Smith, 96
44. Kemperdick, 21, 92
45. Kemperdick, 21-23
46. ^ Smith, 144
47. "Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych". National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Retrieved 27 November, 2011.
48. Smith, 134
49. Borchert, 35-36

Sources

• Bauman, Guy. "Early Flemish Portraits 1425–1525". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 43, no. 4, Spring, 1986.
• Borchert, Till-Holger. Van Eych to Durer: The Influence of Early Netherlandish painting on European Art, 1430-1530. London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. ISBN 978-0-500-23883-7
• Campbell, Lorne. The Fifteenth-Century Netherlandish Paintings. London, National Gallery. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-300-07701-7
• Friedländer, Max J. Early Netherlandish Painting. Translated by Heinz Norden. Leiden: Praeger, 1967-76. AISN B0006BQGOW
• Jones, Susan Frances. Van Eyck to Gossaert. National Gallery, 2011. ISBN 978-1-85709-504-3
• Kemperdick, Stephan. The Early Portrait, from the Collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein and the Kunstmuseum Basel. Munich: Prestel, 2006. ISBN 3-7913-3598-7
• Panofsky, Erwin. Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art. New York: Harper & Row, 1969
• Panofsky, Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting. London: Harper Collins, 1971. ISBN 0-06-430002-1
• Ridderbos, Bernhard; Van Buren, Anne; Van Veen, Henk. Early Netherlandish Paintings: Rediscovery, Reception and Research. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-89236-816-0
• Smith, Jeffrey Chips. The Northern Renaissance (Art and Ideas). Phaidon Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7148-3867-5
• Spronk, Ron. "More than Meets the Eye: An Introduction to Technical Examination of Early Netherlandish Paintings at the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard University Art Museums Bulletin, Vol. 5, no. 1, Autumn 1996.

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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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 Gallery 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

External links

• Centre for the Study of Fifteenth-Century Painting in the Southern Netherlands and the Principality of Liège List of 1700 works by artist.
• Flemish artists in Italy - Early Netherlandish works painted for Italian patrons in the 15th century.
• Flemish Art Collection: Exotic Primitives - About exotic themes in the paintings of the Flemish Primitives

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• Medieval art
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• Flemish art
• Flemish painters
• Northern Renaissance
• Early Netherlandish painting