Flemish Primitives: Van Eyck, Van der Weyden & Bosch
The Flemish Primitives
The Brothers Van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, and Bosch
From the 13th century onwards, beautiful wool was produced in Flemish cities and sold throughout Europe. This attracted large commercial companies and a burgeoning bourgeoisie.
In the 15th century, some of these cities became home to a unique school of painting, bridging the gap between the late Gothic and the Renaissance. Although the historian Johan Huizinga argued that the painting of the Van Eyck brothers was not only an expression of the Renaissance but also a perfect reflection of the medieval spirit that still existed in the Netherlands, the Van Eycks’ work also reflects the realism demanded by the growing bourgeoisie based in Bruges, Ghent, and Leuven. The painters of this school are called Flemish Primitives because of their pioneering character.
Characteristics of Flemish Primitive Paintings:
- Small Size: The majority were small and painted to decorate the homes of the bourgeoisie, rather than churches or palaces.
- Diptychs and Triptychs: They were often panel paintings with hinged wings. The side panels served as doors to the central panel, and their outer surfaces were often painted in shades of gray (grisaille).
- Oil Painting Technique: They employed a revolutionary technique – oil painting. This gave a luminous quality to the warm and intense colors, allowing for the representation of minute details, the brilliance of objects, and the use of transparent layers (glazes).
- Realism: They linked Gothic sensitivity to the Renaissance, achieving great realism in their depictions, creating authentic and psychological portraits.
- Landscape: Landscape is always present in their paintings. Although they did not fully understand the rules of perspective, their representation of three dimensions was very accomplished. The use of oil paint allowed them to graduate light and color, creating depth. Even when a scene takes place indoors, the landscape is often present through a door or window.
- Religious Scenes as Bourgeois Scenes: Religious scenes often resemble bourgeois scenes, with interiors and characters reflecting the era.
Overall, these painters, although Renaissance, retained Gothic elements such as the stillness of the figures, the geometric folds of clothing, the emphasis on detail over the whole, and the use of symbolism.
The Van Eyck Brothers
The Van Eyck brothers are the most important figures of this school. The Ghent Altarpiece bears the inscription “Hubert van Eyck,” indicating that it was begun by Hubert and finished by his brother Jan. However, little is known about Hubert, and his personality remains an enigma.
Jan van Eyck initially worked in the service of the Count of Holland in Paris, creating a collection of miniatures. He also painted for the aristocracy and the church. As a dedicated artist, he entered the service of the Duke of Burgundy, who sent him on various confidential diplomatic missions. His most famous mission was to Portugal, where he painted a portrait of Princess Isabella. The painting was sent to Flanders so that her fiancé could see her likeness. Van Eyck also made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and visited the King of Castile in Valladolid and the Moorish king in Granada. He eventually settled in Bruges, where he completed his commissions and became one of the greatest artists of his time.
Among his most important works are:
- Ghent Altarpiece: Commissioned by a councilor and his wife, whose kneeling figures appear on the exterior panels. When the wings are opened, the top register depicts a magnificent image of God on the throne, flanked by the Virgin and John the Baptist, Adam and Eve, and two choirs of angels singing and playing music. The lower register shows a procession of kings, knights, bishops, and holy prophets moving towards the Lamb, a symbol of Christ and the Eucharistic sacrifice of his blood poured into a chalice. This grand ensemble displays two common features of Van Eyck’s later work: symbolic composition and meticulous detail in the rendering of fabrics, jewels, glass, metals, and flowers in the landscape.
- The Arnolfini Portrait: This interior scene resembles a constructivist painting, representing a marriage rite. Giovanni Arnolfini pledges fidelity to his wife in their bedroom. The two men reflected in the mirror in the background are witnesses to the wedding ceremony. The union is symbolized by the single six-branched candlestick hanging from the ceiling (the candle representing the godfather who holds the candle during the sacrament) and the statue of Saint Margaret, the patron saint of childbirth, on the bedpost. The dog symbolizes marital fidelity, and the woman’s protruding belly suggests fertility.
In the 16th century, the painting was brought to Spain. Velázquez was inspired by the mirror’s illusionistic solution when painting Las Meninas.
Van Eyck was a master portraitist. In the Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban, the subject’s inquisitive gaze engages the viewer, revealing a psychological depth and realism that anticipates the Renaissance.
In later works, Van Eyck created a type of religious portrait in which the client and divine beings engage in conversation in an unreal space, as seen in the Virgin of Chancellor Rolin.
Influence and Legacy
Jan van Eyck’s art was admired throughout Europe. King Alfonso V of Aragon sent his painter, Luis Dalmau, to Flanders to learn the new techniques and style, which Dalmau incorporated into his own work, such as the Virgin of the Consellers. In France, the Flemish style was adopted by the court painter Jean Fouquet, and in Portugal by Nuno Gonçalves. In Italy, Filippo Lippi admired Van Eyck’s invention of transparent glazes, which he used to achieve luminous effects in his Madonnas.
Van Eyck’s painting methods were documented in the 15th century. Rogier van der Weyden, the most prestigious master in Flanders during the mid-15th century, specialized in representing the Virgin’s grief at the foot of Calvary, as seen in The Descent from the Cross and Pietà. The iconography of the Descent from the Cross expresses Mary’s dismay at not being able to control her emotions. In the Pietà, Van der Weyden captures the desolation of a mother as she embraces the battered body of her son, who lies on her knees.
The brilliant Flemish school continued into the 16th century, well into the Renaissance, with painters like Hieronymus Bosch and Joachim Patinir.