Renaissance art. Dutch art of the 15th century. Painting.

Although a significant number of outstanding monuments of Dutch art of the 15th and 16th centuries have come down to us, it is necessary, when considering its development, to reckon with the fact that much perished both during the iconoclastic movement, which manifested itself in a number of places during the revolution of the 16th century, and later, in particular in connection with the little attention that was paid to them in later times, until the beginning of the 19th century.

The absence in most cases of artists' signatures in the paintings and the paucity of documentary data required considerable efforts of many researchers in order to restore the heritage of individual artists through a thorough stylistic analysis. The main written source is the "Book of Artists" (Russian translation of 1940) published in 1604 by the painter Karel van Mander (1548-1606). Compiled on the model of Vasari's "Biographies", the biographies of the Dutch artists of the 15th and 16th centuries by Mander contain extensive and valuable material, the special significance of which lies in information about the monuments directly familiar to the author.

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 revolution with the activities of the Van Eyck brothers - the founders of the Dutch school of painting. Van Eyck's work was largely prepared by the realistic achievements of the masters of the previous generation - the development of late Gothic sculpture and especially the activities of a whole galaxy of Flemish book miniature masters who worked in France. However, in the refined, refined art of these masters, in particular the Limburg brothers, the realism of details is combined with a conventional depiction of space and the human figure. Their work completes the development of the Gothic and belongs to another stage of historical development. The activities of these artists took place almost entirely in France, with the exception of Bruderlam. The art created on the territory of the Netherlands itself in the late 14th and early 15th centuries was of a secondary, provincial character. Following the defeat of France at Agincourt in 1415 and the move of Philip the Good from Dijon to Flanders, the emigration of artists ceased. The artists find numerous customers, in addition to the Burgundian court and the church, among the wealthy townspeople. Along with the creation of paintings, they paint statues and reliefs, paint banners, perform various decorative works, and decorate festivities. With a few exceptions (Jan van Eyck), artists, like artisans, were united in workshops. Their activity, limited to the city, contributed to the formation of local art schools, which, however, were less isolated due to short distances than in Italy.

Ghent altarpiece. The most famous and largest work of the brothers van Eyck "Adoration of the Lamb" (Ghent, Church of St. Bavo) belongs to the great masterpieces of world art. It is a large two-tiered winged altarpiece, consisting of 24 separate paintings, 4 of which are located on the fixed middle part, and the rest on the internal and external wings). The lower tier of the inner side makes up a single composition, although it is divided into 5 parts by the sash frames. In the center, in a meadow overgrown with flowers, a throne with a lamb rises on a hill, the blood from the wound of which flows into a bowl, symbolizing the atoning sacrifice of Christ; a little below the fountain of the “spring of living water” (ie, of the Christian faith) gushes. Crowds of people gathered to worship the lamb - on the right the kneeling apostles, behind them - the representatives of the church, on the left - the prophets, and in the background - the holy martyrs emerging from the groves. Hermits and pilgrims depicted on the right side panels, headed by the giant Christopher, also go here. On the left doors there are horsemen - defenders of the Christian faith, designated by the inscriptions as "Christ's soldiers" and "Righteous judges." The complex content of the main composition is drawn from the Apocalypse and other biblical and evangelical texts and is associated with the church holiday of all saints. Although individual elements date back to the medieval iconography of this theme, they are not only significantly complicated and expanded by the inclusion of images on the sash not provided for by tradition, but are also transformed by the artist into completely new, concrete and living images. Particularly noteworthy is the landscape in the midst of which the spectacle unfolds; numerous species of trees and shrubs, flowers, cracked rocks and a panorama of the distance in the background are reproduced with amazing accuracy. Before the keen gaze of the artist, for the first time, the delightful richness of the forms of nature was revealed, which he conveyed with reverent attention. The interest in the diversity of aspects is clearly expressed in the rich diversity of human faces. The miter of bishops decorated with stones, the rich harness of horses, and the shining armor are conveyed with amazing subtlety. In the "warriors" and "judges" the magnificent splendor of the Burgundian court and chivalry comes to life. A single composition of the lower tier is opposed by large figures of the upper tier placed in niches. Strict solemnity distinguishes three central figures - God the Father, the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. A sharp contrast to these stately images is represented by the naked figures of Adam and Eve, separated from them by images of singing and playing angels. For all the archaism of their appearance, the artists' understanding of the structure of the body is striking. These figures attracted the attention of artists in the 16th century, such as Dürer. Adam's angular shapes opposed to roundness female body... With close attention, the surface of the body, covering its hairs, is transferred. However, the movements of the figures are constrained, the poses are unstable.

Particularly noteworthy is a clear understanding of the changes resulting from a change in point of view (low for grandparents and high for other figures).

The monochromaticity of the outer doors is designed to set off the richness of colors and the conviviality of the open doors. The altar was opened only on holidays. In the lower tier, there are statues of John the Baptist (to whom the church was originally dedicated) and John the Evangelist, imitating stone sculpture, and the kneeling figures of donors Iodocus Faith and his wife, which stand out in relief in shaded niches. The appearance of such pictorial images was prepared by the development of portrait sculpture. The figures of the archangel and Mary in the scene of the Annunciation, unfolding in a single interior, although divided by the frames of the doors, are distinguished by the same statuary plasticity. Attention is drawn to the loving transfer of furnishings of burgher dwellings and the view of the city street opening through the window.

An inscription in verse on the altar says that it was started by Hubert van Eyck, "the greatest of all", completed by his brother "second in art" on behalf of Jodocus Feith and consecrated on May 6, 1432. The indication of the participation of two artists, naturally, led to numerous attempts to delimit the share of participation of each of them. However, this is extremely difficult to do, since the pictorial performance of the altar is uniform in all parts. The complexity of the task is aggravated by the fact that, while we have reliable biographical information about Jan, and most importantly, we have a number of his indisputable works, we know almost nothing about Hubert and do not have any of his documented work. Attempts to prove that the inscription is false and to declare Hubert a "legendary person" should be considered unsubstantiated. The most reasonable hypothesis seems to be that Jan used and modified parts of the altar begun by Hubert, namely, "Adoration of the Lamb," and the figures of the upper tier, which did not initially make up a single whole with it, with the exception of those entirely made by Jan Adam and Eve; The fact that the latter belongs entirely to the outer valves has never been controversial.

Hubert van Eyck. The authorship of Hubert (? -1426) in relation to other works attributed to him by a number of researchers remains controversial. Only one painting "Three Mary at the Tomb of Christ" (Rotterdam) can be left for him without much hesitation. The landscape and female figures in this painting are extremely close to the most archaic part of the Ghent Altarpiece (the lower half of the middle painting of the lower tier), and the peculiar perspective of the sarcophagus is similar to the perspective image of the fountain in Adoration of the Lamb. There is no doubt, however, that Jan also took part in the execution of the picture, to whom the rest of the figures should be attributed. The most expressive among them is the sleeping warrior. Hubert, in comparison with Jan, acts as an artist, whose work is still associated with the previous stage of development.

Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441). Jan van Eyck began his activity in The Hague, at the court of the Dutch counts, and from 1425 he was an artist and courtier of Philip the Good, on whose behalf he was sent as part of the embassy in 1426 to Portugal and in 1428 to Spain; from 1430 he settled in Bruges. The artist received special attention from the Duke, who in one of the documents called him "unparalleled in art and knowledge." His works speak vividly about the high culture of the artist.

Vasari, probably drawing on an earlier tradition, recounts the invention in detail by the "sophisticated in alchemy" Jan van Eyck oil painting... We know, however, that flaxseed and other drying oils were known as a binder already in the early Middle Ages (the treatises of Heraclius and Theophilus, 10th century) and were widely used, according to written sources, in the 14th century. Nevertheless, their use was limited to decorative works, where they were resorted to for the sake of greater durability of such paints in comparison with tempera, and not because of their optical properties. So, M. Bruderlam, whose Dijon altar was painted in tempera, used oil when painting banners. The paintings of van Eyck and the Dutch artists of the 15th century adjoining them differ markedly from the paintings made in the traditional tempera technique, with a special enamel-like sparkle of colors and depth of tones. The van Eyck technique was based on the consistent use of the optical properties of oil paints, applied in transparent layers to underpainting and highly reflective chalky soil that shines through them, on the introduction of resins dissolved in essential oils into the upper layers, as well as on the use of high quality pigments. The new technique, which arose in direct connection with the development of new realistic methods of depiction, has significantly expanded the possibilities of truthful pictorial transmission of visual impressions.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a number of miniatures stylistically close to the Ghent Altarpiece were discovered in a manuscript known as the "Turin-Milan Hours", 7 of which stand out for their exceptionally high quality. Especially remarkable in these miniatures is the landscape, rendered with a surprisingly subtle understanding of light and color relations. In the miniature "Prayer on the Seashore", which depicts a rider surrounded by his retinue on a white horse (almost identical with the horses of the left wings of the Ghent altar), offering thanks for a safe crossing, the stormy sea and cloudy sky are amazingly conveyed. No less striking in its freshness is the river landscape with the castle, illuminated by the evening sun ("St. Julian and Martha"). The interior of the burgher's room in the composition "The Nativity of John the Baptist" and the Gothic church in the "Funeral Mass" are conveyed with surprising convincingness. If the achievements of the artist-innovator in the field of landscape do not find parallels until the 17th century, then thin, light figures are still entirely associated with the old Gothic tradition. These miniatures date from about 1416-1417 and thus characterize the initial stage of the work of Jan van Eyck.

The close proximity to the last of the mentioned miniatures gives reason to consider one of the earliest paintings by Jan van Eyck "Madonna in the Church" (Berlin), in which the light streaming from the upper windows is surprisingly conveyed. In a miniature triptych written a little later, depicting the Madonna in the center, St. Michael with the customer and St. Catherine on the inner doors (Dresden), the impression of the church nave going deep into the space reaches almost a complete illusion. The desire to give the image a tangible character of a real object is especially pronounced in the figures of the archangel and Mary on the outer doors, imitating figurines made of carved bone. All the details in the picture are painted with such care that they resemble jewelry. This impression is further enhanced by the sparkling colors shimmering like precious stones.

The light grace of the Dresden triptych is opposed by the heavy splendor of the Madonna of Canon van der Pale. (1436, Bruges), with large figures pushed into the cramped space of a low Romanesque apse. The eye does not get tired of admiring the amazingly painted blue and gold bishop's robe of St. Donatian, precious armor and especially the chain mail of St. Michael, a magnificent oriental carpet. As attentively as the smallest links of chain mail, the artist conveys the folds and wrinkles of the flabby and tired face of an intelligent and good-natured old customer - Canon van der Pale.

One of the features of van Eyck's art is that this detail does not obscure the whole.

In another masterpiece, created a little earlier, "Madonna of Chancellor Rolen" (Paris, Louvre), special importance is attached to the landscape, the view of which opens from a high loggia. The city on the banks of the river opens up to us in all the diversity of its architecture, with figures of people in the streets and squares, as if seen through a telescope. This clarity changes noticeably with distance, the colors fade - the artist has an understanding of aerial perspective. With his characteristic objectivity, the facial features and attentive gaze of Chancellor Rolen, a cold, calculating and selfish statesman who led the policy of the Burgundian state, are conveyed.

A special place among the works of Jan van Eyck belongs to the tiny painting “St. Barbara "(1437, Antwerp), or rather a drawing made with the finest brush on a primed board. The saint is depicted sitting at the foot of the cathedral tower under construction. According to legend, St. Barbara was imprisoned in a tower, which became her attribute. Van Eyck, preserving the symbolic meaning of the tower, gave it a real character, making it the main element of the architectural landscape. There are many similar examples of the interweaving of the symbolic and the real, so characteristic of the period of transition from theological-scholastic worldview to realistic thinking, in the work of not only Jan van Eyck, but also other artists of the beginning of the century; numerous details-images on the capitals of the columns, furniture ornaments, various household items in many cases have a symbolic meaning (for example, in the scene of the Annunciation, the washstand and the towel serve as a symbol of Mary's virgin purity).

Jan van Eyck was one of the great masters of portraiture. Not only his predecessors, but also Italians of his day adhered to the unchanged scheme of the profile image. Jan van Eyck turns his face to ¾ and illuminates it strongly; in face modeling, he uses less light and shade than tonal relationships. One of his most remarkable portraits depicts a young man with an ugly, but attractive face, modesty and spirituality, in red clothes and a green headdress. The Greek name "Timothy" (probably referring to the name of the famous Greek musician), marked on the stone balustrade with the signature and date 1432, serves as an epithet to the name of the depicted, apparently, one of the major musicians who were in the service of the Burgundian duke.

The finest pictorial performance and acute expressiveness stands out for "Portrait of an Unknown Man in a Red Turban" (1433, London). For the first time in the history of world art, the gaze of the depicted is fixedly fixed on the viewer, as if entering into direct communication with him. The assumption that this is a self-portrait of the artist is very plausible.

For the "Portrait of Cardinal Albergati" (Vienna) there is a remarkable preparatory drawing in silver pencil (Dresden), with notes on color, apparently made in 1431 during a short stay of this prominent diplomat in Bruges. The pictorial portrait, apparently painted much later, in the absence of a model, is distinguished by a less sharp characterization, but a more emphasized character's significance.

The last portrait work of the artist is the only female portrait in his heritage - "Portrait of a Wife" (1439, Bruges).

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" (1434, London. Arnolfini is a prominent representative of the Italian trading colony in Bruges). The depicted are presented in an intimate setting of a cozy burgher's interior, however, the strict symmetry of the composition and gestures (raised up, as in an oath, the man's hand and the couple's joined hands) give the scene an emphatically solemn character. The artist pushes the frames of a purely portrait image, turning it into a wedding scene, into a kind of apotheosis of marital fidelity, the symbol of which is the dog depicted at the couple's feet. We will not find such a double portrait in the interior in European art until Holbein's "Messengers" painted a century later.

Jan van Eyck's art laid the foundations on which Dutch art developed in the future. For the first time a new attitude to reality found its vivid expression in it. It was the most advanced phenomenon in the artistic life of its time.

Flemish master. The foundations of the new realistic art were laid, however, not only by Jan van Eyck. At the same time, the so-called Flemal master worked with him, whose work not only developed independently of the art of van Eyck, but, apparently, had a certain influence on the early work of Jan van Eyck. Most researchers identify this artist (named after three paintings of the Frankfurt Museum, originating from the village of Flemal near Liege, to which a number of other anonymous works are attached on stylistic grounds) with the master Robert Campin (c. 1378-1444) mentioned in several documents of the city of Tournai.

In the early work of the artist - "Nativity" (c. 1420-1425, Dijon), close ties with the miniatures of Jacquemard from Esden (in composition, general nature of the landscape, light, silvery coloring) are clearly revealed. Archaic features - ribbons with inscriptions in the hands of angels and women, a kind of "oblique" perspective of the canopy, characteristic of the art of the 14th century, are combined here with fresh observations (bright folk types of shepherds).

In the triptych "Annunciation" (New York), a traditional religious theme unfolds in a detailed and lovingly characterized burgher interior. On the right wing is the adjacent room, where the old carpenter Joseph makes mousetraps; a view of the city square opens through the lattice window. On the left, at the door leading into the room, kneeling figures of the customers - the Ingelbrechts spouses. The cramped space is almost entirely filled with figures and objects depicted in a sharp perspective reduction, as if from a very high and close point of view. This gives the composition a flat-decorative character, despite the volume of figures and objects.

Familiarity with this work of the Flemalian master influenced Jan van Eyck when he created the "Annunciation" of the Ghent Altarpiece. The comparison of these two paintings clearly characterizes the features of the earlier and subsequent stages of the formation of the new realistic art. In the work of Jan van Eyck, who is closely associated with the Burgundian court, such a purely burgher interpretation of the religious plot does not receive further development; at the Flemish master, we meet her repeatedly. "Madonna by the Fireplace" (c. 1435, St. Petersburg, Hermitage) is perceived as a purely everyday painting; a caring mother warms her hand by the fireplace before touching a naked baby calf. Like "Annunciation", the picture is illuminated by an even, strong light and is sustained in a cold color.

Our ideas about the work of this master would be, however, far from complete, if fragments of two of his large works did not come down to us. From the triptych "Descent from the Cross" (its composition is known from an old copy in Liverpool), the upper part of the right wing with the figure of a robber tied to a cross with two Romans (Frankfurt) has been preserved. In this monumental image, the artist has retained the traditional gold background. The naked body that stands out on it is rendered in a manner sharply different from that in which the Adam of the Ghent Altarpiece was painted. The figures of "Madonna" and "St. Veronica ”(Frankfurt) - fragments of another large altar. The plastic transfer of forms, as if emphasizing their materiality, is combined here with the subtle expressiveness of faces and gestures.

The only dated work of the artist is a sash, depicting on the left Heinrich Wehrl, a professor at the University of Cologne and John the Baptist, and on the right - St. Barbara, sitting on a bench by the fireplace and immersed in reading (1438, Madrid), belongs to the late period of his work. St. Barbarians are very similar in a number of details to the artist's interiors already familiar to us, and at the same time differs from them in a much more convincing rendering of space. The round mirror with the figures reflected in it on the left wing is borrowed from Jan van Eyck. More clearly, however, both in this work and in the Frankfurt shutters, there are traits of closeness to another great master of the Dutch school, Roger van der Weyden, who was a student of Kampen. This closeness has led some researchers who object to the identification of the Flemalian master with Cam-pen to assert that the works attributed to him are in fact works of the early Roger period. This point of view, however, does not seem convincing, and the emphasized features of intimacy are quite explainable by the influence of a particularly gifted student on his teacher.

Roger van der Weyden. This is the largest, after Jan van Eyck, painter of the Dutch school (1399-1464). Archival documents contain indications of his stay in the years 1427-1432 in the workshop of R. Kampen in Tournai. From 1435 Roger worked in Brussels, where he held the position of urban painter.

His most famous work, created in his youth, is Descent from the Cross (c. 1435, Madrid). The ten figures are set against a gold background, in a narrow foreground space, like a polychrome relief. Despite the complex design, the composition is extremely clear; all the figures that make up the three groups are combined into one indissoluble whole; the unity of these groups is built on the rhythmic repetition and balance of individual parts. The curvature of Mary's body follows the curvature of the body of Christ; the same strict parallelism distinguishes the figures of Nicodemus and the woman supporting Mary, as well as the figures of John and Mary Magdalene closing on both sides of the composition. These formal moments serve the main task - the most vivid disclosure of the main dramatic moment and, above all, its emotional content.

Mander says of Roger that he enriched the art of the Netherlands with the transmission of movement and "especially feelings such as grief, anger or joy, in accordance with the plot." Making individual participants in a dramatic event bearers of various shades of feelings of sorrow, the artist refrains from individualizing images, just as he refuses to transfer the scene to a real concrete setting. The search for expressiveness prevails in his work over objective observation.

Acting as an artist, sharply different in his creative aspirations from Jan van Eyck, Roger experienced, however, the direct impact of the latter. This is eloquently indicated by some of the master's early paintings, in particular "The Annunciation" (Paris, Louvre) and "The Evangelist Luke, Painting the Madonna" (Boston; repetitions - St. Petersburg, the Hermitage and Munich). In the second of these paintings, the composition repeats, with minor changes, the composition of Jan van Eyck's Madonna of Chancellor Rolen. The Christian legend that emerged in the 4th century regarded Luka as the first icon painter to capture the face of the Mother of God (a number of "miraculous" icons were attributed to him); in the 13-14 centuries he was recognized as the patron saint of the workshops of painters that arose at that time in a number of Western European countries. In accordance with the realistic orientation of Dutch art, Roger van der Weyden portrayed the evangelist in the form of an artist of his day, making a portrait sketch from life. However, in the interpretation of the figures, the characteristic features of this master are clearly visible - the kneeling painter is filled with reverence, the folds of his clothes are distinguished by Gothic ornamentation. Painted as an altarpiece of the painters' chapel, the painting was very popular, as evidenced by the presence of several repetitions.

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 -" The birth of John the Baptist "on the right -" Execution of John the Baptist ", Berlin). Each of the three doors is framed by a Gothic portal, which is a pictorial reproduction of a sculptural frame. This frame is organically linked to the architectural space depicted here. The sculptures placed on the portal complement the main scenes that unfold against the background of the landscape and in the interior. While in the transfer of space Roger develops the conquests of Jan van Eyck, in the interpretation of the figures with their graceful, elongated proportions, complex turns and curves, he adjoins the traditions of late Gothic sculpture.

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. He contrasted van Eyck's realism with its almost pantheistic deification of the universe with art, capable of embodying the canonical images of the Christian religion in clear, strict and generalized forms. The most indicative in this regard is "The Last Judgment" - a polyptych (or, rather, a triptych, in which the fixed central part has three, and the sash, in turn, has two subdivisions), written in 1443-1454 by order of Chancellor Rolen for the hospital he founded in the city of Bon (located in the same place). This is the largest in scale (the height of the central part is about 3 m, the total width is 5.52 m) by the artist. The composition, unified for the entire triptych, consists of two tiers - the “heavenly” sphere, where the hieratic figure of Christ and the rows of the apostles and saints are placed on a gold background, and the “earthly” one with the resurrection of the dead. In the compositional construction of the picture, in the flatness of the interpretation of figures, there is still a lot of medievalism. However, the varied movements of the nude figures of the resurrected are conveyed with such clarity and persuasion that they speak of a careful study of nature.

In 1450 Roger van der Weyden made a trip to Rome and was in Florence. There, commissioned by the Medici, he created two paintings: "The Entombment" (Uffizi) and "Madonna with St. Peter, John the Baptist, Cosmas and Damian ”(Frankfurt). In iconography and composition, they bear traces of familiarity with the works of Fra Angelico and Domenico Veneziano. However, this acquaintance in no way affected the general character of the artist's work.

In the triptych with half-figured images created immediately after returning from Italy, in the central part - Christ, Mary and John, and on the doors - Magdalene and John the Baptist (Paris, Louvre), there are no traces of Italian influence. The composition is archaic and symmetrical; the central part, built according to the Deesis type, is distinguished by almost iconic rigor. The landscape is interpreted only as a background for the figures. This work of the artist differs from earlier ones in the intensity of color and subtlety of colorful combinations.

New features in the artist's work are clearly seen in the "Bladelin Altar" (Berlin, Dahlem) - a triptych with an image in the central part of "Nativity", commissioned by P. Bladelin, head of the Burgundian state finance, for the church of the city of Middelburg he founded. Unlike the relief construction of the composition characteristic of the early period, here the action unfolds in space. The Christmas scene is imbued with a gentle, lyrical mood.

The most significant work of the later period is the triptych "Adoration of the Magi" (Munich), depicting the "Annunciation" and "Meeting" on the doors. Here, the development of the trends outlined in the Bladelin altar continues. The action unfolds in the depths of the picture, but the composition is parallel to the plane of the picture; symmetry is in harmony with asymmetry. The movements of the figures have gained greater freedom - in this respect, the graceful figure of an elegant young sorcerer with the features of Karl the Bold in the left corner and an angel slightly touching the floor in the Annunciation are particularly attractive. In the clothes, the materiality characteristic of Jan van Eyck is completely absent - they only emphasize form and movement. However, like Eyck, Roger carefully reproduces the setting in which the action unfolds and fills the interiors with chiaroscuro, abandoning the harsh and uniform illumination characteristic of his early period.

Roger van der Weyden was an outstanding portrait painter. His portraits differ from those of Eyck. He singles out especially outstanding physiognomic and psychological features, emphasizing and strengthening them. To do this, he uses a drawing. With the help of lines, he outlines the shape of the nose, chin, lips, etc., giving little space to modeling. A 3/4 chest image stands out against a color - blue, greenish or almost white background. With all the differences in the individual characteristics of the models, Roger's portraits have some common features. This is largely due to the fact that almost all of them depict representatives of the highest Burgundian nobility, on the appearance and manner of which the environment, traditions and upbringing left a vivid imprint. These are, in particular, "Karl the Bold" (Berlin, Dahlem), the warlike "Anton of Burgundy" (Brussels), "Unknown" (Lugano, Thyssen collection), "Francesco d" Este "(New York)," Portrait of a Young Woman "(Washington). Several such portraits, in particular" Laurent Frouamon "(Brussels)," Philippe de Croix "(Antwerp), in which the depicted person is represented with folded hands in prayer, constituted the initially right wing of the diptychs that were subsequently scattered, on the left wing of which there was usually a biblical depiction of the Madonna and Child, a special place belongs to "Portrait of an Unknown" (Berlin, Dahlem) - a pretty woman looking at the viewer, painted around 1435, in which the dependence on portraits by Jan van Eyck is clearly manifested.

Roger van der Weyden was extremely influential in the development of Dutch art in the second half of the 15th century. The artist's work, with his tendency to create typical images and develop complete ones, differing in a strict logic of constructing compositions to a much greater extent than the work of Jan van Eyck, could serve as a source of borrowings. It promoted further creative development and at the same time partially delayed it, contributing to the development of repetitive types and compositional schemes.

Petrus Christus. Unlike Roger, who headed a large workshop in Brussels, Jan van Eyck had only one direct follower in the person of Petrus Christus (c. 1410-1472 / 3). Although this artist did not become the burgher of the city of Bruges in 1444, he undoubtedly worked closely with Eyck before that time. His works such as "Madonna with St. Barbara and Elizabeth and the commissioned monk ”(Rothschild collection, Paris) and“ Jerome in a Cell ”(Detroit), perhaps, as some researchers believe, were started by Jan van Eyck and finished by Christus. His most interesting work is “St. Eligius ”(1449, collection of F. Lehman, New York), apparently written for the workshop of jewelers, whose patron was considered this saint. This small painting depicting a young couple choosing rings in a jeweler's shop (the halo around his head is almost invisible) is one of the first everyday paintings in Dutch painting. The significance of this work is further enhanced by the fact that none of the paintings on the everyday plots of Jan van Eyck, which are mentioned in literary sources, have reached us.

Of considerable interest are his portraits, in which a half-figured image is placed in a real architectural space. Particularly noteworthy in this respect is the Portrait of Sir Edward Grimston (1446, collection of Verulam, England).

Dirik Boates. The problem of transferring space, in particular the landscape, occupies a particularly large place in the work of another, much larger artist of the same generation - Dirik Bouts (c. 1410 / 20-1475). A native of Harlem, he settled in Louvain at the end of the forties, where he continued his artistic career. We do not know who his teacher was; the earliest extant paintings are heavily influenced by Roger van der Weyden.

His most famous work is "The Altar of the Sacrament of Communion", written in 1464-1467 for one of the chapels of the Church of St. Peter in Louvain (located there). This is a polyptych, the central part of which depicts the "Last Supper", on the sides on the side panels there are four biblical scenes, the subjects of which were interpreted as prototypes of the sacrament of communion. According to the contract that has come down to us, the theme of this work was developed by two professors at the University of Louvain. The iconography of The Last Supper differs from the interpretation of this theme widespread in the 15-16 centuries. Instead of a dramatic story about Christ's prediction of the betrayal of Judas, the institution of the church sacrament is depicted. The composition with its strict symmetry emphasizes the central moment and emphasizes the solemnity of the scene. The depth of the space of the Gothic hall is conveyed with full convincingness; not only perspective but also thoughtful rendering of lighting serves this purpose. None of the Dutch masters of the 15th century succeeded in achieving that organic connection between figures and space, as Boats in this wonderful painting. Three of the four scenes on the side panels unfold in the landscape. Despite the relatively large scale of the figures, the landscape is not just a background, but the main element of the composition. In an effort to achieve greater unity, Boates abandons the richness of detail in Eik's landscapes. In "Elijah in the Desert" and "Collecting Heavenly Manna", through a winding road and the curtain location of hills and rocks, he for the first time manages to connect the traditional three planes - front, middle and back. The great thing about these landscapes, however, is the lighting effects and coloration. In Gathering Manna, the rising sun illuminates the foreground, leaving the middle in shadow. In "Ilya in the Desert" the cold clarity of a transparent summer morning is conveyed.

Even more amazing in this respect are the charming landscapes of the doors of a small triptych, which depicts "The Adoration of the Magi" (Munich). This is one of the most recent works of the master. The artist's attention in these small paintings is entirely given to the transfer of the landscape, and the figures of John the Baptist and St. Christopher's are of secondary importance. In particular, attention is drawn to the transfer of soft evening lighting with sun rays reflecting from the water surface, slightly shaded by ripples, in the landscape with St. Christopher.

Boates is alien to Jan van Eyck's strict objectivity; his landscapes are imbued with a mood consonant with the plot. A penchant for elegy and lyricism, the absence of drama, the well-known static and stiffness of poses are the characteristic features of an artist so different in this respect from Roger van der Weyden. They are especially vivid in such works of his, the plot of which is full of drama. In The Torment of St. Erasmus ”(Louvain, Church of St. Peter), the saint endures painful suffering with stoic courage. The group of people present is also full of calmness.

In 1468, Boates, appointed city artist, was commissioned to decorate five paintings for the magnificent town hall, which had just been completed. Two large compositions have survived, depicting legendary episodes from the history of Emperor Otto III (Brussels). One depicts the execution of a count, slandered by the empress, who did not achieve his love; on the second - the trial by fire before the court of the emperor of the widow of the count, proving the innocence of her husband, and in the background the execution of the empress. Such "scenes of justice" were placed in the halls where the city court sat. Of a similar nature, paintings with scenes from Trajan's history were performed by Roger van der Weyden for the Brussels City Hall (they have not survived).

The second of Boates' "scenes of justice" (the first was performed with significant student participation) is one of the masterpieces in the skill with which the composition is solved, and the beauty of the color. Despite the extreme stinginess of gestures and immobility of postures, the tension of feelings is conveyed with great conviction. Excellent portraits of the retinue attract attention. One of these portraits has come down to us, undoubtedly by the artist; this "Portrait of a Man" (1462, London) can be called the first intimate portrait in the history of European painting. A tired, anxious and full of kindness face is subtly characterized; the window overlooks the countryside.

Hugo van der Goes. In the middle and second half of the century, a significant number of students and followers of Weyden and Boats work in the Netherlands, whose work is of an epigone character. Against this background, the powerful figure of Hugo van der Goes (c. 1435-1482) stands out. The name of this artist can be put alongside Jan van Eyck and Roger van der Weyden. Admitted in 1467 to the painters' workshop of the city of Ghent, he soon achieved great fame, taking the closest, and in some cases leading, participation in large decorative works on the festive decoration of Bruges and Ghent on the occasion of the reception of Charles the Bold. Among his early easel paintings of small size, the most significant diptych "The Fall" and "Lamentation of Christ" (Vienna). The figures of Adam and Eve, depicted in the midst of a splendid southern landscape, with the elaboration of plastic form, resemble the figures of the ancestors of the Ghent altar. Lamentation, akin to Roger van der Weyden in its pathos, is distinguished by a bold, original composition. Apparently, a little later, an altar triptych depicting "Adoration of the Magi" was written (St. Petersburg, Hermitage).

In the early seventies, the Medici representative in Bruges, Tommaso Portinari, commissioned Gus a triptych depicting Christmas. This triptych has been housed in one of the chapels of the Church of Sita Maria Novella in Florence for nearly four centuries. The triptych "Altar of Portinari" (Florence, Uffizi) is a masterpiece of the artist and one of the most important monuments of Dutch painting.

The artist was given an unusual task for Dutch painting - to create a large, monumental work with large-scale figures (the size of the middle part is 3 × 2.5 m). Retaining the basic elements of the iconographic tradition, Gus created a completely new composition, significantly deepening the space of the painting and arranging the figures along the diagonals crossing it. By increasing the scale of the figures to the size of nature, the artist endowed them with powerful, heavy forms. Shepherds burst into the solemn silence from the depths on the right. Their simple, rude faces are illuminated with naive joy and faith. These people of the people, depicted with amazing realism, are of equal importance to other figures. Mary and Joseph are also endowed with the traits of common people. This work expresses a new idea of \u200b\u200ba person, a new understanding of human dignity. Gus is also an innovator in the transmission of lighting and color. The sequence with which the lighting and, in particular, the shadows from the figures are conveyed, speaks of a careful observation of nature. The painting is designed in cold, saturated colors. The side panels, which are darker than the middle part, successfully complete the central composition. The portraits of members of the Portinari family placed on them, behind which the figures of saints rise, are distinguished by great vitality and spirituality. The landscape of the left wing is remarkable, conveying the cold atmosphere of an early winter morning.

Probably, the "Adoration of the Magi" (Berlin, Dahlem) was performed a little earlier. As in the Portinari altar, the architecture is cut off by the frame, which achieves a more correct relationship between it and the figures and strengthens the monumental character of the solemn and magnificent spectacle. The Adoration of the Shepherds (Berlin, Dahlem), written later than the Portinari altar, has a significantly different character. The elongated composition is closed on both sides by the half-figures of the prophets, pushing the curtain behind which the scene of worship unfolds. The impetuous run of the shepherds rushing in from the left, with their excited faces and the prophets seized with emotional excitement, give the picture a restless, tense character. It is known that in 1475 the artist entered a monastery, where he, however, was in a special position, maintaining close communication with the world and continuing to paint. The author of the monastic chronicle tells about the difficult state of mind of the artist, dissatisfied with his work, who tried to commit suicide in fits of melancholy. In this story, a new type of artist appears before us, sharply different from the medieval guild craftsman. Hus's depressed spiritual state was reflected in the painting Death of Mary (Bruges), imbued with an alarming mood, in which the feelings of grief, despair and confusion that gripped the apostles were conveyed with great force.

Memling. By the end of the century, there is a weakening of creative activity, the pace of development slows down, innovation gives way to epigony and conservatism. These features are clearly expressed in the work of one of the most significant artists of this time - Hans Memling (c. 1433-1494). A native of a small German town on the Main, he worked in the late fifties in the workshop of Roger van der Weyden, and after the death of the latter settled in Bruges, where he headed the local school of painting. Memling borrows a lot from Roger van der Weyden, repeatedly using his compositions, but these borrowings are external. The dramatization and pathos of the teacher are far from him. You can find features borrowed from Jan van Eyck (detailed transfer of ornaments of oriental carpets, brocade fabrics). But the foundations of Eik's realism are alien to him. Without enriching art with new observations, Memling nevertheless introduces new qualities into Dutch painting. In his works, we will find a refined grace of poses and movements, attractive cuteness of faces, tenderness of feelings, clarity, orderliness and elegant decorativeness of the composition. These features are especially clearly expressed in the triptych "The Betrothal of St. Catherine ”(1479, Bruges, St. John's Hospital). The composition of the central part is distinguished by strict symmetry, enlivened by a variety of poses. On the sides of the Madonna are the figures of St. Catherine and Barbara and two apostles; the throne of the Madonna is flanked by figures of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist standing against the background of the columns. Graceful, almost incorporeal silhouettes enhance the decorative expressiveness of the triptych. This type of composition, repeating with some changes the composition of an earlier work of the artist - a triptych with the Madonna, saints and customers (1468, England, collection of the Duke of Devonshire), will be repeated and varied by the artist many times. In some cases, the artist introduced into the decorative ensemble certain elements borrowed from Italian art, for example, naked putti holding garlands, but the influence of Italian art did not extend to the depiction of the human figure.

The adoration of the Magi (1479, Bruges, St. John's Hospital), which goes back to a similar composition by Roger van der Weyden, but was simplified and schematized, is also distinguished by its frontality and static character. The composition of the Last Judgment by Roger in Memling's triptych The Last Judgment (1473, Gdansk), commissioned by the Medici representative in Bruges, Angelo Tani (excellent portraits of him and his wife are placed on the doors), is further reworked. The individuality of the artist manifested itself in this work especially clearly in the poetic depiction of paradise. The graceful nude figures are performed with undoubted virtuosity. The miniature thoroughness of execution, characteristic of The Last Judgment, is even more evident in two paintings, which are a cycle of scenes from the life of Christ (The Passion of Christ, Turin; The Seven Joys of Mary, Munich). The talent of the miniaturist is also found in the picturesque panels and medallions that adorn the small Gothic Casket of St. Ursula ”(Bruges, St. John's Hospital). This is one of the most popular and renowned works of the artist. Much more significant, however, artistically, is the monumental triptych "Saints Christopher, Moor and Gilles" (Bruges, City Museum). The images of the saints in it are distinguished by inspired concentration and noble restraint.

His portraits are especially valuable in the artist's legacy. "Portrait of Martin van Nivenhove" (1481, Bruges, Hospital of St. John) is the only remaining intact portrait diptych of the 15th century. The Madonna and Child depicted on the left panel is a further development of the type of portrait in the interior. Memling introduces yet another innovation in the composition of the portrait, placing the bust image in the frame of the columns of the open loggia through which the landscape is visible ("Paired portraits of the burgomaster Morel and his wife" Brussels), then directly against the background of the landscape ("Portrait of a Praying Man", The Hague; "Portrait of an Unknown Medalist", Antwerp). Memling's portraits undoubtedly conveyed an external resemblance, but with all the difference in characteristics, we will find in them a lot in common. All people depicted by him are distinguished by restraint, nobility, spiritual gentleness and often piety.

G. David. The last great painter of the 15th century South Netherlandish school of painting was Gerard David (c. 1460-1523). A native of the Northern Netherlands, he settled in Bruges in 1483, and after the death of Memling became the central figure of the local art school... The work of G. David in a number of respects sharply differs from the work of Memling. He contrasted the light grace of the latter with heavy pomp and festive solemnity; his overweight stocky figure has a pronounced volumetricness. In his creative quest, David relied on the artistic heritage of Jan van Eyck. It should be noted that at this time, interest in the art of the beginning of the century becomes a fairly characteristic phenomenon. The art of Van Eyck's time acquires the meaning of a kind of "classical heritage", which, in particular, finds expression in the appearance of a significant number of copies and imitations.

The artist's masterpiece is a large triptych "The Baptism of Christ" (c. 1500, Bruges, City Museum), which is distinguished by a calmly majestic and solemn system. The first thing that catches your eye here is an angel in the foreground, in a beautifully painted brocade robe, made in the tradition of the art of Jan van Eyck. The landscape is especially remarkable, in which the transitions from one plane to another are given by the subtlest shades. Attention is drawn to the convincing rendering of evening lighting and the masterful image of clear water.

The composition "Madonna among the holy virgins" (1509, Rouen), which is distinguished by strict symmetry in the arrangement of figures and a thoughtful color scheme, is of great importance for the characteristics of the artist.

Permeated with a strict ecclesiastical spirit, G. David's work as a whole, like Memling's, was of a conservative nature; it reflected the ideology of the patrician circles of the declining Bruges.

As in other states of Western Europe, the emergence of a Renaissance attitude in the Netherlands, which until 1447 was ruled by Burgundy and then by the Habsburgs, is associated with the development of production and trade, as well as with the growth of cities and the formation of a burghers. At the same time, feudal traditions were still strong in the country, so new things in Dutch art were introduced much more slowly than in Italian.

In the Dutch painting of the Northern Renaissance, features of the Gothic style existed for a long time. Religion played a much larger role in the life of the Dutch than the Italians. The man in the works of the Dutch masters did not become the center of the universe, as was the case with the artists of the Italian Renaissance. During almost the entire XV century. people in the painting of the Netherlands were portrayed in the Gothic manner as light and ethereal. The characters of Dutch paintings are always dressed, they lack sensuality, but there is nothing majestic and heroic. If the Italian masters of the Renaissance painted monumental fresco paintings, the Dutch viewer preferred to admire small easel paintings. The authors of these works very carefully worked on every, even the smallest, detail of their canvases, which made these works interesting and very attractive to the audience.

In the XV century. in the Netherlands, the art of miniature continued to develop, but already in the early 1420s. the first paintings appear, the authors of which were Jan van Eyck and his early deceased brother Hubert van Eyck, who became the founders of the Dutch art school.

Jan van Eyck

It was not possible to establish the exact time of birth of Jan van Eyck, one of the most prominent representatives of the Dutch school of Renaissance painting. There are only suggestions that van Eyck was born between 1390 and 1400. In the period from 1422 to 1428 the young painter fulfills the order of the Count of Holland John of Bavaria: he paints the walls of the castle in The Hague.

From 1427 to 1429 van Eyck traveled around the Iberian Peninsula. In 1428, after the death of John of Bavaria, the artist entered the service of the Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good. The latter was able to appreciate not only the gift of the master painter, but also to reveal his diplomatic talent. Van Eyck soon finds himself in Spain. The purpose of his visit was a commission given by the Duke of Burgundy to arrange a wedding and paint a portrait of the bride. The artist, who at the same time fulfills the role of a diplomat, brilliantly coped with the duties assigned to him and fulfilled the assignment. After some time, the portrait of the bride was ready. Unfortunately, this work of the famous painter has not survived.

From 1428 to 1429, van Eyck was in Portugal.

The most significant work of van Eyck was the painting of the altar of the Church of St. Bavo in Bruges, executed in collaboration with Brother Hubert. Her customer was a rich man from Ghent, Jodokus Veidt. Later called Ghent, the altar, painted by the famous master, has a difficult fate. During religious wars, in the 16th century, in order to save it from destruction, it was taken apart and hidden. Some fragments were even taken out from the Netherlands to other countries of the world. And only in the 20th century they returned to their homeland, where they were collected. The altar was again adorned with the Church of St. Bavo. However, not all parts of the work were preserved. Thus, one of the fragments of the original stolen in 1934 was replaced with a good copy.

The general composition of the Ghent Altarpiece is made up of 25 paintings, the heroes of which are more than 250 characters. On the outer side of the altar doors, in the lower part of it, there are images of the customer, Jodocus Veidt and his wife, Isabella Borlut. The figures of John the Baptist and John the Theologian are also located here. In the middle row, a scene unfolds on a well-known biblical story: the archangel Gabriel brings the holy virgin Mary the good news of the imminent birth of Christ. The composition is distinguished by the unity of the colors used by the author: all paintings are designed in pastel grayish tones.

A distinctive feature of this painting is that the artist surrounds biblical characters with everyday realities. So, from the window of Mary's chambers one can see a city that is completely unlike Bethlehem. This is Ghent, on one of the streets of which the contemporaries of the master painter could easily recognize the house of the rich man Veidt. Household items that surround Mary are not only filled with symbolic meaning here (a washbasin and a towel appear here as symbols of Mary's purity, three sashes of the window are a symbol of the eternal Trinity), but are also designed to bring what is happening closer to reality.

During religious holidays, the doors of the altar are opened, and the viewer is presented with an amazing picture that tells about the structure of the world as understood by a person of the 15th century. So, in the uppermost tier there are images of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, depicted in papal robes embroidered with gold, at his feet lies a crown - a symbol of Jesus Christ, in the center of the row is a dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. The faces of the Mother of God and John the Baptist are turned to them. Songs of praise to the Trinity are sung by angels. In van Eyck they were brought out by young men dressed in richly decorated vestments. This row is closed by the figures of the ancestors of the human race - Adam and Eve.

In the top row of the picture, there is a wide green meadow, along which saints, prophets, apostles, soldiers, hermits and pilgrims march to the sacrificial Lamb. Some characters represent real people. Among them you can find the artist himself, as well as his brother Hubert and the Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good. The landscape is also interesting here. All trees and small plants were painted by the master with extraordinary precision. One gets the feeling that the artist has decided to show off his knowledge of botany to the viewer.

The background of the composition depicts the heavenly city of Jerusalem, symbolizing Christianity. However, here it is more important for the master to convey the similarity of the architectural structures of the fabulous city with the real buildings that existed in the time of van Eyck.

The general theme of the composition sounds like a glorification of the harmony of the human world order. Scientists suggest that a possible literary source of this work of the famous artist was either "The Revelation of John Chrysostom" or "The Golden Legend" by Jacopo da Varajin.

Whatever the theme of van Eyck's works, the main thing for the artist is to display the real world as accurately and objectively as possible, as if transferring it to the canvas, while conveying all its features. It was this principle that turned out to be leading in the formation of a new technique of artistic depiction. It manifested itself especially clearly in the artist's portrait works.

In 1431, the papal legate, Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, arrived in Burgundy for a visit. At the same time, Jan van Eyck made a sketch of a portrait of the cardinal. In the course of work, corrections and additions were made to the drawing. It should be noted that the master here was more concerned not with the display of a person's inner experiences, but with the possible more accurate transmission of his appearance, individual characteristics and lines of the face, figure, posture and facial expressions.

In the portrait of Cardinal Albergati, painted later in oil paints, the emphasis in the image shifts from detailing a person's appearance to reflecting his inner world. Now dominant for the disclosure of the image are the eyes of the character, that mirror of the human soul, which reflects feelings, experiences, thoughts.

How van Eyck's artistic method develops can be seen by comparing his previous works with the famous portrait "Timofey", painted in 1432. A brooding man with a gentle character appears before the viewer. His gaze is fixed on emptiness. However, it is precisely this look that characterizes van Eyck's hero as an open, modest, pious, sincere and kind person.

An artist's talent cannot be static. The master should always be in search of new solutions and ways of expressing and portraying the world, including the inner world of a person. Such was van Eyck. The next stage in the development of his work was marked by a portrait work called "The Man in the Red Turban" (1433). In contrast to the character of the painting "Timofey", the hero of this canvas is endowed with a more expressive look. His eyes are on the viewer. The unknown person seems to be telling us his sad story. His gaze expresses very specific feelings: bitterness and regret over what happened.

"Timofey" and "The Man in the Red Turban" differ significantly from the works created by the master earlier: they present a psychological portrait of the hero. At the same time, the artist is interested not so much in the spiritual world of a particular person as in his attitude to reality. So, Timofey looks at the world thoughtfully, and a man in a turban perceives it as something hostile. However, this principle of depicting a person for a long
time could not exist within the framework of Renaissance art, where the main idea was to clearly identify the individual features of the image and show its inner world. This idea becomes dominant in the subsequent works of van Eyck.

Jan van Eyck. Portrait of a man in a red turban. 1433 g.

In 1434, the artist painted one of his most famous works - "Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple", which, according to art critics, depicts a Lucca merchant, a representative of the Medici House in Bruges, Giovanni Arnolfini with his wife Giovanna.

In the background of the composition there is a small round mirror, the inscription above which says that one of the witnesses of the ceremony was the artist himself, Jan van Eyck.

The images created by the artist are unusually expressive. Their significance is highlighted brighter due to the fact
that the author places his characters in the most ordinary at first glance setting. The essence and meaning of the images is emphasized here through the objects surrounding the characters and endowed with a secret meaning. So, apples scattered on the windowsill and on the table symbolize heavenly bliss, crystal rosary on the wall is the embodiment of piety, a brush is a symbol of purity, two pairs of shoes are a sign of marital fidelity, a lit candle in a beautiful chandelier is a symbol of a deity that overshadows the sacrament of the marriage ceremony. The idea of \u200b\u200bloyalty and love is also suggested by a small dog standing at the feet of the owners. All these symbols of marital fidelity, happiness and longevity create a feeling of warmth and spiritual closeness, love and tenderness that unites spouses.

Of particular interest is van Eyck's painting Madonna of Chancellor Rolen, created in 1435. The work, small in size (0.66 × 0.62 m), gives the impression of the scale of space. Such a feeling is created in the picture due to the fact that through the arched vaults the artist shows the viewer a landscape with city buildings, a river and mountains visible in the distance.

As always with van Eyck, the setting (in this case, the landscape) surrounding the characters plays an important role in revealing their characters, even though the characters, interior and landscape do not constitute a holistic unity here. The landscape with residential buildings opposite the figure of the Chancellor is the secular beginning, and the landscape with churches, located behind Mary's back, is a symbol of the Christian religion. The two banks of the wide river are connected by a bridge, along which pedestrians and horsemen walk. The personification of the reconciliation of spiritual and secular principles is the baby Christ sitting on Mary's lap, blessing the Chancellor.

The work that completed the period of formation of the creative method of van Eyck is considered to be the altar composition "Madonna of Canon Van der Palais", created in 1436. Their monumentality becomes a distinctive feature of the images. The figures of the heroes now fill the entire space of the picture, leaving almost no room for a landscape or interior. In addition, in "Madonna of Canon van der Palais," the main character is not Madonna at all, but the customer of the painting himself. It is to him that Mary and St. Donatus presents him with a pointing gesture to the assembled St. George.

The method of depicting the main character is also changing here.

This is no longer a simple contemplator expressing his attitude to the world. The viewer sees a person who has withdrawn into himself, deeply thinking about something very important. Such images will become the leading ones in the Dutch art of subsequent times.

In his later works, van Eyck develops images that are even more concrete. An example of this is the painting "Portrait of Jan van Leeuw" (1436). The person in the portrait is open to us. His gaze is fixed on the viewer, who can easily recognize all the feelings of the hero. One has only to look into his eyes.

The pinnacle of the master's work is the last, painted in 1439, a portrait of his wife, Marguerite van Eyck. Here, behind the artist's subtle appearance of the heroine, her character is clearly visible. Van Eyck's image has never been so objective. The paints used are also unusual for the artist: red-violet fabric of clothing, smoky fur on the edge, pink skin of the heroine and her pale lips.

Jan van Eyck died on July 9, 1441 in Bruges. His work, which influenced many subsequent masters, marked the beginning of the formation and development of Dutch painting.

A contemporary of the van Eyck brothers was Robert Kampen, the author of decorative and painting works, the teacher of many painters, including the famous artist Rogier van der Weyden.

Altar compositions and portraits of Kampen are distinguished by a desire for authenticity, the master tries to depict all objects so that they look like in reality.

The largest Dutch artist of the 15th century. there was Rogier van der Weyden, who painted dramatic altar scenes (Descent from the Cross, after 1435) and expressive, soulful portraits (Portrait of Francesco d'Este, 1450; Portrait of a Young Woman, 1455). Rogier van der Weyden opened the first major workshop in the Netherlands, where many renowned Renaissance artists studied. The painter was widely known not only in his homeland, but also in Italy.

In the second half of the 15th century. in the Netherlands worked such artists as Jos van Wassenhove, who did a lot for the development of Dutch painting, the unusually talented Hugo van der Goes, the author of the famous Portinari altar, Jan Memling, in whose work the features of the Italian Renaissance appear: garlands and putti, idealization of images, clarity and clarity of compositional construction ("Madonna and Child, Angel and Donors").

One of the brightest masters of the Northern Renaissance at the end of the 15th century. was Hieronymus Bosch.

Hieronymus Bosch (Hieronymus van Aken)

Hieronymus van Aken, later nicknamed Bosch, was born between 1450-1460. in Hertogenbosch. The artists were his father, two uncles and a brother. They became the first teachers of the novice painter.

Bosch's work is distinguished by grotesque and caustic sarcasm in depicting people. These tendencies are already evident in the artist's early works. For example, in the painting "Removing the Stone of Stupidity", which depicts a simple operation performed by a healer on the head of a peasant, the painter ridicules the clergy, insincerity and pretense of clergy. The peasant's gaze is fixed on the viewer, transforming him from an outside observer into an accomplice in what is happening.

Some of Bosch's works are original illustrations for folk tales and Christian legends. Such are his canvases "The Ship of Fools", "The Temptation of St. Anthony "," The Garden of Earthly Delights "," Adoration of the Magi "," Mockery of Christ. " The plots of these works are characteristic of the art of Flanders of the 15th-16th centuries. However, the grotesque figures of people and fantastic animals depicted here, unusual architectural structures presented by the painter, distinguish Bosch's canvases from the works of other masters. At the same time, these compositions clearly show features of realism, which was alien at that time to the fine arts of the Netherlands. With precise strokes, the master makes the viewer believe in the reality and reliability of what is happening.

In canvases devoted to religious themes, Jesus almost always finds himself surrounded by people smiling viciously and ambiguously. The same images are presented in the painting "Carrying the Cross", the coloring of which is composed of pale and cold shades. The figure of Christ stands out from the monotonous mass of people, painted in slightly warmer colors. However, this is the only thing that distinguishes him from others. The faces of all heroes have the same expression. Even the bright face of St. Veronica hardly distinguishes the heroine from other characters. In addition, the combination of bright, poisonous blue and yellow colors in her headdress heightens the sense of ambiguity.

Of particular interest in the work of Bosch is the altar composition called "Haystack". An allegorical picture of human life unfolds before the viewer. People ride a cart: being between the angel and the devil, in full view of everyone they kiss, have fun, play musical instruments, sing songs. The pope and the emperor follow the carriage, the people from the common people close the column. The latter, wanting to become participants in the celebration of life, run ahead and, falling under the wheels of the trolley, are ruthlessly crushed, without having time to understand the taste of human joys and pleasures. The overall composition is crowned with little Jesus sitting on a cloud and prayerfully raising his hands to the sky. The impression of realism of what is happening is created with the help of a landscape that is distinguished by concreteness and authenticity.

Hieronymus Bosch. Mockery of Christ

Bosch always introduces fantastic elements into his paintings. They are the main ones, they reveal the artist's intention. These are birds soaring in the sky with sails instead of wings; fish with horse hooves instead of fins; people born from tree stumps; heads with tails and a host of other phantasmagoric images. And all of them are unusually mobile in Bosch. Even the smallest creature is endowed with energy and is directed somewhere.

When looking at Bosch's paintings, one gets the impression that the master has decided to show everything that is base, gloomy, and shameful in this world. There is no place for humor in these canvases. It is replaced by a venomous mockery, sarcasm, brightly highlighting all the shortcomings of the human world order.

In the works belonging to the late period of the artist's work, the dynamics are somewhat weakened. However, the same infinity of the represented space and the multi-figured nature of the picture are preserved. This is how one can characterize the canvas, which received the name "John on Patmos". Especially interesting is the fact that on the reverse side of it the master placed a wonderful, striking landscape. The artist surprisingly accurately managed to convey here the transparency of the air, and the bends of the river banks, and the pale blue color of the high sky. However, the bright colors and precise lines of the contours give the work a tense, almost tragic character.

The main distinguishing feature of Bosch's work is the focus on the person and his world, the desire to objectively express the life of people, their feelings, thoughts and desires. This is most fully reflected in the altar composition called "The Garden of Delights", where human sins are shown without embellishment. The work is extremely dynamic. Whole groups of people pass in front of the viewer, which the author places in several tiers for a better view. Gradually, the impression of a continuously repeating, unidirectional movement of figures is created, which enhances the tragic sensation and reminds the viewer of the seven circles of hell.

Bosch's artistic style was born out of the conflict between reality and the ideals of medieval art. Many artists of that time, out of an understandable desire to embellish a gloomy, full of contradictions, life created ideal-beautiful images, far from the harsh reality. Bosch's work, on the contrary, was aimed at an objective image of the surrounding reality. Moreover, the artist aspired to turn the world of people inside out and show its hidden side, thereby returning to art its deep philosophical and worldview value.

Landscape plays one of the main roles in The Adoration of the Magi. The main characters are shown here as part of a whole, they have no independent meaning. More important for the disclosure of the artist's intention is that which is located behind the figures of the characters - landscape paintings: horsemen, trees, bridge, city, road. Despite the scale, the landscape gives the impression of emptiness, silence and hopelessness. However, this is the only thing in which life still glimmers and contains some meaning. Human figures here are static and insignificant, their movements, fixed at a certain moment, are suspended. The main character is precisely the landscape, inspired and therefore even more sharply shading the emptiness, purposelessness and futility of human life.

In the composition “ Prodigal son»Pictures of nature and the main character make up a kind of unity. By means of expression here
the commonality of the paints used by the author serves: the landscape and the human figure are painted in shades of gray.

In Bosch's later works, fantastic creatures are no longer assigned as much space as in earlier works. Some strange figures still appear here and there. However, these are not those energetic, half-animals scurrying everywhere. Their size and activity are significantly reduced. The main thing now for the painter is to show the loneliness of a person in this world of cruel, soulless people, where everyone is busy only with himself.

Hieronymus Bosch died in 1516. His work influenced the formation of the artistic method of many remarkable masters, including Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The fantastic images of Bosch's works largely predetermined the emergence of painting by surrealist artists.

At the beginning of the 16th century. in the Netherlands, craftsmen of the 15th century continued to live and work. - Hieronymus Bosch and Gerard David, but already at that time in the Dutch painting there appeared (although to a lesser extent than in Italian) features of the High Renaissance.

During this period, the Dutch economy experienced an unprecedented boom. Industry developed rapidly, guild craft was replaced by manufacture. The discovery of America made the Netherlands a major center for international trade. The self-awareness of the people grew, and along with it national liberation tendencies intensified, which in the last third of the 15th century led to a revolution.

One of the most significant masters of the first third of the 16th century. was Quentin Massys. The author of numerous altarpieces, he became, perhaps, the first creator of a genre work in Dutch painting, having painted his famous painting "The Changer with Wife" (1514). Masseys brushes are remarkable portraits in which
the artist makes an attempt to convey the depth of the inner world of man (portraits by Etienne Gardiner, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Peter Egidius).

At the same time as Masseys, the so-called. novelist artists who turned to the works of Italian masters. In their works, the novelists did not seek to reflect reality, their main goal was to create a monumental image of a person. The most significant representatives of this trend were Jan Gossart, nicknamed Mabuse, and Bernard van Orley.

In the first third of the 16th century. worked as a famous master of his era, one of the founders of European landscape painting Joachim Patinir. His paintings of wide plains, rocky peaks and calm rivers included religious scenes with small figures of people. Gradually, biblical motifs take up less and less space in his landscapes ("Baptism", "Landscape with flight to Egypt"). Patinir's painting had a great influence on artists of the next generations.

Patinir's contemporary was the greatest master of that time, Luka Leydensky, who worked in the technique of engraving. His works are notable for their realism and compositional integrity, as well as deep emotionality ("Mohammed with a murdered monk", 1508; "David and Saul", 1509). Many of his engravings are characterized by elements of the everyday genre ("The Game of Chess", "The Wife Brings Joseph's Clothes to Potiphar"). The portraits of Luke Leydensky ("Portrait of a Man", c. 1520) are reliable and vital.

The genre of everyday life became widespread in painting in the second third of the 16th century. In Antwerp worked artists who continued the tradition of Massey - Jan Sanders van Hemessen, who created many versions of "Changer", and Marinus van Roymerswale, the author of "The Merry Society". With their grotesque images, they changed girls of easy virtue, these masters practically erased the line separating everyday and religious compositions.

The features of the genre genre also penetrated into portraiture, the largest representatives of which were the Amsterdam artists Dirk Jacobs and Cornelis Teinissen. Natural poses and gestures make portraits vivid and compelling. Thanks to Jacobs and Teinissen, Dutch painting was enriched with a new, original genre, which became the group portrait.

During these years, novelism continued to develop, the masters of which were Peter Cook van Aelst and Jan Scorel, who possessed numerous talents and abilities. He was not only a painter, but also a clergyman, musician, rhetorician, engineer, and curator of the collection of works of art by Pope Adrian VI.

The crisis of the Renaissance perception of the world that gripped the art of the Italian Renaissance in the second half of the 16th century also affected the Netherlands. In the 1550-1560s. in Dutch painting, the realistic trend continues to develop, acquiring the features of a nationality. At the same time, Romanism is becoming more active, in which elements of mannerism begin to prevail.

Manneristic features are present in the painting of the Antwerp artist Frans Floris. His biblical compositions are striking with excessive drama, complex camera angles and exaggerated dynamics (Overthrow of the Angels, 1554; The Last Judgment, 1566).

An outstanding representative of realistic painting of this time was the Antwerp master Peter Artsen, who painted mainly large-figure genre scenes and still lifes. Often he combines both of these genres in his works, but one of them always prevails over the other. In the painting Peasant's Holiday (1550), still life plays a secondary role, and in the Butcher's Shop (1551), objects pushed people into the background. Artsen's canvases are distinguished by great authenticity, although the artist seeks to present the images of peasants as monumental and majestic (Peasants in the Market, 1550s; Peasants by the Hearth, 1556; Dance Among the Eggs, 1557). In the paintings "The Cook" (1559), "The Peasant" (1561), with their obvious idealization of images, one can feel the author's sincere sympathy for the common man.

The most significant master of realistic Dutch painting of the XVI century. became Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Pieter Bruegel (Bregel), nicknamed the Elder, or Peasant, was born between 1525 and 1530. In the early 50s. XVI century he lived in Antwerp, where he studied painting under P. Cooke van Aelst. In the period from 1552 to 1553 the artist worked in Italy, and from 1563 - in Brussels. While in the Netherlands, the painter met the country's democratic and radical thinkers. This acquaintance, perhaps, determined the thematic focus of the artist's work.

Bruegel's early works are marked by the influence of the mannerist art and the artistic method of Hieronymus Bosch. For the most part, they represent landscapes that embody the painter's impressions of a trip to Italy and the Alpine mountains, as well as pictures of the nature of the Netherlands - the artist's homeland. In these works, the author's desire to show a large-scale, grandiose picture on a small canvas is noticeable. This is his "Neapolitan Harbor", which became the first seascape in the history of painting.

In his early works, the artist seeks to express the infinity of space in which a person is lost, becomes smaller, becomes insignificant. Later, Bruegel's landscape takes on more real dimensions. The interpretation of a person living in this world is also changing. The image of a person is now endowed with special meaning and is not a figure that accidentally appeared on the canvas. An example of this can be a picture created in 1557 and called "The Sower".

In the work "The Fall of Icarus" the main plot, which expresses the idea that the death of one person will not stop the rotation of the wheel of life, is supplemented by several more. Thus, the scenes of plowing and the coastal landscape presented here serve as symbols of the measuredness of human life and the majesty of the natural world. Although the canvas is dedicated to the ancient myth, almost nothing reminds of the death of Icarus. Only by looking closely, you can see the leg of the hero who fell into the sea. No one paid attention to the death of Icarus - not a shepherd admiring the beautiful view, not a fisherman who settled down on the shore, not a peasant plowing his field, not a crew of a sailboat heading to the open sea. The main thing in the picture is not the tragedy of an ancient character, but the beauty of a person surrounded by beautiful nature.

All Bruegel's works have a deep semantic fullness. They affirm the idea of \u200b\u200borderliness and sublimity of the world order. However, it would be wrong to say that Bruegel's works are optimistic. The pessimistic notes in the paintings are expressed by a special position taken by the author. He seems to be somewhere outside the world, observing life from the sidelines and removed from the images transferred to the canvas.

A new stage in the artist's work was marked by the appearance in 1559 of the painting "The Battle of Carnival and Lent". The composition is based on numerous crowds of revelers, mummers, monks and merchants. For the first time in the work of Bruegel, all attention is focused not on landscape paintings, but on the image of a moving crowd.

In this work, the author expressed a special perception of the world, characteristic of thinkers of the time when the natural world was humanized, animated, and the human world, on the contrary, was likened, for example, to the insect community. From Bruegel's point of view, the human world is the same anthill, and its inhabitants are as insignificant and insignificant as they are small. Their feelings, thoughts, actions are the same. The painting depicting cheerful people nevertheless evokes gloomy and sad feelings.

The canvases "Flemish Proverbs" (1559) and "Games of Children" (1560) are marked with the same mood of sadness. The latter depicts children at play in the foreground. However, the perspective of the street shown in the picture is endless. It is this that has the main meaning in the composition: the activities of people are as meaningless and insignificant as children's play. This topic - the question of a person's place in life - becomes the leading one in the work of Bruegel in the late 1550s.

Since the 1560s. realism in Bruegel's paintings is suddenly replaced by a bright and ominous fantasy, in terms of the power of expression surpassing even the grotesque works of Bosch. Examples of such works are the canvases "The Triumph of Death" (1561) and "Mad Greta" (1562).

In "Triumph of Death" skeletons are shown trying to destroy people. Those, in turn, try to escape in a huge mousetrap. Allegorical images are filled with deep symbolic meaning and are designed to reflect the author's attitude and worldview.

In "Mad Greta" people no longer hope for salvation from evil creatures, whose numbers are increasing. From nowhere, many of these sinister creatures appear, trying to take the place of people on earth. The latter, distraught, take the impurities erupted by the giant monster for gold and, forgetting about the impending danger and crushing each other in the crowd, try to take possession of the “precious” ingots.

This composition for the first time shows the artist's attitude towards people who were possessed by unbridled greed. However, this thought develops in Bruegel into deep discourses about the fate of all mankind. It should also be noted that, despite all the variety of fantastic elements, Bruegel's paintings evoked an unusually keen sense of the concreteness and reality of what was happening. They were a kind of reflection of the events taking place at that time in the Netherlands - the repressions carried out by the Spanish conquerors in the country. Bruegel was the first among artists who reflected on the canvas the events and conflicts of his time, translating them into artistic and pictorial language.

Gradually, strong emotions and tragedy give way to Bruegel's quiet and sad reflections on the fate of people. The artist again turns to real images. Now the main place in the composition is given to a large-scale landscape stretching far to the horizon. The author's sarcastic mockery, characteristic of earlier works, here turns into warmth, forgiveness and understanding of the essence of the human soul.

At the same time, works appear marked by a mood of loneliness, light sadness and sadness. Among such canvases, a special place is occupied by "Monkeys" (1562) and "The Tower of Babel" (1563). In the latter, unlike the previously painted picture of the same name, the main place is occupied by the figures of the builders. If earlier the artist was more interested in the world of beautiful and perfect nature, now the semantic emphasis is shifting to the image of a person.

In such works as "The Suicide of Saul" (1562), "Landscape with Flight to Egypt" (1563), "Carrying the Cross" (1564), the master overcomes the tragedy of meaninglessness of human activity on earth. Here appears a completely new idea for Bruegel of the intrinsic value of human life. In this regard, the composition "Carrying the Cross" is of particular interest, where the well-known religious and philosophical plot is interpreted as a mass scene with numerous figures of soldiers, peasants, children - ordinary people, watching with curiosity what is happening.

In 1565, a cycle of paintings was created, which became true masterpieces of world painting. The canvases are dedicated to the seasons: “Gloomy day. Spring ”,“ Harvest. Summer ”,“ Return of the herds. Autumn ”,“ Hunters in the Snow. Winter". These compositions harmoniously represent the author's idea to express the majesty and at the same time the vital reality of the natural world.

With all the reliability, the master manages to capture living pictures of nature on the canvas. A sense of almost tangible reality is achieved through the artist's use of paints of certain tones, which are peculiar symbols of a particular season: reddish-brown earth tones combined with green tones that form a landscape in the background of "Gloomy Day"; deep yellow turning into brown in the composition "Harvest"; the predominance of red and all shades of brown in the painting Return of the Herds.

The Bruegel cycle is dedicated to the states of nature at different times of the year. However, it would be wrong to say that only the landscape occupies the main attention of the artist. In all the paintings, there are people who are represented by the artist as physically strong, passionate about any occupation: harvesting, hunting. A distinctive feature of these images is their fusion with the natural world. Human figures are not opposed to the landscape, they are harmoniously integrated into the composition. Their movement coincides with the dynamics of natural forces. Thus, the beginning of agricultural work is associated with the awakening of nature ("Gloomy Day").

Very soon, the realistic portrayal of people and events became a leading trend in Bruegel's art. The paintings "The Census in Bethlehem", "The Massacre of the Infants", "The Sermon of John the Baptist" that appeared in 1566 marked new stage development not only of the artist's work, but also of the art of the Netherlands in general. The images displayed on the canvas (including the biblical ones) were now called upon not only to personify common human concepts, but also to symbolize a specific social world order. Thus, in the painting "The Massacre of the Babies", the Gospel story serves as a kind of screen for depicting a real fact: an attack by one of the units of the Spanish army on a Flemish village.

The painting Peasant Dance, created by Bruegel in 1567, became a significant work of the last period of the artist's work. The plot is based on dancing peasants, depicted by the master on an enlarged scale. It is important for the author not only to convey the atmosphere of the holiday, but also to realistically show the plasticity of the movement of human bodies. Everything in a person interests the artist: his facial features, facial expressions, gestures, postures, manner of movement. Each figure is painted by a master with great care and precision. The images created by Bruegel are monumental, significant and carry a social pathos. The result is a painting that represents a huge, homogeneous mass of people, symbolizing the peasantry. This composition will become fundamental in the development of the folk-everyday peasant genre in Bruegel's art.

What is the reason for the appearance folk theme in the work of an artist? Art critics suggest that such works of his are a kind of response to the events then taking place in the Netherlands. The time when the painting "Peasant Dance" was painted coincides with the time of the suppression of the popular uprising, called "iconoclasm" (the rebels, led by Calvinists, destroyed icons and sculptures in Catholic churches). From this movement, which flared up in 1566, the revolution in the Netherlands began. Events to the depths of the soul shook all the contemporaries of the famous artist.

Historians and art historians also associate iconoclasm with the appearance of another work by Bruegel - "The Peasant Wedding". The images created here take on even greater proportions than the figures of the "Peasant Dance". However, the peasants are endowed with exaggerated strength and power in the composition. This idealization of the image was not typical for the artist's works created earlier. In the same picture, the author's extraordinary benevolence towards the people depicted on the canvas was manifested.

The joyful, life-affirming mood of the above works is soon replaced by pessimism and a sense of unfulfilled hopes, which are reflected in the paintings "The Misanthrope", "Cripples", "Thief of Nests", "The Blind". Remarkable is the fact that they were all written in 1568.

In "Blind" in the foreground there are figures of cripples. Their faces are terribly ugly. The souls of these people seem to be the same. These images are the personification of everything that is base on earth: greed, self-interest and anger. Their empty eye sockets are a symbol of people's spiritual blindness. The canvas takes on a pronounced tragic character. For Bruegel, the problem of spiritual emptiness, human insignificance, grows to universal proportions.

Significant in the composition and the role of the landscape, which is presented by the author as an opposition to the world of people.

Hills towering in the distance, trees, church - everything is filled with silence, tranquility and peace. People and nature here seem to change places. It is the landscape in the picture that expresses the idea of \u200b\u200bhumanity, goodness, spirituality. And the person himself turns out to be spiritually dead and lifeless here. The tragic notes are enhanced by the use of light cold colors by the author. So, the basis of the color is made up of light lilac colors with a steel shade, which enhance the feeling of hopelessness of the situation in which a person has found himself.

The last work of Bruegel the Elder was a work called "Dance under the Gallows" (1568). In the picture, figures of people dancing near the gallows appear before the viewer. This canvas became an expression of the artist's complete disappointment in the contemporary world order and people, in it there is an understanding of the impossibility of returning to the former harmony.

Pieter Bruegel died on September 5, 1569 in Brussels. The great painter became the founder of the popular, democratic direction in the art of the Netherlands in the 16th century.

In the first third of the 15th century, almost simultaneously with the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy, there was a turning point in the development of the art of the northern countries - the Netherlands, France, Germany. Despite individual national characteristics, the art of these countries is characterized in the 15th century by the presence of a number of features, which are especially pronounced when compared with Italy. This change occurs most vividly and consistently in painting, while sculpture retains Gothic features for a long time, and architecture continues to develop within the framework of the Gothic style until the first decades of the 16th century. The leading role in the development of painting of the 15th century belongs to the Netherlands, which has a significant influence on France and Germany; in the first quarter of the 16th century, Germany came to the fore.
Common to the art of the Renaissance in Italy and in the north is the desire for a realistic depiction of man and the world around him. These tasks were solved, however, differently, according to the different nature of the culture.
The attention of the Dutch masters was attracted by the inexhaustible richness of the forms of nature and the diversity of the individual appearance of people that was revealed before the eyes of man. The characteristic and the special prevails in the work of the artists of the northern countries over the general and typical. They are alien to the searches of the Italian Renaissance artists, aimed at revealing the laws of nature and visual perception. Until the 16th century, when the influence of Italy both in general culture and in art began to play an important role, neither perspective theory nor the doctrine of proportions attracted their attention. The Dutch painters, however, have developed, in a purely empirical way, techniques that allow them to convey the impression of the depth of space with no less convincing than the Italians. Observation reveals to them the manifold functions of light; they widely use various optical effects - refracted, reflected and diffused light, conveying both the impression of a landscape stretching far and full of air and light of a room, and the subtlest differences in the material features of things (stone, metal, glass, fur, etc.). Reproducing with the utmost care the smallest details, they recreate the brilliant richness of colors with the same keen vigilance. These new painting tasks could be solved only with the help of a new painting technique of oil painting, the "discovery" of which historical tradition attributed to Jan van Eyck; from the middle of the 15th century this new “Flemish manner” supplants the old tempera technique in Italy as well.
Unlike Italy, in the northern countries there were no conditions for any significant development of monumental painting; a prominent place belongs in the 15th century in France and the Netherlands to book miniature, which had a strong tradition here. An essential feature of the art of the northern countries was the lack of prerequisites for the interest in antiquity, which was so important in Italy. Antiquity will attract the attention of artists only in the 16th century, together with the development of humanistic studies. The main place in the production of art workshops belongs to altar images (carved and painted folding), the doors of which were covered with images on both sides. Religious scenes are transferred to a real life setting, the action often takes place in a landscape or in an interior. Significant development received in the Netherlands in the 15th century, and in Germany at the beginning of the 16th century portraiture.
During the 16th century, there is a gradual separation into independent genres of everyday painting, landscape, still life, mythological and allegorical paintings appear. In the 15th century there is the new kind fine arts - woodcut and metal engraving, reaching rapid flowering at the end of the century and the first half of the 16th century; they occupy a particularly important place in the art of Germany, which influenced the development of Dutch and French graphics.

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 one - according to 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 differ 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 why the tombstones (also a kind of portraits) did not always reflect the true appearance of a person, but rather 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 a peasant 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. Undoubtedly, 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? A vague link 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.

1. The main schools of Indian miniature XVI-XVIII centuries.

THEME 8. ART OF SOUTH-EAST ASIA AND THE FAR EAST

1. Adoption of Buddhism and Hinduism in the territory of modern Thailand and Kampuchea.

MODULE 3. THE ART OF ANTIQUE

THEME 9. SELF-IMAGE OF ANTIQUE ART

TOPIC 10. ARCHITECTURE OF ANCIENT GREECE

THEME 11. SCULPTURE OF ANCIENT GREECE

1. Characteristics of the ancient Greek sculpture of the geometric style (VIII-VII centuries BC)

TOPIC 12. ANCIENT GREEK VASAPPING

THEME 13. ARCHITECTURE OF ANCIENT ROME

THEME 14. SCULPTURE OF ANCIENT ROME

THEME 15. PAINTING OF ANCIENT ROME

MODULE 4. EARLY CHRISTIAN ART. THE ART OF BYZANTINE. WESTERN EUROPEAN ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES

THEME 16. THE ART OF BYZANTINE

1. Periods of development of Byzantine art XI-XII centuries.

1. Historical determinants of the development of Byzantine architecture in the XIII-XV centuries.

THEME 17. EARLY CHRISTIAN ART

TOPIC 18. WESTERN EUROPEAN ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES

MODULE 5 EUROPEAN ART OF THE RENAISSANCE

TOPIC 19. ITALIAN ART OF DUCHENTO

THEME 20. THE ITALIAN ART OF TRECENTO

THEME 21. ITALIAN ART QUATROCENTO

THEME 22. ITALIAN ART OF "HIGH" RENAISSANCE

THEME 23. THE ART OF "MANNERISM" CHINKQUENTO IN ITALY

THEME 24. THE ART OF PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS XV-XVI CENTURIES.

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

MODULE 6. WESTERN EUROPEAN ART OF THE XVII CENTURY

THEME 26. ART OF BAROQUE AND CLASSICISM: SPECIFICITY OF THE XVII CENTURY

THEME 30. SPANISH ART OF THE XVII CENTURY: PAINTING

1. Urban planning

THEME 32. WESTERN EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE XVIII century

THEME 33. WESTERN EUROPEAN SCULPTURE XVIII century

THEME 34. WESTERN EUROPEAN PAINTING OF THE XVIII CENTURY

1. General characteristics of the Italian painting of the XVIII century.

MODULE 8. WESTERN EUROPEAN ART OF THE XIX CENTURY

THEME 35. ARCHITECTURE OF WESTERN EUROPE XIX century

1. Directions of development of the architecture of Western Europe in the XIX century. Style specificity of architecture.

1. Traditions of Germanic architecture of the XIX century.

THEME 36. SCULPTURE OF WESTERN EUROPE XIX century

1. Artistic traditions of classical sculpture in Western Europe in the 19th century.

1. The specificity of the religious content of the sculpture of romanticism in Western Europe in the 19th century.

THEME 37. PAINTING AND GRAPHICS OF WESTERN EUROPE XIX century

1. Specificity of romanticism of the mature stage of the 1830-1850s.

1. Trends in the development of graphic art in the "realism" direction: themes, plots, characters.

MODULE 9. WESTERN EUROPEAN ART OF THE XIX-XX CENTURIES.

THEME 38. WESTERN EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE LATE XIX - BEGINNING XX CENTURIES.

1. General characteristics of the artistic culture of Western Europe in the late XIX - early XX centuries.

2. Belgian Art Nouveau

3. French modern

THEME 39. WESTERN EUROPEAN SCULPTURE OF THE LATE XIX - EARLY XX CENTURIES.

TOPIC 40. WESTERN EUROPEAN PAINTING AND GRAPHICS OF THE LATE XIX - EARLY XX CENTURIES.

MODULE 10 THE ART OF THE WEST OF THE XX CENTURY

TOPIC 41. GENERAL CONTENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND FINE WEST EUROPEAN ART OF THE XX CENTURY

THEME 42. FEATURES OF ARCHITECTURE OF THE XX CENTURY

1. Style certainty in the architecture of art museums in Western Europe in the first half of the XX century.

TOPIC 43. "REALISM" OF WESTERN EUROPEAN ART WORKS OF THE XX CENTURY

TOPIC 44. TRADITIONALISM OF WESTERN EUROPEAN WORKS OF ART OF THE XX CENTURY

1. Characteristics of the concept of "traditionalism" in the art of the XX century.

THEME 45. EPATISM OF WESTERN EUROPEAN WORKS OF ART OF THE XX CENTURY

TOPIC 46. SURREALISM OF WESTERN EUROPEAN WORKS OF ART OF THE XX CENTURY

THEME 47. GEOMETRISM OF WORKS OF ART OF THE XX CENTURY

THEME 48. "LOCALITY" OF ART WORKS OF THE XX CENTURY

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

4 hours of classroom work and 8 hours of independent work

Lecture 84. Painting in Germany XV - XVI centuries

4 hours of lecture work and 4 hours of independent work

Planlections

1. Painting in Germany in the first third of the 15th century. The work of the Upper Rhine master, the work of Master Franke.

2. Painting in Germany in the second third of the 15th century. The work of Hans Mulcher, the work of Konrad Wietz, the work of Stefan Lochner.

3. Painting in Germany in the last third of the 15th century. The art of Martin Schongauer, the art of Michael Pacher.

4. Painting in Germany at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. The work of Matthias Grunewald, the work of Lucas Cranach the Elder, the work of Albrecht Durer, the work of the artists of the "Danube school": Albrecht Altdorfer.

5. Painting in Germany in the 16th century. The phenomenon of the reformation.

1. Painting in Germany, the first third of the XV century. The work of the Verhne Rhine master, the work of the Master Franke

General characteristics of Renaissance art in Germany in the 15th century. In German painting of the 15th century, three stages can be distinguished: the first - from the beginning of the century to the 1430s, the second - until the 1470s. and the third - almost until the end of the century. German masters created their works in the form of church altars.

In the period 1400-1430s. German altars open before the audience the wonderful world of the Mountain, which attracts people to itself as a kind of extremely entertaining fairy tale. This is confirmed by the painting "Garden of Eden", created by the anonymous Upper Rhine master around

1410-1420s

It is believed that the sash of the altar of St. Thomas with the scene "Adoration of the Magi to the Christ Child" was made by Master Franke from Hamburg, who actively worked in the first third of the 15th century. The fabulousness of the gospel event.

2. Painting in Germany and the second third of the XV century. The work of Hans Mulcher, the work of Conrad Vitz, the work of Stefan Lochner

At the stage of the 1430-1470s. works of fine art in Germany are filled with plastically voluminous human figures immersed in an artistically designed space. Visualizations

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

various facets of condolences of picture characters to the earthly sufferings of Christ are exposed, most often presented as a person equal to other people, experiencing many torments of earthly existence. Expressive realism of the sensually manifested events of Holy Scripture, taking into account the spectators' violent empathy for the suffering of Christ as their own. During these years, the artists Hans Mulcher and Konrad Witz worked very interestingly in the German cities of Basel and Ulm.

Hans Mulcher, a citizen of the city of Ulm, is known as a painter and sculptor. The sculptural works of the master include the decoration of the front windows of the Ulm City Hall (1427) and the plastic decoration of the western facade of the Ulm Cathedral (1430-1432). Dutch influence, which allows us to conclude about the artist's stay and training in Tournai. From Mulcher's paintings, two altars survived in fragments. The most significant work of the master is the "Vurzakh Altar" (1433-1437), from which eight doors have survived, depicting the life of Mary on the outside and the Passion of Christ on the inside. From the "Sterzin Altar of the Virgin Mary" (1456-1458), only a few side panels and individual carved wooden figures have survived to this day.

The painting "Christ before Pilate" is a fragment of the inner part of the "Vurzach Altar". The different attitude of the characters to the depicted action. Another panel of the "Vurzakh Altar" is the painting "The Resurrection of Christ".

A native of Swabia and a citizen of the city of Basel, Konrad Witz is known as the author of twenty altar panels. All of them demonstrate the influence on the artist of the creativity of such Dutch masters as Robert Kampen and Rogier van der Weyden. Wietz's works are characterized by the desire to achieve realistic detailed rendering of the flesh of things and spatial clarity by means of light and shadow modeling.

In 1445-1446 Conrad Witz, while in Geneva, commissioned by Cardinal Francois de Mies, performed the "Altar of St. Peter's Basilica". Painting of the reverse side of the altar "Wonderful catch".

The artistic space of the work, combining two gospel stories "Miraculous Catch" and "Walking on Waters", visualizes the reasons that do not allow reaching a religious connection with the Almighty. Human sinfulness, loss of faith in the Lord.

IN first half of the 15th century The works of German painters of the city of Cologne were distinguished by their originality, primarily altar paintings,

created by Stefan Lochner. Studies have shown that in his original work, the artist relied on the achievements of the Francophone miniatures of the Limburg brothers with its refinement and exquisite color, as well as the local Cologne tradition, represented by the Master of St. Veronica. Lochner especially often painted paintings depicting the Mother of God with the Christ Child. In this regard, the most famous painting Stefan Lochner is Maria in Pink

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

Lecture 84. Painting in Germany XVXVI centuries.

garden "(about 1448). The originality of the composition of the picture in the form of a circular curved line.

3. Painting in Germany, the last third of the XV century. Art of Martin Schongauer, art of Michael Pacher

In the period 1460-1490s. the process of creating works of art in Germany was influenced by the Italian Renaissance of Trecento (primarily by Simone Martini) and the work of the Dutch masters Rogier van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes. The problem of visualizing the range of feelings.

One of the leading German painters of the second half of the 15th century. was Martin Schongauer. The artist was originally predicted to be a priest. Schongauer studied painting with Kaspar Isenman in Colmar. Drawing in the manner of Rogier van der Weyden confirms the fact that Schongauer was in Burgundy.

The work "Adoration of the Shepherds" (1475-1480). A vivid expression of the sincerity of the heroes of the pictorial action. In the event depicted by Schongauer, the main attention is paid to how sincere all the characters are in their actions and thoughts.

Creativity of Michael Pacher. The artist studied in Pustertal, and also made an educational trip to Northern Italy, which is clearly evidenced by the Italianized plastic language of his works.

Among the best paintings by Michael Pacher is the Altar of the Church Fathers (1477-1481). The painting "The Prayer of St. Wolfgang" is the upper part of the outer right wing of the "Altar of the Church Fathers".

The artistic space of the work demonstrates that it was the sincerity and sincerity of the prayer of the Bishop of Regensburg that contributed to the divine reckoning of Wolfgang to the rank of Saints and the ascent of his soul to the heights of the Mountain World.

4. Painting in Germany, Russia, XV-XVI centuries. The work of Matthias Grunewald, the work of Lucas Cranach the Elder, the work of Albrecht Dührer, the work of the artists of the "Danube School": Albrecht Altdorfer

The fine arts of Germany at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries are the highest stage of the German Renaissance, the best periods of the work of Albrecht Dürer and Niethart Gotthard (Matthias Grunewald), Lucas Cranach the Elder and Hans Holbein the Younger. Often, a separate and even naturalistically resolved single motive is raised to the level of the idea of \u200b\u200bthe general and universal. In artistic creations, rational and mystical principles coexist.

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

Lecture 84. Painting in Germany XVXVI centuries.

Matthias Grunewald is one of the greatest painters of the German "enthusiastic" Renaissance, whose work is associated with the regions of Germany located along the banks of the Main and the Middle Rhine. It is known that the artist worked alternately in Seligenstadt, Aschaffenburg, Mainz, Frankfurt, Halle, Isenheim.

The task is to visualize the features of ingenuous sympathy, empathy, identification, acceptance of the suffering of Christ as his own pain. The artist shares the views of Thomas of Kempis. At the time of Grunewald, Thomas Kempis' book "On the Imitation of Christ" was so popular that it was second only to the Bible in terms of the number of editions.

The most significant work of Matthias Grunewald was the Isenheim Altarpiece (1512-1516), created for the Church of St. Anthony in Isenheim.

The altar consists of a shrine with a sculpture and three pairs of doors - two movable and one fixed. Various transformations with the altar doors entail the movement of scenes of the Savior's incarnation and sacrifice.

IN closed, the central part of the altar represents the scene of the Crucifixion of Christ. In the limit, "The Entombment" is picturesquely displayed, and on the side panels "St. Anthony" and "St. Sebastian".

IN in general, the religious events depicted on the altar panels visualize the idea of \u200b\u200bthe great sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the chosen leaders of the Christian Church for atonement for human sins, vividly express the Catholic prayer "Agnus Dei" - "Lamb of God, who took the sins of the world, have mercy on us." Expressive realism of the events of the Holy Scriptures, taking into account the spectators' violent empathy for the suffering of Christ as their own. Facets of condolences. Traditions of Dutch craftsmen. Means of conveying realistically detailed flesh of things

and spatial clarity.

The artistic space of the painting "The Crucifixion of Christ" represents Jesus Christ nailed to the cross with several persons standing. The Savior is huge and terribly disfigured. The depicted body of Christ testifies to the savage torments to which the Messiah was subjected. It is completely covered with hundreds of terrible wounds. Jesus is nailed to the cross with giant nails, literally breaking His hands and feet. The head is disfigured by the sharp thorns of a crown of thorns.

To the left of the cross of Calvary are depicted John the Evangelist, supporting the Madonna, weakened from long prayer, and the sinner Mary Magdalene, who, kneeling at the foot of the cross, in passionate prayer turns to the Savior.

To the right of the figure of Christ is John the Baptist and the Lamb of God. The presence of John the Baptist in the scene of the Crucifixion gives the theme of Calvary an additional dimension, recalling the atonement for which Christ's sacrifice was made. The gospel event is presented with such expressive power that no one can remain indifferent.

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

Lecture 84. Painting in Germany XVXVI centuries.

It is not for nothing that near the figure of John the Baptist, pointing to Jesus Christ, there is an inscription: "He must grow, I must contract."

With the doors of the "Isenheim Altar" open, the central panel of the work presents the scene "The Glorification of Mary", to the left of which is the "Annunciation", and to the right - "The Resurrection of Christ."

Compositionally and coloristically, the painting "The Glorification of Mary" is divided into two parts, each of which manifests its own special event of the glory of the Madonna.

The painting "The Resurrection of Christ", with the open doors of the "Isenheim Altar" located next to the painting "The Glorification of Mary", represents the Savior in the guise of a knight ascended above the earth in the radiance of the mystical light. The knight Christ, having risen from the dead, by the very fact of the Resurrection won an all-out victory over the armed soldiers. The symbolism of the lid of the sarcophagus where the body of the Savior was confined. The meaning of the act of rolling off the stone from the tomb of Christ. The slab of the tomb from which the Lord rose up as a tablet containing the record of the Old Testament Law. The personification of the victory over the adherents of the Old Testament principles, symbolizes the triumph of the Gospel Law.

The device of the "Isenheim Altar" contributes not only to opening, but also to additional movement of the picturesque doors, which opens the sculptural part of the work with statues of St. Augustine, St. Anthony and St. Jerome, as well as a predella with the sculptural half-figures of Christ and the twelve apostles. On the back of the inner doors, on the one hand, the scene "Conversation of St. Anthony with St. Paul the Hermit" is depicted, and on the other - "The Temptation of St. Anthony".

The artistic space of the painting "The Temptation of St. Anthony".

The work of Lucas Cranach the Elder is a court painter of the Saxon Elector Frederick the Wise, as well as a wonderful graphic artist. Cranach is considered the creator and largest representative of the Saxon art school. Simultaneously with his creative activity, the master performed important municipal work in Wittenberg: he owned a tavern, a pharmacy, a printing house, and a library. Cranach was even a member of the city council, and in the period from 1537 to 1544. three times elected burgomaster of Wittenberg.

Despite the fact that many significant works of Lucas Cranach the Elder died during the Reformation and the fire that devastated Wittenberg in 1760, the works that have survived to this day reflect the diversity of the master's talent. He painted excellent portraits, and also created paintings for religious and mythological plots... The famous nudes of Cranach are numerous - Venus, Eve, Lucretia, Salome, Judith. When creating his works, he used the master and themes from contemporary humanistic sources.

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

Lecture 84. Painting in Germany XVXVI centuries.

Artistic space of Lucas Cranach's painting "The Punishment of Cupid". The goddess of love is called upon with her naked beauty to wash the human soul from the evil of sinful filth, to rid human hearts from callousness and fossilization. The task is to excite crystal clear love energy, thereby tearing the human soul out of the sticky mud of everyday profaneness. Features of the spiral composition of the work.

The work "Martin Luther", executed in 1529, reveals Lucas Cranach the Elder as an excellent portrait painter.

The great German reformer of the Catholic Church is depicted, communicating with God in “righteous everyday life”.

The work of Albrecht Dürer - the great German painter, graphic artist and engraver of the late 15th - first third of the 16th centuries. Dürer's works are characterized by:

1. Fluctuation of professional interest from generalized philosophical images to rigidly naturalistic visual representations;

2. Scientific basis of activity, combination of practical skills with deep and accurate knowledge (Durer is the author of the theoretical treatises "A Guide to Measurement with Compasses and Straight Line" and "Four Books on Human Proportions");

3. The discovery of new possibilities for the creation of graphic and pictorial works (engraving, which before him was understood as a black drawing on a white background, was transformed by Dürer into a special kind of art, whose works, along with black and white colors, have a huge number of intermediate shades);

4. The discovery of new artistic genres, themes and plots (Dürer was the first in Germany to create a work of the landscape genre (1494), the first in German art to depict a naked woman (1493), the first to present himself in a self-portrait naked (1498), etc.);

5. Prophetic pathos of artistic creations.

Two years before his death, Albrecht Durer created his famous pictorial diptych "The Four Apostles" (1526), \u200b\u200bwhich he greatly valued.

The artistic space of the left picture of the diptych represents the apostles John and Peter, and the right one - the apostles Paul and Mark.

The depicted apostles personify human temperaments. The Evangelist John, represented as young and calm, visualizes a sanguine temperament. Saint Peter, depicted as old and tired, symbolizes a phlegmatic temperament. Mark the Evangelist, shown in impetuous movement with sparkling eyes, personifies a choleric temperament. Saint Paul, revealed to be gloomy and alert, signifies a melancholic temperament.

The work as the most skillful analytical mirror of human souls. A visual representation of the full range of temperaments.

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

Lecture 84. Painting in Germany XVXVI centuries.

On the other hand, the work is a visual evidence of the truthfulness of the appearance of the prophets, spreading the Christian doctrine on behalf of the Lord, and not the Devil. Portrait characteristics apostles.

Both paintings at the bottom of the image contain specially selected texts from the New Testament, commissioned by Dürer, carefully executed by the calligrapher Naderfer.

The diptych "Adam and Eve", created by Dürer in 1507, like the work "The Four Apostles", consists of two relatively independent works of painting. The artistic space of the right picture represents Eve standing near the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and receiving a red liquid apple from the tempting serpent. The artistic space of the left picture represents Adam with a fruit branch of an apple tree in his hand.

Reminding people about the sinfulness of every person, warning about the fatal consequences of original sin.

The copper engraving Knight, Death and the Devil (1513) is one of the best graphic works of Albrecht Durer. The artistic space of the work represents an equestrian knight in heavy armor, who are trying to block the path of Death and the Devil.

The plot of the engraving is correlated with the treatise of Erasmus of Rotterdam "The Guide of the Christian Warrior" (1504) - a moral and ethical teaching in which the author appeals to all the knights of Christ with an appeal not to be afraid of difficulties if terrible deadly demons block the way. Demonstration of the power of the soul, tirelessly striving for the Spirit of God, which no one and nothing in the world, even Death and the Devil, is able to prevent.

An extremely distinctive phenomenon of the German Renaissance at the beginning of the 16th century. was the activity of the artists of the "Danube School" (German Donauschule), who discovered the genre of the romantically fantastic landscape with their creativity. In the paintings of the "Danubians", the idea of \u200b\u200bthe need to unite human life with the life of nature, its natural rhythm of existence and pan-enteistically organic connection with God was visualized.

Albrecht Altdorfer was the leading master of the Danube School. Studies have shown that the formation of the artist's creative method was influenced by the works of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Albrecht Durer.

A representative work of the initial stage of Altdorfer's work was the painting "Prayer for the Chalice", executed by the master in the early 1510s. The artistic space of the work, sensually revealing the Gospel story, presents nature as a kind of sensitive living organism, which actively reacts to events taking place in the human world.

Around the beginning of the 1520s. significant changes took place in Altdorfer's artistic activity. The central theme

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

Lecture 84. Painting in Germany XVXVI centuries.

of the master's work was the visualization of the complexities of the interaction of the world of divine nature with the world of a man abandoned by God. For this stage of the artist's activity, the pictorial work "Landscape with a Bridge" (1520s) is indicative. The central theme is the visualization of the complexities of the interaction of the world of divine nature with the world of a man abandoned by God.

The pinnacle of Altdorfer's art was the painting "The Battle of Alexander the Great", created by the master in 1529 by order of Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria.

The artistic space of the work represents a panorama of the universe. The divine elements of solar fire, heavenly air, ocean water and rocky land are depicted as living according to the same law of the Universe, constantly and rather rigidly in contact with each other. However, this is not a destructive battle of the elements among themselves, but the principle of their natural interaction. The principle of the natural interaction of the elements living according to the uniform law of the Universe.

5. Painting in GermanyXVI century. Reformation phenomenon

The history of the Renaissance in Germany ended abruptly. By 1530-1540. in fact everything was over. The Reformation played a destructive role here. Some Protestant movements came out directly with iconoclastic slogans and determination to destroy monuments of art as servants of the ideas of Catholicism. In those German lands, where the religious primacy passed to Protestantism, they soon abandoned the pictorial design of churches altogether, which is why most artists lost the basis of their existence. Only by the middle of the XVI century. in Germany there is a certain revival of artistic activity, and even then in areas that have remained faithful to Catholicism. Here, as in the Netherlands, Romanism is developing.

In the second half of the 16th century, the fine arts of Germany were actively involved in the general manneristic stream of Western European painting. However, now samples of German art were formed not by local masters, but by Dutch and Flemish artists invited to work in the country.

Hans Holbein the Younger is a German painter and graphic artist. Like his brother Ambrosius, Hans Holbein began his education in his father's workshop.

In the initial period of his creative work, the master was influenced by the works of Matthias Grunewald, whom he personally met in Isenheim in 1517. The Italian influence is equally felt in Holbein's initial works, despite the fact that there is no evidence of the artist's visit to Italy. The Crucifixion refers to the early days of Hans Holbein.

THEME 25. THE ART OF PAINTING IN GERMANY XV – XVI centuries.

Lecture 84. Painting in Germany XVXVI centuries.

Many of Holbein's works, created in Germany, in February 1529 fell victim to the reformist "iconoclasm". This was the main reason that it was in that year that the master finally settled in England. In England, Holbein worked mainly as a portrait painter at the London court, gradually gaining a reputation as the largest portrait painter in Northern Europe.

Beginning in 1536, the artist entered the service of King Henry VIII, for whom he undertook numerous trips to the continent in order to create portraits of princesses, which are considered as possible suitable parties.

Portraits of the English period mainly depict members of the royal family and members of the upper aristocracy.

The work "Henry VIII" (c. 1540s) belongs to the best portrait works of the master. In addition to portraits, the master made many wall paintings, as well as sketches of costumes and utensils. Holbein's true masterpiece was his 1538 woodcut Dance of Death.