1000 Paintings of Genius. Victoria Charles

      Bridging the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries was the Hundred Years War. This war contributed to instability and strife across the entire continent, even though the primary conflicts were between France and England, it also involved Flanders. After Philip the Bold (1342–1404) married the daughter of the count of Flanders, he was able to add these counties from the Netherlands to his realm as the Duke of Burgundy. Philip the Good (1396–1467) ruled next in secession, in what would then become known as the Burgundian Netherlands. Bruges, an important city for trade in Flanders, now lent enormous economic power to the newly acquired territory, making the Burgundian Netherlands a rival of France. Later, in a period of decline towards the end of the fifteenth century after Charles the Bold (1433–1477) had died at the battle of Nantes in 1477, the Burgundian lands were reabsorbed into France and the Netherlands became a part of the Holy Roman Empire.

      This is an important time for the development of European capitalism. Big families throughout Europe developed international trade, such as the Medici of Florence. The French word for stock market, bourse, is derived from another big family of international traders, the van der Breuse family, who centred their enterprise in Bruges. Along with the increasing wealth from trade came a new opulence in materials for art. It is at this time that painters turned from using egg-based paint, or tempera, to oil-based paint. Oil had been used for many centuries, but it was not until the fifteenth century that it became widely popular, first in the north and then spreading to the south.

      The development of manuscript illumination flourished at this time. The duc of Berry (1340–1416) was one of the greatest art patrons of the time. He had over one hundred lavish manuscripts among his rare jewels and works of art.

      While exquisite hand-illuminated books were being created for the very wealthy, in the 1440s Johann Gutenberg (1398–1468) was able to expand on the block printed books of the fourteenth century by creating moveable type and modifying presses used for making wine to develop a more efficient and less expensive system for printing.

      Other innovations of the time included Filippo Brunelleschi’s (1377–1446) development of one point perspective for painting. This system allowed for greater illusionism in two-dimensional paintings, creating the impression of three-dimensional space. This was a breakthrough from the flattened, awkward pictures of the Middle-Ages.

      This period was also known as the dawn of the Age of Exploration. Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) sailed across the Atlantic for the Americas in 1492 under the flag of Castille. While the Portuguese explorer, Pedro Alvares Cabral (1467–1520), later would claim Brazil for Portugal in 1500.

      The Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama (1469–1524), also sailed to India in 1498 around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, which had been explored by Bartholomew Diaz in 1487. These sea routes would lead to tremendous expansion of European wealth and power through international trade.

      52. Konrad von Soest, active 1394–1422, Northern Renaissance, German, The Wildunger Altarpiece, c. 1403, Oil on panel, 158 × 267cm, Church of Bad Wildungen, Bad Wildungen

      53. Frater Francke, 1380-c.1430, International Gothic, German, Pursuit of St Barbe, 1410–15. Tempera on panel, National Museum, Helsinki

      54. Limbourg Brothers, International Gothic, Flemish, The Very Rich Hours of the Duc of Berry: January, 1412–1416, Illumination on vellum paper, 22.5 × 13.6 cm, Musée Condé, Chantilly

      These three Flemish brothers were the most famous illuminators of late Gothic. The Very Rich Hours of the Duc de Berry in January is considered their greatest work and an outstanding example of International Gothic art. The miniatures are by common consent masterpieces of manuscript illumination for their masterful rendering of space and their use of unusual colours.

      55. Gentile da Fabriano, 1370–1427, International Gothic, Italian, Adoration of the Magi, 1423. Tempera on panel, 303 × 282 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

      The large, beautifully gilded Altarpiece for the Strozzi Chapel of The Holy Trinity in Florence presents the Epiphany event. In its three lower panels, with details like that of Dutch miniatures, it also shows three other related events from the New Testament: The Nativity, the Flight into Egypt, and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. The elegantly dressed three kings and their large entourages, with horses and a large dog nearly dominate the scene. Gentile’s subjects in subsequent paintings, such as Golden Alms of St. Nicholas (1423), become more natural as if anticipating the masters of Italian Renaissance painting.

      Gentile da Fabriano

      (1370 Fabriano – 1427 Rome)

      Fabriano was a leader of Italian late Gothic. His works were religious, characterized with elegant gold gilding. His masterpiece is the Altarpiece, Adoration of the Magi (1423). Shortly afterwards he showed new insight into perspective with foreshortening of his subjects as in Golden Alms of St. Nicholas (1425).

      56. Tommaso Masaccio, 1401–1428, Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden, 1425, Fresco, 208 × 88 cm, Brancacci Chapel of

      Santa Maria della Carmine, Florence

      This scene represents the expulsion of Adam and Eve following the Original Sin. Rays coming from the gate of Paradise represent the Voice of the Creator. The source of light, however, is to the right, as can be seen from the shadows. The Archangel Gabriel with his symbolic sword hovers above. The breakthrough element in the fresco is the depiction of human emotion by way of the body language and facial expressions of the couple. The important comparison to be made here is between this work and that of Michelangelo’s treatment of the same biblical moment in his larger The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The latter was done only seventy-five years after the Masaccio, yet there is a leap ahead towards realistic, albeit monumental, rendering of the human forms of the couple. The figure of the angel in the Michelangelo expresses more depth and aggression. However, a few months before the Michelangelo, Dürer’s Adam and Eve (1509) gives the couple even more realistic shape, yet the infamous fig leaves are used and the poses are rather lifeless, compared even to the Masaccio.

      57. Frater Francke, 1380-c.1430, International Gothic, German, Christ Carrying the Cross, 1424. Tempera on panel, 99 × 88.9 cm, Kunsthalle, Hamburg

      58. Tommaso Masaccio, 1401–1428, Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Madonna and Child with St Anne Metterza, c. 1424. Tempera on

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