Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Primitives, adds the human touch to Van Eyck's rather detached
precision.
As Mary prepares to nurse, baby Jesus can't contain his glee,
wiggling his f ingers and toes,
anticipating lunch. Mary, dressed
in everyday clothes, doesn't try
to hide her love as she tilts her
head down with a proud smile.
Meanwhile, St. Luke (the patron
saint of painters, who was said
to have experienced this vision)
looks on intently with a sketch
pad in his hand, trying to catch
the scene. These small gestures,
movements, and facial expressions add an element of human
emotion that later artists would amplify.
The painting is neatly divided by a spacious view out the
window, showing a river stretching off to a spacious horizon. Van
der Weyden experimented with 3-D effects like this one (though
ultimately it's just window-dressing).
rogier van der Weyden—
Duke Philip the Good
(c. 1450)
Tall, lean, and elegant, this charismatic duke transformed Bruges
from a commercial powerhouse to a cultural one. In 1425, Philip
moved his court to Bruges, making it the de
facto capital of a Burgundian empire stretch-
ing from Amsterdam to Switzerland.
Philip wears a big hat to hide his hair,
a fashion trend he himself began. He's also
wearing the gold-chain neck lace of the
Order of the Golden Fleece, a distinguished
knightly honor he gave himself. He inaugu-
rated the Golden Fleece in a lavish ceremony
at the Bruges City Hall, complete with
parades, jousting, and festive pies that con-
tained live people hiding inside to surprise
his guests.
As a lover of painting, hunting, fine clothes, and many mis-
tresses, Philip was a role model for Italian princes, such as Lorenzo
the Magnificent—the
uomo universale,
or Renaissance Man.
Hugo van der goes (c. 1430-c. 1482)—
Death of the Virgin
(c. 1470)
The long deathwatch is over—their beloved Mary has passed on,
and the disciples are bleary-eyed and dazed with grief, as though
hit with a spiritual two-by-four. Each etched face is a study in sad-
