Geertgen tot Sin Jans

Geertgen - Man of Sorrows - c. 1495 - Oil on panel, 26 x 25 cm - Aartsbisschoppelijke Musea, Utrecht (click photo for larger image)Geertgen tot Sin Jans (c. 1460-1490) was an Early Netherlandish painter from the northern Low Countries in the Holy Roman Empire. No contemporary documentation of his life has been traced, and the earliest published account of him work is from 1604, in Karel van Mander's Schilder-boeck. According to van Mander, Geertgen was probably a pupil of Albert van Ouwater, who was one of the first oil painters in the northern Low Countries. Both painters lived in the city of Haarlem, where Geertgen was attached to the house of the Knights of Saint John, perhaps as a lay brother, for whom he painted an altarpiece. In van Mander's book he states that Geertgen took the name of St. John without joining the order, thus his last name "tot Sint Jans" was derived from the order's name and means "unto Saint John”. The picture featured here represents a scene from the Passion of Christ, and reveals the depths to which the artist explored human emotions.

Hans Memling - Early Netherlandish Painter

Hans Memling - St John Altarpiece (central panel) - 1474-79 - Oil on oak panel, 173,6 x 173,7 cm - Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges (click photo for larger image)Hans Memling (c.1430-1494) was the leading Flemish painter of the Bruges school during the period of the city’s political and commercial decline. The number of his imitators and followers testified to his popularity throughout Flanders. Memling’s art clearly reveals the influence of contemporary Flemish painters. He borrowed, for example, from Jan van Eyck, and the influence of Bouts and van der Goes can also be discerned in his works. Above all, Memling’s art reveals a thorough knowledge of, and dependence on, compositions and figure types created by Rogier van der Weyden. It’s believed by some scholars that Memling studied under the older master.

An Early Expressionist--Rogier van der Weyden

Rogier van der Weyden - Bladelin Triptych - 1445-50 - Oil on oak panel, 91 x 89 cm (centre panel), 91 x 40 cm (each wing) - Staatliche Museen, Berlin (click photo for larger image)Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Lady - c. 1455 - Oil on oak panel, 37 x 27 cm - National Gallery of Art, Washington (click photo for larger image)Rogier van der Weyden (born 1399/1400, Tournai, France - died June 18, 1464, Brussels) was a Flemish painter who was the most influential northern European artist of his time--with the exception of Jan van Eyck.

Rogier was born into a rising middle class--and documentation exists that suggests he received a university education. He didn’t begin painting until the ripe old age of 27!

In his later life, Rogier received numerous vast commissions and was the head of his own large workshop. His work has had an enormous inpact on subsequent generations of artists--in part for its expressionistic qualities that do not rely on the inclusion of enormous technical details.

Petrus Christus: A Developer of the Interior Space

Petrus Christus - St Eligius in His Workshop - 1449 - Oil on panel, 98 x 85 cm - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (click photo for larger image)Petrus Christus - Virgin and Child in a Chamber - 1450-55 - Panel, 70 x 51 cm - Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (click photo for larger image)Netherlandish painter Petrus Christus (born c. 1410/20, Baarle – died c. 1475/75, Brugge) is believed by some scholars to have been the pupil of Jan van Eyck--although it is debatable. In any case, he was most definitely heavily influenced by Van Eyck--as well as by Rogier van der Weyden. While lacking the power of these other masters--Christus does count among his best works his portraits--which place his sitters in clearly defined interiors. This represents a significant stylistic departure from the dark backgrounds of his day. Christus also created the earliest dated example of the use of geometric perspective, with a single vanishing point, in the north.

Follow this link to read some interesting details about about Christus' "St Eligius in His Workshop" (top image).

Jan van Eyck: The Master of Symbols

Jan van Eyck - Portrait of a Goldsmith (Man with Ring) - c. 1430 - Wood, 16,6 x 13,2 cm (without frame) - Muzeul National de Arta, Bucharest (click photo for larger image)Jan van Eyck - Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait) - 1434 - Oil on oak, 82 x 60 cm National Gallery, London (click photo for larger image)Jan van Eyck (born c. 1380/90 - died 1441) is the artist credited with perfecting the use of oil paint and has traditionally been exalted as the founder of Flemish painting. His work is characterized by an extensive number of disguised religious symbols.

Jan van Eyck is one of those masters in whom interest--over time--has remained high. His work is frequently copied and to own anything by the artist is a collector’s dream. His major achievement is the Ghent Altarpiece, featured elsewhere on this site. Indeed, the return of this famous work to Belgium had to be guaranteed--in the Treaty of Versailles, after WWI--before peace with Germany could be finalized. However, Jan van Eyck is also well known for many of his fine portraits--most notably the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait.