The Ghent Altarpiece is impressive in so many ways, but what stood out to me the most was Van Eyck’s usage of the church where the altarpiece would’ve been placed as part of the viewer’s experience. I find this to be a very crafty method by Jan Van Eyck because I think this is a great way to illuminate the painting while maintaining a sense of naturalism. While Jan Van Eyck uses a golden semicircle placed behind the three largest figures on the front of the altarpiece to show their divinity. This is a step ahead from the entirely gilded backgrounds seen in works such as Rogier van der Weyden, Entombment where the background is unnaturally gold. In contrast, light from the windows hit the Ghent’s Altarpiece at the center which illuminates the center figures so there isn’t a need for an overwhelming amount of gold.

Furthermore, Jan Van Eyck’s careful placement of Adam and Eve where they’re placed on the panels flanking the central panels creates a natural darkening because the figures are turned away from the natural light. I find it incredible how Van Eyck is able to use light and shade to illuminate and darken figures based on their biblical stories.

This week the emergence of similarities between Northern and Italian art showed a cohesiveness between the two we hadn’t seen before. The works of van der Weyden displayed a crossing over of ideas, combining the scenery and techniques of his contemporaries in the Low Countries with symbolism and tomb structure of the Italian art he likely viewed during the jubilee year. The added context provided by the detailed background combines with the Italian-style presentation of the main figures to create a wholly more convincing and lifelike feel. Weyden’s Deposition also exemplifies a shift in depictions of human emotion that occurred over time both in Italy and the North. Each figure is portrayed in high detail, with careful attention paid to their body language and facial expressions. The use of oil instead of tempura enabled the depiction of lifelike tears. Similar changes in style are evident in the Ghent altarpiece, which we also examined in class. The interior panels display heaven in an extremely natural, realistic, and lifelike way. The scenes seem to mirror what people would see in everyday life, just with more splendor and vivid colors. This serves to draw people to the work. Its status as an altarpiece and the fact that it would have been opened only on select days further intensifies how observers must have felt when seeing it opened. Symbolism is still heavily present, including the Arma Christi, but figures and symbols appear as if they have come from real life and been reflected onto the panels.

I found Matthias Grünewald’s altarpiece particularly intriguing, especially the center panel. The concept of this scene not being a narrative, but the idea of the crucifixion is fascinating, as the painting was tailored to be an object of worship, not true to life. The utter blackness of the background is not consistent with the actual story, but alludes to the tone of the scene. Additionally, Saint John the Baptist is depicted next to Christ, despite having already passed away at the time of Christ’s death upon the cross. The sacrificial lamb in the bottom of the scene is holding a cross and bleeding into a chalice, clearly a metaphorical figure and not an actual animal. The entire composition of the painting is metaphorical, straying far from the actual biblical narrative. This demonstrate’s the painting’s primary use as an object of worship, not merely a narrative work. It is tailored for its setting, rather than existing in a vacuum.

In this class, we compared multiple Madonna Enthroned pieces. It was interesting to discuss the similarities and differences that came as art progressed including the inconology of scrolls and the symbols including different colors and flowers. Similarly, our conversation about communion and religion was interesting to me as I have not been exposed to Catholicism at the level I would like to eventually reach. The depth of details in paintings such as Domenico Veneziano, St Lucy (the center of the painting) was humorous yet also astounding as I would’ve never noticed or understood such a miniscule yet important detail without it being explained.

During our discussion on the 30th, we talked about many of the altarpieces covered on the video lecture on the 28th, while also discussing and observing the emergence of emotions being depicted in altarpieces in the late 15th century.  One of the more interesting pieces of symbolism we talked about, although I’ve seen it before (just without its title) is the Arma Christi.  I thought it was an interesting title for the crown of thrones, the nails of the cross, the spear that pierced his side, and the sponge of vinegar Jesus was tricked into drinking.  As was with our video lecture, we talked about the Ghent altarpiece, and how it creates a tension between realism (naturalism) and symbolism.  I found the consideration of the opened/closed altarpiece especially interesting, as the portrayal of heaven (still naturalistic but with much more vivid colors) would only be visible on certain days of celebration, thus making it more of a spectacle.  Although altarpieces were yet to be considered art in the modern sense, the skill of the painter, and the intention put into how it was portrayed (although also due to the patron’s wises) are just as relevant. One of my favorite pieces from this class was Deposition (1434), as the depiction of the scene, contained within what is painted to look like a golden box, bears a striking resemblance to the sculptures, carvings, and other three dimensional mediums found in churches throughout history.  Although I personally prefer his earlier depiction of Jesus’ entombment, it was particularly interesting to see what concepts and ideas van der Weyden took from Northern artists to synthesize his second Entombment, which he painted in 1450.  The new material from the lecture on the 30th, the Portinari altarpiece (c 1474-76) showed a continuation of major iconography, complete with plenty of symbolism, combined with the idea of the same narrative across a continuous landscape that we talked about at the beginning of our discussion.

This lecture we explored and talked about some northern altarpieces. I really liked how the altarpieces we discussed depicted 2D realistic looking sculptures as well as used the light from the windows of the church it would be in in the work itself to make it look like the altarpiece was cohesive with the church as well as in the same space. These altarpieces also possessed themes we have already been talking about, like the connection between the Virgin and the Church. I was intrigued by the amount of detail in these altarpieces in the brocade as well as the jewels on the crown. It was also interesting to see how beauty standards of the time influenced how artists depicted women (Eve’s body and her forehead).

On Thursday’s class, we talked about what made things stand out on certain pieces. One example was the emphasis some artists placed on emotions by focusing on the details and taking away the landscape. There was also more of a narrative that presented itself on the altarpiece compared to others.

More specifically, we talked about the Ghent altarpiece which represented the holy trinity in a unique way. It was also a piece that became more vibrant as you went towards the middle which was where the holy figures were. Something that really stood out to me about this piece was that it was specifically designed for the place it was in by painting it as if it was getting light from an actual window which just made it feel like it belonged and fit in its space.

Another piece we discussed was the Entombment. The artist took inspiration from a piece from Italy for this one but made some changes to make it more emotional and give it a narrative context which highlighted some of the differences between Northern and Italian art.

This class we discussed compassion and the transition to more emotional pieces in Italian art and the growing idea of naturalism displayed in altarpieces. In the piece Entombment by Weyden, each figure in the piece show intense emotion highlighted by tiny details, postures and symbolism. Mary is seen in the same position as her son, showing how she feels his pain. in class we concluded that that is what compassion is, the shared pain of equals. Also it is interesting how her hand is between the skull and the foot of a living person, representing her state of being in between living and dead.

A similarity between northern and southern renaissance art was the growing naturalism in the paintings and altarpieces. As seen in the Ghent Altarpiece, Adam and Eve are painted with extreme detail and lighting making it seem like they are in the church with the congregation. This is not specific to northern renaissance art. the south also transitions to more detailed paintings that make sense of dimension and depth, adding to a feel of the altarpiece extending the space you are in, not being a flat wall to simply look at.

In this class, we basically discussed how naturalism is embedded in artworks in the 15 century. In Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece, the details on clothes, jewels, and crowd are so vivid in real-life style, and the churches in the background are similar to the churches in the real contemporary world. The purpose of these natural details is to help people to relate themselves to heaven, and they become reasonable if we realize that since no living human has been to heaven before, the artist can only relate to real-life stuff when depicting and creating something in imagination. There are also other technics that embed reality into artworks, such as the use of light and shadow applied to the body of Adam and Eve to create a sense that it is the real light from the chapel windows that is shining upon their bodies. Naturalism is also revealed in Rogier van der Weyden’s Entombment, where no landscape is drawn in the background for the reason that the altarpiece is placed indoors. Symbolism also appears in this altarpiece if we look at the same position of Mary and Jesus, meaning that the virgin is in compassion (suffer with) her son. We then compared two paintings: Fra Angelico’s Entombment from Italy, which is symmetric, and Rogier van der Weyden’s another Entombment from Northern Europy, which breaks the symmetry. The symmetry of the former one makes the artwork more formal and statue-like, and Jesus in it looks less dead, peaceful, and harmonic. Weyden’s work, however, is closer to reality: the atmosphere is more gruesome, so the audience would feel more emotional suffering with Jesus and thus more compassionate. Therefore, if we reflect on all these altarpieces mentioned in class, that altarpieces have religious functions besides aesthetic value are disclosed by the artist’s application of realism: in order to help prayer in front of the altarpiece to be more related to the religious and holy scene depicted in it, these artworks must be realistic and close to the real life.

What stood out to me in this lecture was the art technique of grisaille. I find it very interesting how Renaissance artists almost made it possible to create a multi-media-like artwork that incorporates so many elements of antiquity. Additionally, by adding sculptures to the painting, Jan Van Eyck adds another layer of naturalism to the piece by incorporating something that adds depth to the painting and plays with the viewer’s perception of whether this is an altarpiece or something from real life.

Furthermore, something else that I found interesting about Jan Van Eyck is his rendering of Eve in the painting. I was surprised to learn that Eve’s more plump belly was in tune with the beauty standard of the time. However, I find it interesting that this misconception happens more than once in Jan Van Eyck’s paintings. I first encountered this misconception in his painting, The Arnolfini Portrait where the female also looks pregnant. This makes me wonder if this was Van Eyck’s preferred way of depicting female subjects or the desires of his patrons? I haven’t encountered this misconception with other artists, so I’d be interested in learning if this is specific to Jan Van Eyck.