89. Melchior Broederlam, The Dijon Altarpiece:
Annunciation and Visitation (left panel), 1393-1399.

Tempera on panel, 167 x 125 cm.

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon (France).

 

 

The Prague School

The Prague School, which was initiated by Emperor Charles IV, intended its images to be more plastic than painterly. Its pictures are still partially in their original locations: Mary’s Chapel and the Chapel of the Cross in Castle Karlstein in Bohemia, and the Imperial Gallery in Vienna. Although painted in tempera on wood, these images were supposed to function as replacements for frescos and are therefore stylistically related to wall paintings. They show progress only in the striving for spiritual depth and strength of the characters. This is particularly visible in the Chapel of the Cross that features a long row of disciples, half-length portraits, church fathers, and male and female saints creating a continuous decoration on the chapel walls. This series of images is attributed to Theoderic of Prague, who was, along with Nicolaus Wurmser from Strasbourg, one of the main masters of the Prague school.

 

However, the Prague school did not contribute to the further development of painting as such. That happened in Cologne, which had attained high prestige with its spiritual power and secular wealth, and those areas of the lower Rhine that were ruled by the city.

 

 

Gothic Painting in Belgium and the Netherlands

 

The two Van Eycks are unquestionably among the first and most important painters of Flanders. Little is known about either, even their dates of birth are uncertain. Jan Van Eyck was supposedly born around 1390 close to Maastricht and Hubert around 1366. Jan is the more renowned of the two. He collaborated with Hubert on the Ghent Altarpiece, or Triptych of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, which was started in 1426 and completed in 1432. On the left outer wing the donor Jodokus Vyd is portrayed in prayer. The date for the beginning of the altarpiece may be determined by the death of Jan’s employer, John III, Duke of Bavaria, also known as Pitiless John, which led to Jan Van Eyck entering the services of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, also called Philip the Good. He was registered in the latter’s household as “squire and painter” and also took the role of confidant. For his services he received a salary, two horses for personal use and a servant. He spent most of his life in Bruges.