Flemish Art
With the designation Flemish art (arte fiamminga), we mean the entire body of artistic manifestations characteristic of the southern Netherlands, that is, the territory that roughly coincides with today’s political Belgium. The regions that were artistically preeminent were the counties of Flanders (with Bruges and Ghent), Hainaut, and also Artois, the duchy of Brabant (Brussels, Louvain, Hal, Antwerp), Limburg (Maaseyck, Tongres), and the Meuse region (with Liège, Namur). The relations of Flemish art with the art of the neighboring regions of northern France, the Lower Rhine, and especially the northern Netherlands (Holland) are manifold, so much so that a clear distinction between the production of Flemish artists working at home and that of artists active in neighboring countries must sometimes be excluded. On the other hand, while many Dutch artists worked in Flanders, many Flemings contributed to making the court of Burgundy artistically significant at the end of the 14th and throughout the 15th century, and many practiced their art in Italy from the late 16th century onward.
There are two periods in which Flemish art, always important, takes a preeminent place in the general development of European art, and this always in painting. During the 15th century, in the period following the transition from late Gothic to a more pronounced naturalism—that is, the period between the work of the van Eycks and that of the successors of Rogier van der Weyden—and in the 17th century, through the vast group of painters active around Rubens and Van Dyck. Also of the highest importance are the late Romanesque goldsmiths, as well as the miniaturists of the late 14th and early 15th centuries. The production of tapestries from the 15th to the 18th century also held considerable importance within the framework of European art.
Of the ecclesiastical architecture of the Romanesque era, there remain—besides the small constructions of Waha and Celles—parts incorporated into later Gothic structures, such as the cathedrals of St-Quentin in Tournai, of Bellechamp, of Notre-Dame-du-Sault in Bruges, of St-Gudule in Brussels, of St-Vincent in Soignies, of St-Barthélemy and Ste-Croix in Liège, of Ste-Gertrude in Nivelles, etc. Pre-Gothic aspects are also found in the Cistercian churches of Orval, Villers, and Aulne.
Among the most significant testimonies of the late Romanesque style (or early Gothic) are the precious reliquaries of the Meuse region: that of Tournai, executed in 1205 by Nicolaus of Verdun, a master already active before 1200 with masterpieces such as the reliquary of the Magi in Cologne Cathedral, that of Siegburg, the altar of Klosterneuburg in Austria (1181), and the bronze candelabrum “Trivulzio” in Milan Cathedral. Nicolaus was preceded by Godefroid de Claire and followed by other masters of the Meuse school who worked in enamel, such as Hugo of Oignies (reliquary of Namur) and the masters of the reliquaries of St-Eleutherius in Tournai (1247), of St-Remaclus in Stavelot (1265), and of Nivelles (1273–98: pure Gothic). Of 113 is the copper baptismal font of St-Barthélemy in Liège; Romanesque sculptures are found in the churches of Liège, Tournai, Ghent, etc. Famous are the ivories of the Liège-Metz school. Among the pre-Gothic miniatures, mention should be made of the Gospel Book of St-Livinus in Ghent (St-Bavo); the manuscripts of Bruges, between 1435 and 1494; Gerard David, born in the same city, influenced by Hugo van der Goes and Memling, active in Bruges, was born after 1455 and died in 1524.
Flemish art of the Renaissance quickly turned toward a rich and sometimes complex mannerism, under strong Italian influences; the principal artists lived between Brussels and Antwerp and had frequent contacts with Dutch artists. In Brussels: Jan Gossart called Mabuse (ca. 1478–1535); Bernaert van Orley (1492–1542); L. van Vanckenborch (ca. 1540–1625); Colin de Cotter; in Antwerp: the Brueghel family (v.); Joos van Cleve (d. 1540); Quentin Massys (1466–1530, from Louvain); P. Aertsen (1508–75, from Amsterdam) with M. van Rommerswaele and J. van Hemessen; Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–50); Joachim Patinir (1475–1524); Cornelis Floris de Vriendt (Floris, before 1520–70, also a theorist of architecture); Joachim Buccelaer (ca. 1533–73); M. de Vos (1532–1603); the two Pourbus, the younger of whom (1569–1622) was also active in Mantua. Also A. Moro, a Dutchman by birth who lived between 1512 and 1576, was a portraitist. In Bruges: J. Provost of Mons, d. 1520, who also worked in Antwerp; A. Isenbrant (pupil of G. David), d. 1551; Lancelot Blondel, who was also a sculptor; P. de Witte, called Candido (1548–1628), pupil of Vasari, active also in Florence, Rome, and Bavaria; in Italy worked, besides the aforementioned Floris, etc.: M. Coxie (1490–1560) and M. P. Brill (1550–84; 1554–1626) active in Rome; D. Calvaert (1540–1619) who worked in Bologna, influencing the Carracci and other Bolognese artists; Martin de Vos (1532–1603) and L. ‘t Occo Pozzoserrato (1550–97) who worked in Venice; the Biliverti, and Stradanus (1523–1603) active in Florence, and many others up to Rubens, Van Dyck, Sustermans, etc. One of the principal “Romanists” was L. Lombard, along with Coecke and Blondel, who exerted a profound influence on Flemish architecture and sculpture. In Spain worked Juan de Flandes (d. 1519).
Uninterrupted is then the series of illuminated manuscripts up to the late French-influenced Gothic, among which notable are those of the miniaturists active at the court of Burgundy at the time when the van Eycks began to work. Numerous are the Gothic churches; besides those already mentioned, we recall: Bruges (Sts-Michel-et-Gudule, Notre-Dame), Tongres, Tournai (St-Nicolas, St-Jacques), Oudenarde, Ghent, Liège (St-Paul and St-Jacques), Antwerp (cathedral), Hal, Mons—in part with sculptures that prepare the art of Sluter—etc. Signs of the wealth of those cities are the Gothic town halls of Ghent, Ypres, Brussels, Louvain, Mons, Tournai, Oudenarde, as well as the Episcopal Palace of Liège.
No Flemish painter prior to the van Eycks attained such European importance. The most significant had been M. Broederlam, active besides in Ypres, his native city, with the sculptor Sluter at the court of Burgundy, while a Giovanni di Bruges had designed cartoons for the tapestries of Angers: the largest cycle of Gothic tapestries preserved. Little is known of the masters of Jean Mansel, of Guilbert de Mels, Jacques Coëne. With the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and their Ghent Altarpiece, one of the most eminent masterpieces of European art, begins that exceedingly rich and uninterrupted chain of great Flemish painters that, for more than two centuries, made Flemish art one of the liveliest centers of European painting. The most important painters of the 15th century are: Petrus Christus, a direct follower of Jan van Eyck, master in Bruges in 1444 and died there in 1472; Robert Campin, born around 1379, active in Tournai and died there in 1444; his pupil Jacques Daret, mentioned in 1404–68 and from 1432 master in Tournai; the Master of Flémalle, identified by some with Campin, by others with the young Rogier van der Weyden; Rogier van der Weyden, born in Tournai around 1390 and died in 1464; Justus of Ghent (Joos van Wassenhove) who worked at the court of Urbino; Hugo van der Goes of Ghent, d. 1482; Dieric Bouts, of Dutch origin, born in Haarlem around 1420, died in 1475, active in Brussels and Louvain; Giovanni Memling, born German but lived
(II. Jules Mansard)