1. The Rise of Painting in the Burgundian Netherlands

3. Map of the Burgundian Netherlands

4. Hubert and Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece (closed), oil paint on oak, St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, shortly before and after 1432,
dimensions: 11’ 5’’ x 15’ 1’’
(when open)
Patrons: Joos (Jodocus) Vijd and his wife, Elisabeth Borluut

6. Adoration of the Lamb

11. Pictor hubertus eeyck · maior quo nemo repertus
Inscription on the Ghent Altarpiece:
Pictor hubertus eeyck · maior quo nemo repertus
Incepit · pondus · que johannes arte secundus
Frater perfecit · judoci vyd prece fretus
versu sexta mai · vos collocat acta tueri
The painter Hubert van Eyck, a greater man than whom cannot be found, began this work. Jan, his brother, second in art, completed the weighty task at the request of Joos Vijd. He invites you with this verse, on the sixth of May [1432], to look at what has been done.

13. U. S. Army Lieutenant Daniel J
U.S. Army Lieutenant Daniel J. Kern and German art conservator Karl Sieber examining the Ghent Altarpiece looted by the Nazis and discovered hidden in the Altaussee salt mines in Austria in 1945

14. Rogier van der Weyden,
The Exhumation of St. Hubert, ca

16. Throne of Mercy, detail of
an embroidered altar frontal,
15th century

17. Crucifixion Altarpiece, sculpture by Jacques de Baerze, polychromy by Melchior Broederlam, Carthusian monastery at Champmol, Dijon, France,

18. Crucifixion Altarpiece (closed), painted wings by Melchior Broederlam,
Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, France,

19. Statue of the Virgin and Child (Virgin of Jeanne d’Évreux), silver gilt and enamel, 1339 (height: 2' 3.5'')

20. Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390–1441) as court painter
1422–1424 In the service of John of Bavaria, Count of Hainaut-Holland
1425–1441 In the service of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy; employed as the duke’s valet de chambre

21. TEMPERA. A painting technique using pigments
TEMPERA A painting technique using pigments mixed with egg yolk, glue, or casein.
OIL PAINTING A painting technique using pigments mixed with drying oils (usually linseed or walnut).

22. Egg tempera
dries quickly
does not lend itself to broad application
applied thinly and evenly in tightly placed, regular, parallel strokes
opaque: colors applied next to, rather than on top of one another
colors remain true to the mineral pigments
Oil paint
takes hours, even days to dry
allows for blending of colors and the creation of new tones
allows for gradual transitions
translucence: what is beneath shows through
consistency of the medium is adjustable
greater variety in the size of brushes and the ways in which colors is applied
unlike tempera’s smooth appearance, oil can give texture

25. Jan van Eyck, St. Barbara,
brush with ink, silverpoint, and pigment on oak, 1437

26. (“Jan van Eyck made me 1437”)
IOHES DE EYCK ME FECIT 1437
(“Jan van Eyck made me 1437”)
Jan van Eyck, St. Barbara, 1437