Gothic Painting (1280-1515)
The Gothic style began with the architecture of the 12th
century, at the height of the Middle Ages, when Europe was putting the memory
of the `` Dark Ages''behind it and moving into a radiant new era of prosperity
and confidence. At the same time, Christianity was entering a new and
triumphant phase of its history, and so the age of chivalry was also the time
of the building of the magnificent Gothic cathedrals, such as those in the
northern French towns of Chartres, Reims and Amiens. In the realm of painting,
the change to the new style became visible around a century after the first of
these cathedrals rose. In contrast to the Romanesque and Byzantine styles, the
most noticeable feature of the art of the Gothic period is its increased
naturalism. This quality, which first appeared in the work of Italian artists
in the late 13th century, became the dominant painting style throughout Europe
until the end of the 15th century.
The Gothic era in painting spanned more than 200 years,
starting in Italy and spreading to the rest of E.
By the end of the 14th century, the fusion of Italian and
Northern European art had led to the development of an International Gothic
style. For the next quarter of a century, leading artists travelled from Italy
to France, and vice versa, and all over Europe. As a consequence, ideas spread
and merged, until eventually painters in this International Gothic style could
be found in France, Italy, England, Germany, Austria and Bohemia.
Masters of illumination
The ancient art of book illumination was still the
prevailing form of painting in France at the beginning of the 15th century. It
reached new heights, however, in the work of the three Limbourg brothers, Pol,
Herman, and Jean, exponents of the International Gothic style.
They came from Gelderland, a province of the Netherlands,
but worked in France. They were the only other Gothic painters to take such
orderly joy as that shown by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the city and its
environment, its people, and its rulers. The Limbourg brothers all died
suddenly in 1416, probably of the plague.
The Limbourgs 'joint masterpiece, Les Tr
