Flemish painting

Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century. Flanders delivered the leading painters in Northern Europe and attracted many promising young painters from neighbouring countries. These painters were invited to work at foreign courts and had a Europe-wide influence.

Late Gothic

The so-called Flemish "Primitives" were the first to popularize the use of oil paint. Their art has its origins in the miniature painting of the late Gothic period. Chief among them were Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes, Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden.

Renaissance

From the early 16th century, the Italian Renaissance started to influence the Flemish painters. The result was very different from the typical Italian Renaissance painting. The leading artist was Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

Baroque

After the Siege of Antwerp (1584-1585), the Southern Provinces of the Netherlands ("Flanders") remained under Spanish rule and were separated from the independent Dutch Republic. Although many artists fled the religious wars and moved from the Southern Netherlands to the Dutch Republic (see Dutch Golden Age painting), Flemish Baroque painting flourished, especially in the Antwerp school, during the seventeenth century under Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens.

Decline

Following the deaths of major artists like Rubens in 1640 and the end of the Eighty Years War in 1648, the cultural significance of Flanders declined.

A revival of painting in this region came only after the Belgian Revolution of 1830. Painters from this period are categorized as Belgian rather than Flemish (see List of Belgian painters).

ee also

*Dutch Golden Age
*Early Renaissance painting
*Guild of Romanists
*County of Flanders
*List of Flemish painters
*Netherlands
*Northern Renaissance

External links

* [http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/dutch.shtm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC]
* [http://www.oil-painting-techniques.com/flemish-painting.html Painting in Layers]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/subjects/Still_Life.html Still Life Painters]
* [http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/oeuvres_choisies.jsp;jsessionid=Dk0TMhpFXy27ZM2XXGTv12b0qhh2dV3fQmP4P39m9Ql8Bnsv6k2n!78639621?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024403&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181115&CURRENT_LLV_DIV%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024403&bmUID=1134867604142&bmLocale=en Flemish painting (Louvre)]