Art History - Robert Campin
The two artworks I chose to use for my essay are the Merode Altarpiece by Robert Campin, and The Deposition by Rogier van der Weyden. Both paintings are from the Early Renaissance, and I found both of them in my textbook. (Campin painting: page 307 and Weyden painting: page 311 in book “ART: A Brief History”)
Robert Campin, who was considered a great master of Flemish painting, painted the Merode Altarpiece within the time period of 1425-1428. Robert Campin was one of the first artists of his time to experiment with oil-based colors in his work and inspired other artists to do the same. Robert Campin was considered a very strong artist because of his close attention to details and realistic paintings. Whether Robert Campin was the true master of Flemish painting was a topic that many scholars debated for many centuries. Campin died in 1444, and was declared one of the best, interestingly enough, next to the other artist I chose to use, Rogier van der Weyden. The Merode Altarpiece is a small, 2 ft tall and 4ft wide, piece of art that was suggested to have been made for a small chapel. Robert Campin used oil paints on a wooden panel, and split his painting into three different sections. The middle section was a painting of what Campin believed to be the home of the Virgin Mary. After reading the section about this painting in the book, I was interested to discover symbols that I hadn’t noticed in the piece, and what the represented. For example, the lilies on the table represent Mary’s virginity, and the hanging pot in the background symbolizes her purity. I liked how the symbolism, along with the angel, related to religion and there is a presence of God in the picture (blown out candles). In the left wing of the painting, it displays two people praying at the garden in front of a sacred house. Finally, the right panel is a view out Saint Joseph’s window, on to a busy town street and he’s working in his workshop in a dim room.
The second painting I chose to do
Robert Campin, who was considered a great master of Flemish painting, painted the Merode Altarpiece within the time period of 1425-1428. Robert Campin was one of the first artists of his time to experiment with oil-based colors in his work and inspired other artists to do the same. Robert Campin was considered a very strong artist because of his close attention to details and realistic paintings. Whether Robert Campin was the true master of Flemish painting was a topic that many scholars debated for many centuries. Campin died in 1444, and was declared one of the best, interestingly enough, next to the other artist I chose to use, Rogier van der Weyden. The Merode Altarpiece is a small, 2 ft tall and 4ft wide, piece of art that was suggested to have been made for a small chapel. Robert Campin used oil paints on a wooden panel, and split his painting into three different sections. The middle section was a painting of what Campin believed to be the home of the Virgin Mary. After reading the section about this painting in the book, I was interested to discover symbols that I hadn’t noticed in the piece, and what the represented. For example, the lilies on the table represent Mary’s virginity, and the hanging pot in the background symbolizes her purity. I liked how the symbolism, along with the angel, related to religion and there is a presence of God in the picture (blown out candles). In the left wing of the painting, it displays two people praying at the garden in front of a sacred house. Finally, the right panel is a view out Saint Joseph’s window, on to a busy town street and he’s working in his workshop in a dim room.
The second painting I chose to do