The documentary, Northern Renaissance: The Supreme Art", captivated me from the very beginning. I don't think I blinked until it ended. I can't wait to share it with my daughter!

The documentary, Northern Renaissance: The Supreme Art" describes the Northern Renaissance as a famous re-birth of painting. The art market was international and all of the art had a recognizable style. I feel that christianity and social stature were valued in the Northern Renaissance.

Jan Van Eyke made painting the ultimate art. His paintings perfectly depicted the real world. Eyke became known as the "Prince of Painters." At a time when magnificence glorified the powerful and catholocism reigned, Philippe the Good commissioned Eyke. He was greatly overpaid but Phillipe the Good believed he could not find an artist with equal skills. This identified Eyke as an individual with his art.

The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan Van Eyke launched the Renaissance. Visitors paid high prices to see it. Eventually, the panels of the painting were scattered for safety reasons. One panel was never recovered. Eyke created his art to reflect the light of the room the painiting would be hung in, combining an illusion of a global consistency that drew viewers into the painting. Eyke's technique of layering the oil paints thinly to build the colors he used is still the best way to depict a human form today. This technique he used in the gems he painted made them shine like real gems. Since an ordinary person couldn't afford jewels, they could commission a painted substitution at a fraction of the cost.

Iconography , the study of symbols in art, can be found throughout the paintings in this period. As a conspicuous way of matching oneself to the elite, portraits became popular. Eyke had the ability to portray the sitters deepest desires to the viewers. The Arnolfini portrait by Jan Van Eyke shows a mirror in the background of the painting. On the right side are pictures depicting the death and resurrection of Christ, while the left side depicts the life of Christ. It is so small that with my eyesight I need a magnifying glass to see it. This portrait also shows two candles, one with a flame lit and one with a flame extinguished. One theory is that the portrait is of a man mourning his wife that has passed and her image is next to him. My thought was since a candle extinguishes itself when god takes a human form, is it possible that the woman is an angel in the portrait? The painting made its way into royal collections and can now be viewed at the National Gallery in Brittain.

I would also like to mention Claus Sluter. Sluter was the first artist to give sculpture a life-like look. Sluter carved the "Well of Moses." The figures are so life like, not perfect, but true in form. You can see the age lines in the faces and every fold in the robes. Even the sculpture of Jeremiah is squinting because originally the sculpture included a pair of glasses.

Jan Van Eykes technique made its way to the Netherlands where his art stood as the gold standard of their painting industry. Jan Van Eyke's art is capable of being nature, not just reflecting nature.