Which Early Painters Are These?
Can You Identify These Renaissance Painters?
Test your knowledge of famous 15th- and 16th-century Flemish and Italian painters. Learn intriguing new facts about them.
Which painter:
1. Was “valet de chambre” to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy?
Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck (c. 1385–1441) is a highly-celebrated 15th-century Flemish court painter. His naturalistic panel paintings, mostly portraits and religious subjects, make extensive use of religious symbolism as well as detailed, light-filled realism. His masterpiece is the altarpiece in the cathedral at Ghent, the Adoration of the Lamb (1432). There is no record of the date of his birth, but his career is well-documented. In 1425 van Eyck entered the service of the powerful prince, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. As a painter and "valet de chambre" (or personal attendant) to the Duke, Jan van Eyck was a highly-valued member of the court and served at the pleasure of the duke like any other member of the court. An indication that he was held in high regard is a document in which the Duke scolded his treasurers for not paying van Eyck his salary, arguing that van Eyck would leave and that he would not be able to find "his equal in his art and science." In the book coming out this December, 2007, Inventing van Eyck: The Remaking of an Artist for the Modern Age, author Jenny Graham claims that van Eyck is the artist who bridges the gap between the medieval and the modern.
2. Was said to have been poisoned in Rome by jealous rivals in 1428?
Masaccio
Masaccio (1401-1428) strongly influenced the painters of the Renaissance. In his work, he began a movement away from the stiffness and ornamentation of the Gothic period and toward realism that became highly sought-after during the Renaissance. Historian Vasari asserts that all painters from Florence studied Masaccio’s frescoes extensively to "learn the precepts and rules for painting well.” Masaccio's death occurred very suddenly in Rome and, according to legend, was caused by being poisoned by a jealous rival painter.
3. Himself a monk, eloped with a nun, Lucrezia Buti?
Filippo Lippi
Filippo Lippi (1406-1469) is a 15th-century Renaissance painter born in Tuscany. While working on a painting for a convent chapel, he espied Lucrezia Buti, a beautiful girl living in the convent under the guardianship of the nuns. Lippi asked that she might be permitted to sit for him as a model for his Madonna figure. He made love to the beautiful young Lucrezia and ran off with her, causing a huge scandal. Due to the efforts of the powerful Medici family, who recognized his talent, his career was salvaged. He went on to create artwork to adorn the walls of the Medici palace.
4. Lived on an exclusive diet of boiled eggs?
Piero di Cosimo
Piero di Cosimo (1462-1522) is a Florentine Renaissance painter whom historian Giorgio Vasari, in The Lives of the Artists, describes as a total eccentric. Vasari reports that Cosimo’s diet consisted soley of eggs, hard-boiled fifty at once at the same time as he prepared his glue (in order to save time and fuel). Cosimo was a painter with a fantastic imagination: Vasari relates how he would wander around by himself conjuring “extraordinary landscapes” and “castles in the air.” His imagination was grounded in real life, as Vasari also points out that he drew extremely well from first-hand observation. Frequently Cosimo's subjects are from classical mythology such as the Perseus and Andromeda series which today hangs in the Uffizi. His most famous painting is the stunning portrait of the noblewoman Simonetta Vespucci featuring an entwining snake around her neck.
Source:
Bailey, Colin J. The Art Quiz Book: 2000+ Questions on Painters and Paintings. Station Press: Scotland, 1995.
