The Ghent Altarpiece (c.1432)
by Jan Van Eyck.
Northern Renaissance Artists (c.1430-1580)
The Northern Renaissance began with Jan Van Dyck's monumental masterpiece The Ghent Altarpiece, and was based on the Northern preference for oils and easel-painting. This facilitated the creation of a huge number of ultra-realistic works of art, including portraits, genre scenes and still life interiors, as well as great religious narrative paintings. The Dutch Realist School (Delft and Utrecht) was a leading exponent of the North European Renaissance style. The greatest Renaissance Old Masters from Holland, Flanders and Germany were: Albrecht Durer, Jan Van Eyck, Roger van der Weyden, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hieronymus Bosch and Hans Holbein the Younger. Tilman Riemenschneider was the foremost sculptor in wood.
