During the 15th century, in a small area of France known in modern days as Burgundy, there lived and worked a small group of exceptional painters. They created some of the very finest and most beautiful works of art ever made. The Van Eyck brothers, Rogier Van der Weyden, Robert Campin, and Hugo Van der Goes, among others, pioneered oil painting. Their work has never, (in my opinion), been surpassed. The paintings are beautifully reproduced in this book, the colors glow with rich intensity. Abandon all preconceptions! Open this book and radically alter your estimate of human creative potential!

FROM THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB TO THE GREAT POLYPTYCH OF THE LAST JUDGEMENT, THE MASTERWORKS OF 15TH-CENTURY FLEMISH PAINTING CONSTITUTE ONE OF THE CENTRAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF EUROPEAN ART. THESE IMAGES ARE PART OF OUR COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS.

BEYOND THEIR THEOLOGICAL MESSAGE, THEY ARE ABLE TO MOVE US THROUGH BOTH THEIR EXTRAORDINARY ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND THEIR MAJESTIC COMPOSITIONS.FROM MELCHIOR BROEDERLAM TO QUENTIN MASSYS, EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTIST MADE HIS OWN UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION TO THIS HERITAGE: JAN VAN EYCK'S EYE FOR DETAIL,ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN'S EMOTIONAL ELOQUENCE,PETRUS CHRISTUS'S MASTERY OF LINEAR PERSPECTIVE,THE ASTONISHING RANGE OF RELIGIOUS FEELING IN THE WORK OF DIERIC BOUTS AND HUGO VAN DER GOES, JUSTUS OF GHENT'S OBSESSIVE QUIEST FOR REALITY AND THE HAUNTING FANTASY WORLD OF THE GREAT HIERONYMUS BOSCH.

FLANDERS UNDER THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY

THE ORIGINS OF FLEMISH ART

 MELCHIOR BROEDERLAM

FOUNDING FATHERS

 HUBERT AND JAN VAN EYCK

 ROBERT CAMPIN

 ROGIER VAN DER WEYDEN

 PETRUS CHRISTUS

WORTHY SUCCESSORS

 DIERIC BOUTS

 JUSTUS OF GHENT

 HUGO VAN DER GOES

TRADITION AND INNOVATION

 HIERONYMUS BOSCH

 HANS MEMLING

 QUENTIN MASSYS

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MASTERS

 JACQUES DARET

 GERARD DAVID

 THE MASTER OF THE LEGEND

 OF ST URSULA

 JAN GOSSART

FURTHER READING

MAP: THE STATES OF BURGUNDY