This book offers a wide-ranging introduction to the way that art was
made, valued, and viewed in northern Europe in the age of the
Renaissance, from the late fourteenth to the early years of the
sixteenth century. Drawing on a rich range of sources, from inventories
and guild regulations to poetry and chronicles, it examines everything
from panel paintings to carved altarpieces.
While many little-known works are foregrounded, Susie Nash also presents
new ways of viewing and understanding the more familiar, such as the
paintings of Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, and Hans Memling, by
considering the social and economic context of their creation and
reception. Throughout, Nash challenges the perception that Italy was the
European leader in artistic innovation at this time, demonstrating
forcefully that Northern art, and particularly that of the Southern
Netherlands, dominated visual culture throughout Europe in this crucial
period.