Spanish Painting in the National Gallery of Art [antikvár]

Spanish Painting The earliest Spanish paintings in the National Gallery of Art reflect the taste of the age of Ferdinand and Isabella (c. 1474-1516). At that time Spanish nobles and prominent clergy imported both paintings and painters from Flanders, which was a very prosperous section of north Europe. It comprised the countries now called Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg; also it included a number of important centers in northeastern France. During the fifteenth century this area produced magnificent painting, noted for its astonishingly detailed realism. Queen Isabella must have become especially fond of the jewellike Flemish pictures, for she employed two artists from Flanders as her court painters, Miguel Sithium and Juan de Flandes. Sithium probably studied with Memling in Bruges, while the work of Juan de Flandes shows the influence of Gerard David of that same city. Juan de Flandes (page 15) is first recorded when he entered the service of Queen Isabella, in 1496, and two years later he was appointed court painter. Little is known about him; even his name, John of Flanders, is only a nickname. His painting incorporates French and 1