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Andrew Graham-Dixon shows how the art of Renaissance Flanders evolved from the craft of precious tapestries within the Duchy of Burgundy into a painting school.

Andrew Graham-Dixon shows how the art of Renaissance Flanders evolved from the craft of precious tapestries within the Duchy of Burgundy into a leading painting school in its own right. Starting his journey at the magnificent altarpiece of Ghent Cathedral created by the Van Eyck brothers, Andrew explains their groundbreaking innovation in oil painting and marvels at how the colours they obtained can still remain so vibrant today.

Andrew describes how, in the early Renaissance, the most urgent preoccupation was not the advancement of learning, humanist or otherwise, but the Last Judgment. People believed they were living in the end of days; a subject popular with preachers and artists and intensely realised in swarming microscopic detail by Hieronymus Bosch.

58 minutes

Last on

Mon 9 Aug 2021 23:30

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Music Played

  • Guillemots

    Little Bear

  • The Cinematic Orchestra

    Entr'acte (Chapter 3)

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon
Producer Ian Leese
Director Ian Leese
Series Producer Silvia Sacco
Executive Producer Basil Comely

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Andrew Graham-Dixon Interview

Read Andrew's thoughts on the art and culture of the Low countries