Images in Light and Line: The Stained Glass Designs and Prints of Dirk Vellert (Ars Nova, 4) (Ars Nova, 4) [Hardcover]

Ellen Konowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2007 | Series: Ars Nova (Book 4)

This study of Dirk Jacobsz. Vellert is the first extensive examination of a Netherlandish artist who specialized in the design of stained glass, a major artistic medium in the Northern Renaissance period that has been neglected by modern scholars. Vellert worked in Antwerp during the first half of the sixteenth century, when the city was the leading artistic and economic center in Northern Europe. His patrons included various levels of society: the church, the city and the wealthy bourgeoisie. He was responsible for monumental church windows, and he was an innovative designer of the sort of small-scale painted-glass panes that developed as a new art form to adorn buildings such as wealthy homes, cloisters, hospitals and secular buildings such as town halls. Moreover, probably under the influence of Albrecht Durer - who mentions meeting Vellert in his Netherlandish journal - Vellert became the first artist in Antwerp to engrave and etch, producing a relatively small but accomplished oeuvre of twenty-one prints that stands out in its innovative subject matter and technique. The artist's biography is reconstructed, partly with the use of newly discovered documents. A catalogue is provided which establishes Vellert's body of works, including drawings for stained-glass windows, completed small-scale painted glass panels, prints and portions of the windows at King's College Chapel, Cambridge. The final chapters of the book, which discuss the work according to medium, adress questions including those of function and patronage, working techniques and the nature of the collaborative process in the sixteenth century. This study situates stained glass of the period in a contextual framework of contemporary culture, as recent art historians have examined panel painting of this time. The book's purpose is two-fold: to help further the study of a significant but neglected art form, and to establish the contributions of one of its leading artists.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Brepols Publishers (November 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2503507271
• ISBN-13: 978-2503507279
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,788,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)