The Eye as Camera

The Northern Renaissance (c. 1400-1600) in Flanders, Germany, and the Netherlands took a different path from Italy. Where Italian artists chased ideal beauty and classical proportion, Northern painters chased microscopic realism. Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441) led the way, painting the world with such precision that his panels still reward inspection under a magnifying glass.

Van Eyck's mastery came partly from his medium: oil paint. While Italian artists used tempera (egg-based paint that dries quickly), van Eyck refined oil glazing techniques that allowed him to build up translucent layers, creating luminous depth and detail impossible with tempera.