Department of Art History

The volume’s title, Invention: Northern Renaissance Studies in Honor of Molly Faries, evokes Molly’s passion for understanding an artist’s creative process. The term “invention” is here understood in the widest possible sense: How did a work of art come into being? How did an artist react to new stimuli or adapt to a new culture? Was innovation valued above adherence to a local tradition? To what degree could artists shape their patrons’ taste? How did artists transform their own inventions over time and adopt those of others? Was there a concept of invention specific to the Northern Renaissance and how did it differ from ours? The authors who tackle these and other questions include university professors, curators, conservators, and conservation scientists, all recognized specialists in northern European art of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The artists they discuss are among the greatest painters, manuscript illuminators, printmakers, and sculptors: Johan Maelwael, the Limbourg brothers, Jan Van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Lieven van Lathem, Juan de Flandes, Jean Hey, Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch, Master H.L., Jacques Du Broeucq, and Jan Brueghel the Elder.