Papers by Oliver Kik
Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art / Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek Online
Although the well-documented cartographic involvement of painters has received some partial acade... more Although the well-documented cartographic involvement of painters has received some partial academic interest, this essay makes a contextual and comparative analysis of the phenomenon of the painter-cartographer in the Low Countries between 1480 and 1550. Contrary to a previous generation of painters, these artists’ involvement in cartographic mapping projects exceeded a mere chorographic visual input. As their familiarity with geometrical principles and trigonometry increased, so did their involvement shift from a purely aesthetic role towards an active input on the technical and scientific design process. By combining art historical archival research with architectural history and the history of mapmaking, this paper explores new perspectives on what united art and science during the early sixteenth century. It is argued that painters’ cartographical endeavors were never considered a side-business next to their more regular painting commissions, but rather that their cartographic ...
Architectural Histories, 2024
At the beginning of the 16th century the Habsburg Low Countries witnessed the emergence of a high... more At the beginning of the 16th century the Habsburg Low Countries witnessed the emergence of a highly skilled class of painters who also often actively engaged in architectural design practice. This phenomenon has often been explained as being the result of an influx of Italian and humanist thinking about the artist such via the writings of figures like Alberti and Vitruvius. In this article, I propose an alternative account, using selected case studies to argue that this development was an internal process. Essential to changing design practices was the transfer of geometrical design knowledge between guilds, a transfer that transgressed traditional boundaries. Finally, I explore the effect of this knowledge dissemination on the evolving status of the visual artist.
Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art, vol. 73, 2023
The struggle against water and the changing coast lines of the Low Countries has strongly defined... more The struggle against water and the changing coast lines of the Low Countries has strongly defined the art and character of its inhabitants. The silting of the Zwin estuary near Bruges at the end of the fifteenth century would ultimately lead to the city’s demise as a commercial and artistic hub, while in the north decisive efforts were being made to make changing shore lines and polders inhabitable and sea routes more accessible. As a result of this unceasing struggle against the North Sea, many of the cartographical commissions during the late 15th and 16th century were related to large-scale and ambitious hydraulic campaigns. While projects were traditionally dealt with by local building masters or land-surveyors, the visualisation of the area in the form of ground plans and maps, was often relayed to a local painter.
Although the well-documented cartographic involvement of painters such as Lanceloot Blondeel (1496-1561), Pieter Pourbus (1523-1584), Jan Van Scorel (1495-1562) and Cornelis Anthonisz. (1505-1553) received some partial academic interest, this paper will make a contextual and comparative analyses of the phenomenon of the painter-cartographer in the Low Countries between 1480 and 1550. Contrary to a previous generation of painters, these artists’ involvement in cartographic mapping projects exceeded a mere chorographic visual input. As their familiarity with geometrical principles and trigonometry increased, so did their involvement shift from a purely aesthetic role towards an active input on the technical and scientific design process. The focus of this interdisciplinary research will be threefold: on the trajectories which allowed geometrical knowledge to disseminate through established social networks, on collaborations between workshop practices and finally on the early development of trigonometry in the intellectual environment around Gemma Frisius (1508-1555) and the university of Leuven. Erudite networks in which artists, scientists, humanists and land-surveyors were key-players, set the stage for professional mapmaking embodied by figures such Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) and Gerard Mercator (1512-1594).
The thesis investigates the representation of Renaissance Architecture and Ornament in at the clo... more The thesis investigates the representation of Renaissance Architecture and Ornament in at the close of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century in the Low Countries. Painting in this period was characterized by a growing influx of new forms and architectural features. The origin and the diffusion of these motifs will be researched in the context of the changing workshop practices of serial production. Finaly the concequences of this novel typology for the Renaissance building practice in the Low Countries will be touched upon
Representing Urban Space in Later Medieval and Early Modern Europe, 2014
This research is based upon a chapter of my PhD dissertation which is part of the research projec... more This research is based upon a chapter of my PhD dissertation which is part of the research project 'Designing Architecture in the Sixteenth-century Low Countries' , funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). I wish to thank prof. dr. Krista De Jonge and Katrien Lichtert for proofreading and commenting on earlier drafts of this article.
De Zeventiende Eeuw. Cultuur in de Nederlanden in interdisciplinair perspectief, 2015
Museum Bulletin Brugge, 2016
O. Kik, "Rond den Heerd. Schoorsteenwangen en haardstenen in de Gruuthusecollectie", Museum Bulle... more O. Kik, "Rond den Heerd. Schoorsteenwangen en haardstenen in de Gruuthusecollectie", Museum Bulletin Brugge 36, 3 (2016), pp. 4-9.
It is a well-known and established fact that the origins of early print making bare a close relat... more It is a well-known and established fact that the origins of early print making bare a close relationship with goldsmith workshops, with Albrecht Dürer as the most celebrated representative of this development. Surprisingly, the printed output of these early engravers for goldsmith- and architectural design is a field which gained little attention by print scholars so far. This paper examines the professional position and production of this particular new genre of ornament prints from goldsmith-engravers in the Low Countries such as the architect Alart DuHameel (c. 1460 – c. 1506) or the anonymous Master W with the Key (active c. 1465-85). A major part of these engravers’ output consisted of designs for metalwork such as reliquaries, censors, chalices or crosiers. By providing designs for a wide range of craftsmen - ranging from architects, over wood carvers to goldsmiths – this group of goldsmith-engravers can be interpreted as intermediate players in the dissemination of geometrical designing knowledge to a great variety of media. This paper addresses issues such as the dissemination of design skills, the practical and aesthetic function of design prints, the interdisciplinary crossovers between craftsmen by printed media, and the self-representation of the artist by the use of house marks and monograms.
Much has already been said about the representation of the architectural cityscape of fifteenth-c... more Much has already been said about the representation of the architectural cityscape of fifteenth-century Early Netherlandish painting. The startling amount of detail in which Jan van Eyck or Rogier van der Weyden created a microcosm of gothic abundance, forms a defining element in their so-praised sense of realism. 1 Their urban landscapes and domestic interiors have been studied both from a architectural, iconographical, and quantitative point of view. 2 Despite the inclusion of some identifiable buildings and cityscapes -increasingly by the last quarter of the century in Bruges and Brussels 3 -it is generally accepted that most of these city views represent an abstract ideal of the flourishing late Medieval Burgundian city. Much like Zeuxis created an ideal female model out of the best parts, the artist selected, combined and improved the finest architectural examples in order to create a universal city, allowing the beholder to identify with the, mostly biblical, scene on the foreground. Also, the combination of liturgical scenes and the contemporary urban background might have been closely related to staged liturgical plays held during Holy days or urban festivities, as some of Memling's Simultanbilder have been interpreted. 4 Artists were well aware of the now seemingly anachronistic decors to which they set their scenes, as the inclusion of certain Romanesque elements testifies. This conscious style-awareness of Romanesque and Gothic is often interpreted as the evocation of an ancient past. A well-known example is that of Van Eyck's so-called Washington Annunciation (c. 1434-36), set in the nave or choir of a Romanesque church, is often interpreted as an reference to an * This research is based upon a chapter of my PhD dissertation which is part of the research project 'Designing Architecture in the Sixteenth-century Low Countries' , funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). I wish to thank prof. dr. Krista De Jonge and Katrien Lichtert for proofreading and commenting on earlier drafts of this article. 1 Craig Harbison, Jan van Eyck: Play of Realism (London: Reaktion Books, 1991).
Conference Papers by Oliver Kik
Book Reviews by Oliver Kik
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Papers by Oliver Kik
Although the well-documented cartographic involvement of painters such as Lanceloot Blondeel (1496-1561), Pieter Pourbus (1523-1584), Jan Van Scorel (1495-1562) and Cornelis Anthonisz. (1505-1553) received some partial academic interest, this paper will make a contextual and comparative analyses of the phenomenon of the painter-cartographer in the Low Countries between 1480 and 1550. Contrary to a previous generation of painters, these artists’ involvement in cartographic mapping projects exceeded a mere chorographic visual input. As their familiarity with geometrical principles and trigonometry increased, so did their involvement shift from a purely aesthetic role towards an active input on the technical and scientific design process. The focus of this interdisciplinary research will be threefold: on the trajectories which allowed geometrical knowledge to disseminate through established social networks, on collaborations between workshop practices and finally on the early development of trigonometry in the intellectual environment around Gemma Frisius (1508-1555) and the university of Leuven. Erudite networks in which artists, scientists, humanists and land-surveyors were key-players, set the stage for professional mapmaking embodied by figures such Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) and Gerard Mercator (1512-1594).
Conference Papers by Oliver Kik
Book Reviews by Oliver Kik
Although the well-documented cartographic involvement of painters such as Lanceloot Blondeel (1496-1561), Pieter Pourbus (1523-1584), Jan Van Scorel (1495-1562) and Cornelis Anthonisz. (1505-1553) received some partial academic interest, this paper will make a contextual and comparative analyses of the phenomenon of the painter-cartographer in the Low Countries between 1480 and 1550. Contrary to a previous generation of painters, these artists’ involvement in cartographic mapping projects exceeded a mere chorographic visual input. As their familiarity with geometrical principles and trigonometry increased, so did their involvement shift from a purely aesthetic role towards an active input on the technical and scientific design process. The focus of this interdisciplinary research will be threefold: on the trajectories which allowed geometrical knowledge to disseminate through established social networks, on collaborations between workshop practices and finally on the early development of trigonometry in the intellectual environment around Gemma Frisius (1508-1555) and the university of Leuven. Erudite networks in which artists, scientists, humanists and land-surveyors were key-players, set the stage for professional mapmaking embodied by figures such Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) and Gerard Mercator (1512-1594).