Key Points

• The three most prominent painters during this period, Jan van Eyck, Robert Campin, and Rogier van der Weyden, were known for making significant advances in illusionism, or the realistic and precise representation of people, space, and objects.
• The preferred subject matter of the Flemish School was typically religious in nature, and the majority of the work was presented as panels, usually in the form of diptychs or polyptychs.
• While the Italian Renaissance was based on rediscoveries of classical Greece and Rome, the Flemish school drew influence from the region’s Gothic past.
• Van Eyck is known for signing and dating his work “ALS IK KAN” (“AS I CAN”).
• Robert Campin has been identified with the signature “Master of Flemalle.”
• Because the Flemish masters used a workshop system, they were able to mass produce high-end panels for sale and export throughout Europe.