in the writings of Giovanni Pico della Mi-
randola, Marsilio Ficino, and Giordano
Bruno, and was taken up by significant
artists such as Sandro Botticelli and Mich-
elangelo Buonarroti. Ficino was a scholar
of Plato as well as Plotinus who sought to
reconcile Neoplatonism and Christianity,
and one of the first to translate the works
of the ancient Greeks. His writings, in par-
ticular commentaries on Plato’s dialogues,
served as a foundation for new concepts
of beauty and romantic love, and the idea
that philosophy should be part of any se-
rious work of art or literature. Neopla-
tonism found a wide following in France,
and its adherents included renowned es-
sayists and poets including Marguerite of
Navarre, Pierre Ronsard, and Francois Ra-
belais.
SEEALSO: Bruno, Giordano; Ficino, Mar-
silio; Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni
Netherlands .....................................
In the Middle Ages the Netherlands, or
Low Countries, was a territory of the
duchy of Burgundy, a wealthy realm that
stretched from the English Channel south
to the Alps. The major Flemish cities, in-
cluding Brussels, Bruges, and Ghent, were
among the most prosperous in all of Eu-
rope. The dukes of Burgundy were patrons
of the arts and the Netherlands was home
to the most innovative painters and com-
posers of northern Europe. Musicians of
the Flemish School were in high demand
throughout Europe. Josquin des Prez, Guil-
laume Dufay, and Johannes Ockegham de-
veloped a widely imitated style, written for
selected groups of instruments and always
with a mind to balanced melody and care-
ful harmonic progressions. Local artists
traveled to Italy and brought home new
trends in art, while Italian artists and ar-
chitects came north to enjoy the patronage
of Burgundian monarchs and aristocrats.
While the ideals of classical Greece and
Rome had less importance, the artists of
the Netherlands made their own innova-
tions. Jan van Eyck developed an astonish-
ing realism in his pictures, while Pieter
Brueghel turned to the natural world and
the lives of ordinary townsmen and peas-
ants for inspiration. Hieronymus Bosch
used the startling imagery of fantasy and
dreams to convey his deep religious con-
victions. Later painters of the Netherlands
specialized in still-lifes, landscape paint-
ings, and portraits.
The 17th-century Vleeshall (meat market)
in Haarlem, Netherlands. The Netherlands
were a major trading center during the Re-
naissance, a fact reflected in the size and
elaborate detail of this and other commer-
cial buildings. LIPNITZKI/ROGERVIOLLET/GETTY
IMAGES.
Netherlands