Between 1420 and 1440, a fundamentally new form of painting emerged in the Netherlands, in the work of Jan van Eyck, Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden. The school that arose in the Low Countries and the neighboring areas had no apparent predecessors. Instead of the stylized forms of expression of late-Gothic art, it set out to convey an observed or pursued reality in a 'realistic' or 'naturalistic' painting style that transcended even the high standard of the generation of artists active around 1400. This well illustrated catalogue of the exhibition held at The Groeningemuseum, in Brugge, details the growth and influence of this important movement in early Netherlandish painting.