eyck, jan van, featured paintings in detail (2)

EYCK, Jan van

Featured Paintings in Detail

(2)

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece (wings open)1432Oil on wood, 350 x 461 cmCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Adoration of the Lamb (detail)1425-29Oil on wood, height of detail: 26 cmCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The central panel of the lower tier portrays the saints symbolizing the eight Beatitudes gathered round the altar where the sacrifice of the Lamb is taking place, at the centre of the heavenly garden which has sprung from His blood.


To left and right, in the foreground, are two processions facing one another. That to the left is made up of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets.


In the centre, the sacrificial Lamb stands upon the altar, and the chalice catches the blood pouring from its breast. The instruments of the Passion are upheld by little angels kneeling round the altar, and in the foreground of the flowery hillside the pilgrims approach, both towards the altar and the Fountain of Life which gushes in the foreground.


To left and right, in the foreground, are two processions facing one another. That to the right is made up of figures from the New Testament. Some of them are kneeling, barefoot. Behind them is assembled the hierarchy of the Church - popes, deacons and bishops, wearing sumptuous jewelry and clothes in the bright red of martyrdom.


In the background are two further groups, facing each other as if they had just emerged from the surrounding shrubbery. These are, on right side, the Virgin Martyrs, holding out palm fronds and wearing in their hair crowns of flowers of a kind traditionally worn by young girls at certain holy ceremonies.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: The Just Judges1427-30Oil on wood, 145 x 51 cmCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The community of saints also extends onto the side panels. Magnificently arrayed horsemen, representing the Soldiers of Christ, are followed by the Just Judges.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: The Soldiers of Christ1427-30Oil on wood, 149,2x 54 cmCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The community of saints also extends onto the side panels. Magnificently arrayed horsemen, representing the Soldiers of Christ, are followed by the Just Judges.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: The Holy Pilgrims1427-30Oil on wood, 148,7 x 54,2 cmCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The Pilgrim Saints, who were favourite figures of identification throughout the Middle Ages, are led by a giant of a man, St Christopher. Many later commentators have suggested that his great height would have reminded the contemporary viewer of Jodocus Vijd's brother, also called Christopher.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: The Holy Hermits1427-30Oil on wood, 148,6 x 53,9 cmCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

Opposite to the Soldiers of Christ and the Just Judges are the Holy Hermits who have renounced the world.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Adam (detail)1425-29Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

At the far left and right of the composition respectively are the figures of Adam and Eve. Light and shadow play delicately over their forms which stand out as though they had been sculpted in the round.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Eve (detail)1425-29Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

At the far left and right of the composition respectively are the figures of Adam and Eve.The realism of these two figures struck contemporary viewers forcefully. The representation of everyday life in close proximity sacred elements can be interpreted both as a new aesthetic and as evidence of a more populist approach to Christianity. We can see Adam and Eve, the first couple, whose posture and subtly rendered nakedness make them seem more actual than the main subject, which takes up several panels. One might even describe these panels as scenes in the story of Adam and Eve because (from the standpoint of the observer) they are shown slightly elevated and walking towards the holy events. The undisguised pregnancy of Eve and Cains murder of Abel shown above her open the route to humanity's suffering - but also to God's grace and his willingness to sacrifice his own son, the "Lamb of God," in order to fulfill his promise of redemption. This interpretation takes into account the way in which the artist's aim to paint realistically accorded perfectly with the profound piety of his age.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Angels Playing Music (detail)1426-27Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The central figures of the upper tier are surrounded by angels who are singing or playing instruments.The detail shows an angel playing a stringed instrument.


The detail shows the angel playing organ.


The musical angels depicted in the upper two pictures emphasize the solemnity of the glorification. Their ornamental clothes, painted with painstaking detail, and their natural appearance increase the power of this tremendous vision.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Singing Angels (detail)1427-29Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

In the upper part of the polyptych there are two pictures depicting angels singing and playing music. Their ornamental clothes, painted with painstaking detail, and their natural appearence increase the power of this tremendous vision. Such a realistic rendering of the angelic choir means that in the fifteenth century there was a close proximity between popular view and actual lithurgical practice in the Netherlands, which played a leading role in the musical life of the period.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Singing Angels (detail)1427-29Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The twelfth-century theory concerning the mysticism of the five musical notes was well known in the fifteenth century, too, and its influence on the singing angels of van Eyck is probable. Their strikingly vivid facial expressions were variously explained by scholars. The proposition that the angels' "grimaces" express the pitch of their tones, in accordance with the contemporary practice of singing in four parts, seems daring. Ervin Panofsky, the outstanding scholar of iconography and of early Netherlandish painting, first called attention to the mysterious role of the number five. According to him, the mimicry of the angels expresses their feelings, specifically the five major emotions reflecting the five major attributes of the Lord:Gaudentia: joy on account of the Lord's greatness (Magnificus);Spes: hope for the Lord's generosity (Largus);Pietàs: devout love toward the Lord's graciousness (Pius);Timor: fear of the Lord's justness (Iustus);Dolor: grief, sadness, and repentance before the Lord's mercifulness (Miserator).

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: God Almighty (detail)1426-27Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The is God Almighty dressed in red and is crowned with a magnificent tiara. The detail is superb in quality but the minute handling of jewels, crowns, brocades, never overwhelms the grasp of the structure of the whole figure.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: St John the Baptist (detail)1425-29Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

On the panel right to God is St John the Baptist.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Virgin Mary (detail)1426-29Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The detail is superb in quality but the minute handling of jewels, crowns, brocades, never overwhelms the grasp of the structure of the whole figure

The Ghent Altarpiece (wings closed)1432Oil on wood, 350 x 223 cmCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Angel of the Annunciation (detail)1432Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

When closed, the altarpiece has on the outside of its wings a large Annunciation.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Mary of the Annunciation (detail)1432Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

When closed, the altarpiece has on the outside of its wings a large Annunciation.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: Cumaean Sibyl (detail)1432Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The Erythraean and Cumaean Sibyls are related to the Annunciation through their prophecies. The text on the floating ribbon refers to St Augustine. The Latin name of the Sibyl is indicated on the frame.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: The Donor (detail)1432Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The lower section of the closed altarpiece has the portraits of donors and their patron saints. The portraits of Jodocus Vyd and his wife have the same closely detailed approach to living form that Jan van Eyck shows in his other known portraits like the Man in a Red Turban or the Leal Souvenir (both in the National Gallery, London).Jodocus Vyd, deputy burgomaster of Ghent, warden of the church of St John, was one of the richest businessmen of his age in Flanders.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece: The Donor's Wife (detail)1432Oil on woodCathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The lower section of the closed altarpiece has the portraits of donors and their patron saints. The portraits of Jodocus Vyd and his wife have the same closely detailed approach to living form that Jan van Eyck shows in his other known portraits like the Man in a Red Turban or the Leal Souvenir (both in the National Gallery, London).

EYCK, Jan vanThe Madonna with Canon van der Paele 1436Oil on woodGroeninge Museum, Bruges

EYCK, Jan vanThe Madonna with Canon van der Paele (detail)1436Oil on wood, width of detail: 47 cmGroeninge Museum, Bruges

Jan van Eyck shows an impassive Madonna seated between the two earthly powers, the priest and the warrior, the man mitred with gold and the man of iron.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Madonna with Canon van der Paele (detail)1436Oil on woodGroeninge Museum, Bruges

The Madonna with Canon van der Paele is an intimate picture, a forerunner of the finest Holbeins. In it Jan van Eyck shows an impassive Madonna seated between the two earthly powers, the priest and the warrior, the man mitred with gold and the man of iron.


The bald wrinkled head of the old canon is an impressive exercise in psychological analysis.

EYCK, Jan vanVirgin and Child, with Saints and Donor 1441 and circa 1443Oil on panel, 47 × 61 cmFrick Collection, Manhattan, New York City

EYCK, Jan vanVirgin and Child, with Saints and Donor (detail)1441 and circa 1443Oil on panel, 47 × 61 cmFrick Collection, Manhattan, New York City

EYCK, Jan van, Featured Paintings in Detail (1)

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EYCK, Jan vanVirgin and Child, with Saints and Donor

The Virgin, holding the Child, stands in majesty on an Oriental carpet, enframed by a sumptuous brocade canopy and hanging inscribed AVE GRA[TIA] PLE[N]A (Hail [Mary] full of grace). She is attended by St. Barbara, with her attribute of the tower in which she was imprisoned rising behind her, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who gave up her crown to become a

nun, and a kneeling Carthusian monk.

As yet no clear explanation has been found for the presence of the two saints. Elizabeth may have been included because she was the patron saint of Isabella of Portugal, the Duchess of Burgundy, who apparently made donations to Carthusian monasteries throughout the Netherlands and Switzerland. Barbara was protectress against sudden death and, among other roles, patron saint of soldiers, which may explain the statue of Mars visible in a window of her tower. She appears here as sponsor for the donor, and it is possible that

both saints had some particular association with his monastery or with his early membership in the Teutonic Order, a religious foundation with military ties.

The Carthusian monk has been identified as Jan Vos (d. 1462), Prior of the Charterhouse of Genadedal — or Val-de-Grâce — near Bruges, and a well-known figure in fifteenth-century monastic life in the Netherlands. He held various important posts in Carthusian houses before his appointment to Genadedal in 1441, the year of Jan van Eyck’s death.

Documents relate that the Frick painting was ordered as a “pious memorial of Dom Jan Vos, Prior of the Monastery,” and that it was dedicated on September 3, 1443. Most scholars consider this one of van Eyck’s last paintings, begun by him in 1441 but completed after his death in his shop. Many attempts have been made to identify the walled town beside the river at right. Such diverse cities as Maastricht, Prague, Lyon, Liège, and Brussels have been proposed. It has also been suggested that the large church to the right of St. Elizabeth

represents old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. But despite the remarkably vivid details, the view appears to be imaginary.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Madonna with Canon van der Paele

Here the visual and thematic elements are similar to those of the Chancellor Rolin Madonna. Van Eyck is concerned with showing the presence of a vision and therefore of illustrating the reality of God in our world. Just as Nicolas Rolin is shown in his palace, in the midst of an identifiable environment that seems to make his vision of the Virgin all the more real, so Canon van der Paele is shown in the choir of the collegiate church of St. Donatian in Bruges, where he is being presented to the Virgin by St. George and St. Donatian. Hans Belting is

of the opinion that this picture once hung in the choir of the now destroyed church. This would mean that the depicted location mirrored the real location. Van der Paele would therefore have been able to see himself in the very place of his depicted vision and so "prove" to the world at large the reality of his divine experience.

The exquisite brocades, furs, and silks are shown in an extraordinarily lifelike and brilliant way, a way that confirms their reality, their tangibility. On the other hand, the reliefs and sculptures on the capitals in the background and on the Virgin's throne all allude to Christ's salvation of humanity. The depictions on the throne of Adam and Eve, Cain killing Abel, and Samson fighting the lion, together with the depiction on the capitals of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, create an Old Testament framework which allows the observer to reflect on the mercy

of God, who sent his son, Christ the Redeemer, into the world. Redemption from sin (Cain killing his brother) is possible only through the power of faith (Samson overpowering the lion). The goodness and grace of God "at the moment of truth" (Abraham sacrificing Isaac) serves as proof of the redeeming power and presence of servants of God both celestial (St.

George) and mortal (Canon van der Paele).

This is how van der Paele might have expressed the message of the painting-that paradise was at hand-a message confirmed by its being set in a very real but also sacred context. The Virgin is pictures holding a nosegay and her son a parrot - unmistakable echoes of the Garden of Eden - and both figures have turned to face the meditating canon.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece (wings closed)

The realism of the figures of Adam and Eve at the far right and left on the open altarpiece struck contemporary viewers forcefully, and this style continues on the outside of the panels when the altarpiece is closed. The external decoration shows the Erithraean and Cumaean Sibyls, Prophets Zacharias and Micheas, the figures of Jodocus Vyd, the donor, and his wife Isabelle Borluut kneeling on either side of two grisaille (painted in gray to resemble statuary) representations of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, and the Annunciation

with the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. The angel and the Virgin of the Annunciation are separated by two small panels, one with the representation of an arched window looking out upon a city square, and the other with a wash basin and ewer set into a niche and a white towel hanging from a rail beside it.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece (wings closed)

A striking feature is the disparity in the scale of the various figures: no less than four changes of scale exist of the outside of the wings. There are also disparities in approach; some parts are almost prosaically factual, others almost visionary in approach. Three orders of reality are present: a narrative representation of a sacred subject (the Annunciation), two highly factual donor portraits and two simulated sculptures. Yet there is a strong attempt to impose a uniform framework on these disparate elements through the governing factor of the light, which falls uniformly in all the panels from the right, and also through the use in the upper panels of a beamed ceiling running through the whole scene, and, in the lower panels, of the

same cusped trefoil arches to frame the figures.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece (wings open)

The most famous work of Jan van Eyck is a huge Ghent Altarpiece with many scenes in the city of Ghent. It is said to have been begun by Jan's elder brother Hubert, of whom little is known, and was completed by Jan in 1432. On the frame a quatrain is inscribed which states that the polyptych was begun by Pictor Hubertus Eyck, and finished by his brother Jan, at the request of Jodocus Vijd, deputy burgomaster of Ghent, warden of the church of St John, and of his wife, Elisabeth Borluut, who commissioned it. The verse was placed there

when the altarpiece was installed on 6 May 1432.

The stylistic analysis reveals that in the painting the work of two different hands can be clearly discerned. The overall conception of the altarpiece is the work of Hubert, along with the execution of certain parts, such as the panels in the lower tier. Here, the manner is archaic, and reflects the continuing dominance of the international style that was practised by Broederlam. The composition is typically unoriginal: the landscape is still conceived as a distant background, with which the figures at the front have no organic relation, an effect

that is reinforced by the bird's eye point of view.

This polyptych is mystical, not to say esoteric, in intention, and is imbued throughout with both spiritual and intellectual signification. When opened, it represents the communion of saints, which is "the new heaven and the new earth", in the words of the Revelation of St John. Thus the central panel of the lower tier portrays the saints symbolizing the eight

Beatitudes gathered round the altar where the sacrifice of the Lamb is taking place, at the centre of the heavenly garden which has sprung from His blood.

EYCK, Jan van

Jan van Eyck, the most famous and innovative Flemish painter of the 15th century, is thought to have come from the village of Maaseyck in Limbourg.

No record of his birthdate survives, but it is believed to have been about 1390; his career, however, is well documented. He was employed at the court of John of Bavaria, count of Holland, at The Hague, and in 1425 he was made court painter and valet de chambre to Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. He became a close member of the duke's court and undertook several secret missions for him, including a trip to Spain and Portugal in connection

with negotiations that resulted in the marriage of Philip of Burgundy and Isabella of Portugal. According to documents, he was buried on July 9, 1441.

Van Eyck's most famous and most controversial work is one of his first, the Ghent altarpiece, a polyptych consisting of twenty panels in the Church of St. Bavo, Ghent. On the frame is an incomplete inscription in Latin

that identifies the artists of the work as Hubert and Jan van Eyck. The usual interpretation is that Hubert van Eyck (d. Sept. 18, 1426) was the brother of Jan and that he was the painter who began the altarpiece, which Jan then

completed. Another interpretation is that Hubert was neither Jan's brother nor a painter, but a sculptor who carved an elaborate frame for the altar. Because of this controversy, attribution of the panels, which vary somewhat in

scale and even in style, has differed, according to the arguments of scholars who have studied the problem.

Equally famous is the wedding portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife, which the artist signed "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic 1434" (Jan van Eyck was here), testimony that he witnessed the ceremony. Other important paintings

are the Madonna of Chancellor Rolin and the Madonna of Canon van der Paele.

EYCK, Jan vanThe Ghent Altarpiece (wings open)

To left and right, in the foreground, are two processions facing one another. One of these is made up of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, and the other of figures from the New Testament. Some of them are kneeling, barefoot. Behind them is assembled the hierarchy of the Church - popes, deacons and bishops, wearing sumptuous jewelry and clothes in the bright red

of martyrdom. In the background are two further groups, facing each other as if they had just emerged from the surrounding shrubbery. These are, on one side, the Confessors of the Faith, tightly packed together and almost all dressed in blue; and on the other side, the Virgin Martyrs, holding out palm fronds and wearing in their hair crowns of flowers of a kind traditionally worn

by young girls at certain holy ceremonies. In the middle of the panel, around the altar where the Lamb spills forth his blood, angels kneel, holding the emblems of His Passion. Grace is symbolized by a radiant dove hovering in the sky, and eternal life is represented by a fountain in the foreground. A paradisiacal landscape runs across all five lower panels, uniting them in a single composition. It is strewn with plants from different countries and flowers of different seasons. The central panel is vibrant with green, while those to the sides are more arid and rocky.

The horizon sits high in the frame and is closed off by groves of trees, behind which clusters of fairy-tale buildings can be made out, representing the heavenly Jerusalem.

The community of saints also extends onto the side panels. Magnificently arrayed horsemen, representing the Soldiers of Christ, are followed by the Just Judges. Opposite them are the Holy Hermits who have renounced the world, and the Pilgrim Saints, who were favourite figures of identification throughout the Middle Ages. They are led by a giant of a man, St Christopher. Many

later commentators have suggested that his great height would have reminded the contemporary viewer of Jodocus Vijd's brother, also called Christopher. In the middle of the upper tier is God Almighty, the Word, essence and origin of the universe. He is dressed in red and is crowned with a magnificent tiara. On his left is Mary and on his right, St John the Baptist. These central

figures are surrounded by angels who are singing or playing instruments. At the far right and left of the composition respectively are the figures of Adam and Eve. They were painted by Jan Van Eyck, and are set into trompe-l'oeil niches. Light and shadow play delicately over their forms which stand out as though they had been sculpted in the round.

eyck, jan van, featured paintings in detail (2)

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