A FLEMISH GEM

The wind today blew all day and managed to keep us in. A good opportunity to catch up with some housework, cleaning out and also to spend some quiet time reading and relaxing. We put our clocks forward one hour today and Summer has officially begun with the adoption of Summer time.


One painting from me for this Art Sunday; it is by Jan Van Eyck (≈1390-1441) a Flemish painter who perfected the technique of oil painting. He painted in a realistic, naturalistic style on wood panels, mostly portraits and religious subjects. His paintings are full of allegory and made extensive use of disguised religious symbols. Exquisite detail and painstakingly applied in thin layers and glazes make of his paintings marvellous shiny translucent, jewel-like confections. His masterpiece is the altarpiece in the cathedral at Ghent, the Adoration of the Lamb (1432). Hubert van Eyck is thought by some to have been Jan's brother.

“The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin” (1435 - Oil on wood, 66 x 62 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris) is one of my favourite paintings of his. Not so much for the foregorund, but for the microcosm that is to be seen in the background. A city built on a river with magnificent buildings, including a marvellous Gothic cathedral, a splendid bridge, milling crowds and lush countryside surrounding it. There are many stories in evolution in the background, not the least of which concern the two enigmatic figures gazing out on the landscape beyond them. The peacocks represent immortality, this stemming from the ancient legend that the flesh of the peacock did not decay, thus its association with the Resurrection of Christ. In addition the "multitude of eyes" upon its stunningly beautiful fan tail, suggested the all seeing eye of God and that of the church. The lilies growing in the patch of garden symbolize in Christian art chastity, innocence and purity, especially an attribute of the Virgin Mary.

Van Eyck's representation of the Virgin in this painting is based on a tradition of images known as the “Throne of Wisdom” or Sedes Sapientiae, in which the Christ Child sits very formally in the lap of His Mother. Nicholas Rolin, chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy, is portrayed in a realistic manner, warts and all manifesting his piety in front of the Holy Mother and Infant. Rolin's prayer posture is intended to project an earnest image in order to shape the public's perception of him. He appears static and trancelike as he sits at his prayer stool; indeed, like the divine figures in the scene, he is thoroughly impassive. By demonstrating his righteousness for all to witness, he is beyond reproach.

Jan van Eyck has been credited with the “discovery of painting in oil". Oil painting, however, was already in existence for many decades before Van Eyck, and was used to paint sculptures and to glaze over tempera paintings. The real achievement of Van Eyck was the development of a stable varnish that would dry at a consistent rate. This was created with linseed and nut oils, and mixed with resins.

The breakthrough came when Jan or Hubert mixed the oil into the actual paints they were using, instead of the egg medium that constituted tempera paint. The result was brilliance, translucence, and intensity of color as the pigment was suspended in a layer of oil that also trapped light. The flat, dull surface of tempera was transformed into a jewel-like medium, at once perfectly suited to the representation of precious metals and gems and, more significantly, to the vivid, convincing depiction of natural light. The development of this technique transformed the appearance of painting.

Enjoy your Sunday!