MASSYS, Quentin
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Virgin and Child new21/MASSYS, Quentin-277638.jpg Painting ID:: 63979
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The Hague , Artist: MASSYS, Quentin , Virgin and Child , 1451-1500 , Flemish , painting , religious |
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Virgin and Child new21/MASSYS, Quentin-539477.jpg Painting ID:: 63980
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130 x 86 cm Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels The Virgin is seated in three-quarter profile on an imposing stone throne with Gothic ornamentation. Richly dressed in a dark red, fur-lined gown and a mantle bordered with pearl braiding, her head inclined in recollection, she holds the infant Jesus on her right arm. She appears to be meditating a passage in the book that Christ is thumbing. Their faces are surrounded by halos of golden rays. The Child, in a long white shirt, has seized the bookmark. Through an open window to the right of the throne we glimpse a building on the other side of a courtyard. The upper part of the window is decorated with a stained glass panel depicting St Catherine flanked by two escutcheons. A similar stained glass window to the left carries the figure of St Barbara. This painting, attributed to Quentin Massys, is part of the Madonna with Child group that the artist painted during his youth. The symmetrical composition, the hieratic presentation of the figures, the style of the Virgin's garments and the vigorous modelling of the draperies as well as the Gothic ornamentations all recall the tradition of the Flemish Primitives. The iconographic theme picks up the traditional image of Christ's incarnation. The Virgin in majesty is directly associated with the divine nature of her Son, the Word incarnate. Her meditative attitude and the red of her garments evoke the presentiment she had of her Child's destiny right from his birth. Massys' work refers back to earlier compositions that present Christ reading in the Virgin's arms. Two famous examples are Rogier van der Weyden's Madonna Duren (Madrid, Prado) and the Ince Hall Virgin attributed to a follower of Jan van Eyck (Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria). With Massys we have the same monumental pose of the Virgin, with the niche-shaped throne similar to the one in Van der Weyden's painting. Even if the Brussels Madonna with Child shows how much the painter was part of the Flemish tradition, before coming under the influence of the Renaissance, it already contains the novel elements that were to make Massys the captivating and highly innovative artist whose talent would be fully revealed in his later works. With his exceptionally ample volumes, his supple shapes caressed by a strong, yet soft light, and the virtuoso translucency of his colouring technique, he carries the art of modelling forward to new heights. , Artist: MASSYS, Quentin , Virgin and Child , 1451-1500 , Flemish , painting , religious |
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St Anne Altarpiece new21/MASSYS, Quentin-746687.jpg Painting ID:: 64220
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1507-08 Oil on wood, 220 x 92 cm (each wing) Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels The backs of the wings, when the triptych is closed, juxtapose two scenes. The first takes place beneath the portico of a church, the double arch of which gives onto a square, at the far end of which can be seen the tower of Antwerp cathedral. Under the portico, the High Priest of Jerusalem is receiving an ebony casket from St Anne, who lowers her eyes. Behind her, Joachim holds a parchment which contains the act of donation to the temple and its ministers. In the distance are two figures seen from behind: these too are Anne and Joachim, distributing money to the poor. In the second scene, Joachim's face and attitude express his distress and confusion: the High Priest has refused the coins Joachim has just placed on the offering table, and is gesturing to him brusquely to leave. Massys may sometimes tend towards mawkishness in his treatment of these themes, but St Anne was a particularly popular legend in Flanders and Holland, and this painting brought him immediate and considerable success. , Artist: MASSYS, Quentin , St Anne Altarpiece (closed) , 1451-1500 , Flemish , painting , religious |
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St John Altarpiece new21/MASSYS, Quentin-533396.jpg Painting ID:: 64221
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1507-08 Oil on wood Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp The monumental triptych welds together 15th century tradition and the new ideas about art which were emerging from Italy. The light effects, the gradation of colour and the interweaving of the composition hark back to the attention to detail, the use of landscape as a backdrop and the rather stereotypical figures of the previous century. , Artist: MASSYS, Quentin , St John Altarpiece (detail) , 1451-1500 , Flemish , painting , religious |
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St Anne Altarpiece new22/MASSYS, Quentin-359773.jpg Painting ID:: 64560
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1507-08 Oil on wood Mus?es Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels The right wing shows St Anne on her death bed, covered with a red sheet, her face pale, her mouth half open, as if she had just breathed her last. Mary Salome, who has collapsed with grief, wipes the tears from her cheeks. Artist:MASSYS, Quentin Title: St Anne Altarpiece (right wing, detail), 1451-1500, Flemish , painting , religious |
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