Painting ID:: 63905
Braque Family Triptych 1450 Oil on oak panel, 41 x 68 cm (central panel), 41 x 34 cm (wings each) Mus?e du Louvre, Paris The armorial bearings on the back indicate that this portable triptych was the property of Jehan Braque and his wife Catherine de Brabant, of Tournai, who were married in about 1450-51. Jehan Braque died soon afterwards, in 1452; his young widow, who did not marry again till 1461, must have commissioned this triptych in his memory. The Braque Triptych ranks among Rogier van der Weyden's most celebrated works. It is a small-scale work of the kind that were set upon portable altars in the oratories of wealthy individuals. When closed, it shows the classical vanity theme, a skull and a cross. Open, it displays images of Christ in the centre, and to either side - the Virgin, St John the Evangelist, St John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene. They are represented against a landscape that is rendered down to the finest detail, with its rivers and mountains, grass and leaves so precisely drawn they could almost be counted and tiny figures visible in the distance in the streets of imaginary towns - a favourite motif of the Flemish masters. Pictures showing busts of Christ and the Virgin had existed earlier north of the Alps, but a sequence of several saints shown half length seems to derive from a type of altarpiece found in Italy from the 13th century onward. The innovation is to place them in front of a wide, coherent landscape relating to the figures themselves not realistically, but in context. It stands for the entire world ruled by Christ and to which He descended incarnate as man, as described at the beginning of the Gospel of St John: "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." If the dark exterior was a reminder of the inevitability of death, the wide, radiant interior with its saintly figures allowed the devout viewer to hope for salvation. Artistically, the triptych is very close to the Beaune Altarpiece. The head of the Virgin Mary, and in particular the head of Christ, are so like their counterparts in the picture of the Last Judgment that they must have been executed from the same cartoon (full-size design for a painting). It is not certain whether the work is entirely by Rogier's hand; the underdrawing reveals thin lines not at all typical of him, and perhaps done with a pen instead of Rogier's usual brush. There are also some differences in the artistic execution: the Virgin's face, for instance, looks waxen, and inflexible around the eyes by comparison with the wonderful, tenderly painted, and lifelike Mary Magdalene, which is among Rogier's finest works.Artist:WEYDEN, Rogier van der Title: Braque Family Triptych Painted in 1401-1450 , Flemish - - painting : religious
Painting ID:: 63906
Braque Family Triptych 1450 Oil on oak panel, 41 x 68 cm Mus?e du Louvre, Paris The dark exterior was a reminder of the inevitability of death. The left frame bears a saying in French uttered by the skull: "See, you who are so proud and avaricious, my body was once beautiful but now is food for worms.." This skull is intended as a "likeness" of the dead Jean Braque, whose coat-of-arms is shown above it, reminding viewers of their mortality. The inscription on the cross on the right is from the apocryphal Book of Ecclesiasticus (Chapter 41, 1-2) and laments the bitterness of death.Artist:WEYDEN, Rogier van der Title: Braque Family Triptych (closed) Painted in 1401-1450 , Flemish - - painting : religious
Painting ID:: 63908
Braque Family Triptych 1450 Wood, 41 x 34 cm Mus?e du Louvre, Paris The picture shows the left wing of the Braque Family Triptych representing St John the Baptist. The lower frame of pictures (original frame) act as a kind of ledge in front of the figures, where John the Baptist can rest his boo. The words being spoken by the figures proceed from their mouths in curved scroll shapes, rather like the speech bubbles of modern strip cartoons. However, the text above the Magdalene, but not spoken by her, is written in a straight line.Artist:WEYDEN, Rogier van der Title: Braque Family Triptych (left wing) Painted in 1401-1450 , Flemish - - painting : religious
Painting ID:: 63909
Braque Family Triptych 1450 Oil on oak panel Mus?e du Louvre, Paris This detail of the left panel shows the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. John the Baptist's most significant act is shown in the broad Netherlandish landscape behind him. As he baptizes the Son of God, an angel holds Christ's garment. Several onlookers in contemporary urban clothing may be the people mentioned in the Gospels as wising to be baptized, though they have not yet undressed.Artist:WEYDEN, Rogier van der Title: Braque Family Triptych (detail) Painted in 1401-1450 , Flemish - - painting : religious
Painting ID:: 63922
Braque Family Triptych 1450 Wood, 41 x 68 cm Mus?e du Louvre, Paris The central panel shows Christ between the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist. The Christ is a superb figure. He is depicted as an unbending judge, from whom there radiates a dazzling, almost transparent light. He holds the globe of the earth in his left hand and raises two fingers of his right in blessing.Artist:WEYDEN, Rogier van der Title: Braque Family Triptych (central panel) Painted in 1401-1450 , Flemish - - painting : religious
Painting ID:: 63931
Braque Family Triptych 1450 Oil on oak panel, 41 x 34 cm Mus?e du Louvre, Paris The picture shows the right wing of the Braque Family Triptych representing St Mary Magdalene. This is finest panel of the triptych. She sits with her hand resting on the lid of an alabaster vase, about to spread perfume on Jesus's feet. Her face, veiled with a band of gauze, her blond hair hanging down her back in long waves, even the corselet that only partly conceals her bosom - everything about her suggest not a repentant sinner, but a young woman rightly proud of her beauty. She is tenderly holding the vessel of ointment with which, as the text above reminds us, she anointed the feet of Jesus after moistening them with her tears and drying them with her hair. The text is probably the reason why tears, not entirely suitable to the pictorial context, are running down the Magdalene's face.Artist:WEYDEN, Rogier van der Title: Braque Family Triptych (right wing) Painted in 1401-1450 , Flemish - - painting : religious
Painting ID:: 92128
Braque Family Triptych 1450(1450)
Medium oil on oak panel
Dimensions Height: 41 cm (16.1 in). Width: 68 cm (26.8 in).
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Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden 1399/1400 - 1464 was the most important representative of Netherlandish painting or Northern Renaissance ... is, with Jan van Eyck, considered one of the greatest exponents of the school of Early Netherlandish painting. Rogier van der Weyden was born in Tournai as 'Rogier de le Pasture' (Roger of the Pasture) in 1399 or 1400. His parents were Henri de le Pasture and Agnes de Watr??los. The family had settled before in the city of Tournai where Rogiers father worked as a 'maître-coutelier' (knife manufacturer). In 1426 Rogier married Elisabeth, the daughter of the Brussels shoemaker Jan Goffaert and his wife Cathelyne van Stockem. Rogier and Elisabeth had four children: Cornelius, who became a Carthusian monk, was born in 1427, a daughter Margaretha in 1432. Before 21 October 1435 the family settled in Brussels where the two younger children were born: Pieter in 1437 and Jan the next year. From the second of March 1436 onwards held the title of 'painter to the town of Brussels' (stadsschilder) a very prestigious post because Brussels was at that time the most important residence of the splendid court of the Dukes of Burgundy. It was at the occasion of his move to the Dutch-speaking town of Brussels that Rogier began using the Dutch version of his name: 'Rogier van der Weyden'Little is known about Rogier's training as a painter. The archival sources from Tournai (completely destroyed during World War II, but luckily partly transcribed in the 19th and early 20th century) are somewhat confusing and have led to different interpretations by scholars. From a document it is known that the city council of Tournai offered wine in honour of a certain 'Maistre Rogier de le Pasture' on March the 17th 1427. However, on the 5th of March of the following year the records of the painters' guild show a certain 'Rogelet de le Pasture' entered the workshop of Robert Campin together with Jacques Daret. Only five years later, on the first of August 1432, Rogier de le Pasture obtains the title of 'Master' (Maistre) as a painter.[1] Many have doubted whether Campin's apprentice 'Rogelet' was the same as the master 'Rogier' that was offered the wine back in 1426. The fact that in 1426-1427 Rogier was a married man in his late twenties, and well over the normal age of apprenticeship has been used as an argument to consider 'Rogelet' as a younger painter with the same name. In the 1420's however the city of Tournai was in crisis and as a result the guilds were not functioning normally. The late apprenticeship of Rogier/Rogelet may have been a legal formality. Also Jacques Daret was then in his twenties and had been living and working in Campin's household for at least a decade. It is possible that Rogier obtained an academic title (Master) before he became a painter and that he was awarded the wine of honour on the occasion of his graduation. The sophisticated and 'learned' iconographical and compositional qualities of the paintings attributed to him are sometimes used as an argument in favour of this supposition. The social and intellectual status of Rogier in his later life surpassed that of a mere craftsman at that time. In general the close stylistical link between the documented works of Jacques Daret, and the paintings attributed to Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden is considered as the main argument to consider Rogier van der Weyden as a pupil of Robert Campin. The last mention of Rogier de la Pasture in the financial records of Tournai, on October 21, 1435, lists him as demeurrant ?? Brouxielles ('living in Brussels'). At the same time, the first mention of Rogier de Weyden is made as the official painter of Brussels. Therefore Rogier de la Pasture and Rogier Van der Weyden are thought to be one and the same painter. The post of city painter was created especially for Van der Weyden and was meant to lapse on his death. It was linked to a huge commission to paint four justice scenes for the 'Golden Chamber' of Brussels City Hall.[2] Different properties and investments are documented and witness his material prosperity. The portraits he painted of the Burgundian Dukes, their relatives and courtiers, demonstrate a close relationship with the elite of the Netherlands. The Miraflores Altarpiece was probably commissioned by King Juan II of Castile, since Juan II donated it to the monastery of Miraflores in 1445. Braque Family Triptych 1450(1450)
Medium oil on oak panel
Dimensions Height: 41 cm (16.1 in). Width: 68 cm (26.8 in).
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