What is the secret of the popularity of the 600-year-old Ghent altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, who "saw the world in detail"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Jan van Eyck's worship of the mystical Lamb, better known as the "Ghent Altarpiece", is one of the most popular paintings of the Northern Renaissance. The subject of both imitation and pilgrimage, the altar was well known throughout Europe during the artist's lifetime. When parishioners first saw the Ghent Altarpiece in 1432, they were delighted with its unprecedented naturalism. About what is the secret of such a huge popularity of this masterpiece - further in the article.

Although the Ghent Altarpiece is considered Jan van Eyck's greatest masterpiece, the painting was actually a collaboration between Jan and his older brother Hubert. This became known when, in 1823, a Latin poem was found at the base of the altar with an inscription stating that it was Hubert who began work on the altar. Unfortunately, Hubert van Eyck died before the completion of the painting. He is believed to have contributed to compositional design, but Jan van Eyck painted most of the painting after his death.

Due to its scale and complexity (350 x 470 cm open) it took six years to complete the Ghent Altarpiece. Commissioned in the mid-1420s, it was not completed until 1432. The altar is one of the greatest polyptych ever created and consists of eighteen panels depicting realistic portraits of donors (donor / donor portraits) along with biblical figures and scenes.

Not all panels can be seen at the same time, as they are flaps that opened and closed during the ritual of the Mass. The Church of Saint Bavo, known as the Church of Saint John the Baptist in the fifteenth century, is the very church for which the altar was intended, and aside from the time spent on restoration, the altar is still there today. Since the Ghent Altarpiece was only opened during Mass, the painting therefore spent most of its early life closed. When the altar is closed, there are three main scenes depicted: portraits of donors, imitation statues, and an impressive scene of the Annunciation.

In the fifteenth century, paintings were almost always the product of commissions. Wealthy people paid artists to create and paint an image, which they then donated to a religious institution to demonstrate their godly generosity. Often the commission asked for a portrait of the donor to be included as a token of gratitude to the virtuous person who donated the painting and who probably paid for parts of the church building itself. The "Ghent Altarpiece" was originally installed above the chapel altar, commissioned by Jos Veidt and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. It is also worth noting the fact that Jan van Eyck painted two extremely realistic portraits of Jos and Elisabeth, which took their place in the artist's work. Both are depicted kneeling with their hands folded in prayer: the most common pose in painted portraits, which demonstrates their piety of character.

Between the donor portraits are two painted statues: John the Baptist (left) and John the Evangelist (right). Take a closer look at how realistic the statues look, seemingly protruding from their inscribed pedestals. This realism is partly due to Jan's use of grisaille: a method of painting entirely in black, white and gray monotonous tones. Grisaille was most often used to imitate sculpture, as shown here, and was often found on the outer panels of altars. In fact, it was customary to make the outer panels of the altar monochrome, even dull in color, in order to directly contrast with the colorful panels on the inside. Note that even in the Annunciation panels described below, there is a limited color palette, with both figures wearing white robes.

Jan's inclusion of the Annunciation in the Ghent Altarpiece is not unique. The moment when the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was one of the most popular biblical episodes featured in medieval and Renaissance altars.

Here Yang relied on a well-established handwritten tradition of depicting the episode in an interior space, presumably in the room of the Virgin Mary. Usually the Virgin Mary and Gabriel are separated by some kind of threshold or architectural structure. Indeed, the closed or inaccessible nature of the space of the Virgin Mary was directly intended to reflect the closed nature of Mary's own virgin body.

In this case, the architectural interior overlooking the populated city that Jan created for the Annunciation is impeccable in its naturalism and unprecedented in its attention to detail. While van Eyck does draw on well-established traditions, his interpretation of the Annunciation in the Ghent Altarpiece marks the transition to naturalism in art history. Even the wooden frames reinforce the illusion of reality: they were made to look like weathered stone and cast shadows into the Virgo's chambers. The drawn shadows are consistent with the actual light in the chapel the painting was in, illustrating how Jan considered the intended location of the altar while painting so as not to disrupt the illusion of reality.

The open "Ghent Altar" is a real miracle. At the moment of ceremony and performance, the dull, almost monochrome color scheme of the outer panels disappears in an explosion of color. When opened, all the lower panels create a continuous landscape, where crowds of people travel from all corners of the earth to witness the Lamb of God on the altar. There seems to be a sharp contrast between the lower and upper registers of the altar. See how the bottom half is made up of vast swaths of countryside, distant cityscapes, and many tiny figurines. In contrast, there are fewer portraits in the upper register, all significantly larger, and very little background detail other than the ornate tiles on the floor.

No matter how different these two halves are, the eye can still trace a vertical line from God the Father, seated on the throne in the upper center, to the dove of the Holy Spirit, and then the Lamb of God (symbolizing Christ, the son). The line continues, carrying the blood of the sacrificial Lamb to the fountain, where it trickles down a gutter to the bottom of the altar. In doing so, Yang creates a direct correlation between Father, Son, Holy Spirit, as well as a connection between the colored blood of the altar and the actual blood present on the altar below it during mass.

The Ghent Altarpiece was created precisely to hang over the altar and ritually open during Mass for the public consecration of the Eucharist by a priest. The Eucharist was at the very heart of fifteenth-century Christian doctrine, explaining why large crowds gather around the miracle taking place. Catholic doctrine states that during Mass, the consecrated bread and wine are transformed (or transubstantiated) into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Because of their heavy connection with Christ's sacrifice on the cross and therefore his complete atonement for humanity, body and blood must have redemptive qualities.

Thus, Jan incorporated both subtle and explicit Eucharistic iconography into his designs. A lamb standing next to a wooden cross bleeds into a Eucharistic bowl on a cloth-decorated altar. Both the cloth and the bowl are contemporary objects common to the fifteenth century, and would probably resemble the altar and accessories in the chapel indicated by the painting.

Jan's life-size portraits of Adam and Eve serve to further the themes of redemption mentioned in the panels below them. In this case, two figures demonstrate what needs redemption: sinful deeds. In her hand, Eve is holding a strange fruit that she is about to eat, hinting at her role in the Fall of Man. Above their heads are statues depicting the murder of Abel by his brother Cain - the first murder in the Bible. By consuming the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve commit what is known as Original Sin. Christians believe that because of this one act, everyone was henceforth born with Original Sin, and therefore heaven was inaccessible to everyone. Christ's sacrifice on the cross atone for this sin, thereby enabling someone to enter heaven and finally be reconciled with God.

Despite the fact that Adam and Eve are imbued with Christian symbolism, they also demonstrate van Eyck's illusory ability, and what the viewer sees here was the first large-scale nude portraits in Northern Europe. Pay attention to Adam's leg, half a step: the illusion of reality is so strong that he seems to be about to leave his painted world into the real one.

Jan shows that he is able to masterfully imitate not only architectural spaces and inanimate objects, but also the smallest details of human anatomy. The illusion of reality does not diminish upon closer inspection; instead, it grows stronger. For example, in this extreme close-up of Adam's chest, we see each of the individual fine hairs on his arms, as well as the veins on the arm crossing his body. Right under Adam's hand, we can make out a faint vertical line above his ribs. Could it be a scar? Perhaps this is how the artist hinted at a biblical explanation for the creation of Eve, who knows.

Perhaps one of the most incredible aspects of the Ghent Altarpiece is the angelic musicians. Believe it or not, Jan's attention to detail is so precise that you can easily tell what notes are playing on the organ. Historians have also noted that it is possible to determine which of the singing angels is soprano, alto, tenor or bass simply by their drawn expressions.

Not only that, but with very little surviving as medieval instruments, the Ghent Altarpiece actually offers a wealth of information about medieval objects that might otherwise have been lost to history. However, early Dutch painters such as van Eyck sometimes invented fantastic pieces and interiors to showcase their creativity and artistic ability. Therefore, you should not always take what you see seriously.

The design of the altar ends with a heavenly portrait of God on the throne, or Christ in Majesty, on either side of which are the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The hand of Christ (or God) is raised in blessing, and he is adorned with the priestly vestments. There are many inscriptions on the image, one of which on the hem of his red robes, embroidered with gold and pearls, contains a Greek quote from Revelation: "King of kings and Lord of lords."

All three figures are richly decorated with gold embroidered draperies and sparkling precious stones. Each of the figures bears an honorary garment made of gold cloth. Luxurious textiles were probably the most expensive item to buy in Renaissance Europe, making it a suitable backdrop for a celestial portrait.

Since 2012, the "Ghent Altarpiece" has been undergoing restoration by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Belgium. In the early stages of the project, restorers soon discovered that nearly seventy percent of the altar consisted of repaints and layers of varnish that had turned yellow with age. As you can see from the above image, the painting miraculously transformed and finally regained its original splendor.

No painting requires such a detailed and focused look as The Ghent Altarpiece. With its sophisticated symbolism combined with unsurpassed naturalism, the Ghent Altarpiece is truly a testament to the art of painting.

Continuing the theme of the great painters - <a href = "https:// ten intriguing facts about the most famous paintings by Raphael"and..ah Raphael, an artist whose work is celebrated all over the world.