Lieven van Lathem

The author hears about the story of Gillion de Trazegnies. Illuminated manuscript of the adventures of Gillion de Trazegnies, illustrated by Lieven van Lathem, 1464 (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 111)

Lieven van Lathem (* around 1430 in Ghent ; † 1493 in Antwerp ) was an important Dutch illuminator who worked as a court artist primarily for the Burgundian court and their Habsburg successors.

biography

Naval battle from the manuscript of the adventures of Gillion de Trazegnies, 1464 (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 111)

So-called. Bresslauer Froissart, around 1468, battle on the Beverhoutsveld

Book of hours of Mary of Burgundy, around 1470–1475 (ÖNB, Vienna cod. 1857 33r)

Sachsenheim prayer book: Crucifixion, around 1460?

Manuscript c. 1460 for Philip the Good (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 103)

Lieven van Lathem was probably born in Ghent around 1430. In October 1454 he was accepted into the guild of painters there. This is his first mention in the surviving files. According to his own statements, he subsequently worked exclusively for the Burgundian court, initially primarily for Duke Philip the Good . In 1459 this led to a legal dispute with the painters' guild and to his exclusion from them.

It is assumed on the basis of corresponding works and artistic contributions that van Lathem stayed between 1459 and 1462 in the northern Netherlands, probably in Utrecht , where an active production of manuscripts was centered.

After his return to the southern Netherlands, he became a member of the Antwerp Sint-Lucasgilde in 1462. He set up a workshop in Antwerp and worked here mainly for members of the Burgundian court until his death.

An important commission was, for example, the illustration of the adventures of Gillion de Trazegnies for Ludwig von Bruges , an important patron of the Burgundian court , around 1464 .

In 1468 van Lathem stayed with numerous other artists to prepare for the chapter meeting of the Order of the Golden Fleece and the marriage of Charles the Bold with Margaret of York in Bruges. The following year he was paid to make miniatures in a prayer book for Charles the Bold (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 37) in The Hague in 1469 .

From 1487 at the latest, van Lathem worked for Charles the Bold's son-in-law, the later German Emperor Maximilian I, and spent several times in Bruges. In 1490 he is shown in an invoice as a court painter (“peintre du roy”) and chamberlain (“valet du chambre”).

Although van Lathem is said to have also painted paintings outside of book production, for example he was paid for a table with the birth of Christ for the wedding celebrations in 1468 and 1474, no paintings can currently be ascribed to him.

Lieven van Lathem died in Antwerp between February 14 and March 14, 1493.

Lieven van Lathem was remembered as an important painter in the southern Netherlands in the early 16th century and even falsely ascribed more recent works. His son Jacob van Lathem also became a painter, his son Lieven the Younger became a goldsmith.

Works

* Miracles de Notre-Dame (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, ms. Fr. 919), 1456–1459 or 1462–1465 (attribution somewhat controversial, positive in Zenker 2018)

* Chronicle of Jerusalem (Vienna, Austrian National Library, Cod. 2533), made around 1456 for Philip the Good (attribution disputed)

* Sachsenheim prayer book (Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart Cod. Brev. 162), around 1460 or a little earlier, exact date disputed

* Book of hours of Philip the Good (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. Nouv. Acq. Fr. 16428), around 1461 - 1467

* Histoires de Gillion de Trazegnies (Dülmen private collection), c. 1463 for Anton von Burgund, probably attributed to van Lathem

* Histoires de Gillion de Trazegnies (Los Angeles, Getty Museum ms. 111), around 1464 for Ludwig von Bruges

* The so-called Breslauer Froissart (Berlin State Library: Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, ms. Rehdiger 3 (Depot Breslau, 1)), around 1468 (103 miniatures in volumes 2 - 4)

* Book of hours of Charles the Bold (Los Angeles, Getty Museum MS 37) 1469, around 1472 and around 1480–1490, with Van Lathem's collaboration in the two early phases

* Book of hours (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, ms. Nalat. 215), dating uncertain: 1460s or later

* Histoire de Jason (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, ms. Fr. 331), created around 1470 on behalf of Ludwig von Bruges (L. von Gruuthuse) (with 18 miniatures by van Lathem)

* Frontispiece of "Secret of secrets" of Pseudo-Aristotle (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, ms for the 562nd.) To 1470 to 1475 on behalf of Louis of Bruges made

* Book of Hours of Maria von Burgund (Vienna, Austrian National Library, cod. 1857), around 1470 - 1475

* Book of hours of the Princes Trivulzio (Den Haag ms 472), around 1470 - 1475, individual miniatures

* Ordonnance touchant la conduite du premier équier d'équierie de monseigneur le duc de Bourgogne (Vienna, Austrian National Library, cod.Ser. N. 2616) (Frontispitz probably a workshop by Lathem)

* Romulus novel (Brussels, Royal Library ms. 9055), miniature on fol. 194v

* Marginal drawings in a Utrecht book of hours of the Van Lochorst family (The Hague, Rijksmuseum Meermanno-Westreenianum, ms. 10 F 50), made around 1460 during a stay in Utrecht or added later

Research history

Around 1900, a group of illuminations in about a dozen manuscripts was recognized as artistically coherent and the Burgundian court painter Philippe de Mazerolles (around 1430–1479), based in Bruges, was initially attributed to it as the author of Paul Durrieu . The emergency name "Master of the Golden Fleece" was also used.

In 1957 Antoine de Schryver introduced the name Lieven van Lathem into the discussion about this group of works by attributing a prayer book to Charles the Bold (Getty ms. 37) to this artist, who was largely unknown at the time. As a result, this suggestion was taken up and a stable master regulation of Charles the Bold from Antwerp (ÖNB cod. Ser. N. 2616) was specifically linked to van Lathem via a document. Until the 1990s, however, Philippe de Mazerolles was repeatedly named in overview works as the author of those works for which van Lathem was increasingly being considered with good arguments.

In 1996 a monograph on van Lathem was published by Eva Wolf, which largely confirms the identifications of de Schryvers and thus allows a very good overview of van Lathem's life and work. In 2018, Nina Zenker gave an overview of the history of research and the currently known and accepted work of van Lathem in her dissertation on a major work by van Lathem, the 103 miniatures in the so-called Breslauer Froissart.

literature

• Nina Zenker: Froissart from Breslau as reflected in the late medieval conception of history . Petersberg 2018 (103 miniatures in this work are by Lieven van Lathem and the research history of the artist is also presented in detail)
• Elizabeth Morrison, Zrinka Stahuljak (Ed.): The Adventures of Gillion de Trazegnies. Chivalry and Romance in the Medieval East. Los Angeles 2015.
• G Dogaer: Flemish Miniature Painting in the 15th and 16th Centuries. (1987).
• Maurits Smeyers: Vlaamse Miniaturen van de 8e tot het midden van de 16e eeuw. Davidsfonds / Löwen pp. 392–393.
• J. Duverger: Court signs Lieven Van Lathem (approx. 1430–1493). Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerp 1969, pp. 97–104
• R. van Elslande: Lieven van Lathem, een onbekende belangrijke kunstenaar uit de 15de eeuw. In: Scheldeveld, Jb. XXI, 1992, blz. 127-169.
• P. Rombouts, T. van Lerius: De Liggeren of the Antwerp St. Lucasgilde, dl. I. Antwerp 1864, p. 14.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In detail on life according to the current state of research: Nina Zenker: The Breslauer Froissart in the mirror of late medieval view of history. Petersberg 2018, here pp. 160–161.
2. ↑ Elizabeth Morrison, Zrinka Stahuljak (ed.): The Adventures of Gillion de Trazegnies. Chivalry and Romance in the Medieval East. Los Angeles 2015.
3. ↑ On the history of research: Zenker 2018, pp. 158–160.

Web links

Commons : Lieven van Lathem  - collection of images, videos and audio files