Luke Madonna
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| Luke Madonna |
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| Rogier van der Weyden , 1440 |
| Oil and tempera on panel |
| 137.5 x 110.8 cm |
| Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| (Copy) |
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| Rogier van der Weyden , around 1440 |
| oil on wood |
| 137 × 107 cm |
| Groeninge Museum |
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| (Copy) |
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| Rogier van der Weyden , 1475–1500 |
| oil on wood |
| 102 × 108.5 cm |
| Hermitage |
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| (Copy) |
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| Rogier van der Weyden , around 1450 |
| oil on wood |
| 138 × 110 cm |
| Old Pinakothek |
Luke Madonna or Saint Luke Portraying the Madonna is a painting by Rogier van der Weyden from 1440 . The picture is painted with oil on oak wood and has a size of 137.5 × 111 cm. The original is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston . A very good copy can be found in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich . Further copies can be seen in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg and in the Groeninge Museum in Bruges .
Motif
The sacred picture shows the vision of Luke to whom Mary appears as a child with Jesus . This legend is one of the origins or justifications for the pictorial tradition in Christianity . Especially in the Orthodox Church there are some icons of Mary , which, according to legend , are traced back to portraits by the evangelist Luke, the so-called Luke pictures . The legend of Luke as a Marian painter did not arise until the 6th century. Luke was therefore the first to portray Mary with the child during their lifetime. The master of the St. Luke Madonna made this incident appear in the 15th century.
Image composition
The picture is built up in perspective on three levels. The main subject is in the foreground. In the middle part there is a garden and a bridge. In the background there is a city vedute and a large river in the middle. The foreground represents the contemplatio , the look inward. The background, on the other hand, represents the vita activa , the view outwards. In the work, the painter mixes the central perspective with the empirical perspective.
foreground
The picture shows Maria with the child and Luke in the foreground in a half-open room with composite capitals. The scene is the home of Luke. In the left quarter Mary is depicted with the baby Jesus sitting on a prayer stool at the foot of a throne . She holds her son in her arms, is turned to him, looks down at him and gives him the breast ( Maria lactans ). To the left of her and above her is an almost canopy-like curtain with brocade fabric in red colors. In the right quarter of the kneeling Luke is shown with red robe (cap) and cap. His gaze is not directed towards Maria, but next to her into the distance without focus and spiritualized. In the middle there is a clear view of an open landscape or city (spatial continuum). The building in which the central characters are located is fictional. Luke's evangelist symbol , the ox or bull, appears on the right edge of the picture next to a scroll.
The composition of the picture is based very much on the Rolin Madonna by Jan van Eyck (around 1435, Louvre , ill. ).
Middle part
In the middle part, the main motif is the Hortus conclusus (closed garden), a pictorial theme of the symbolism of the Virgin Mary, as well as a bridge parapet with two standing people facing the city facing away from the viewer. It is believed that these are Maria's parents, Joachim and Anna.
background
In the background is the view of the city of Tournai (Wallonia), which is located south of Brussels. On the far right of the picture is the cathedral in Tournai . The course of the river Scheldt can be seen in the center and runs almost in a straight line to the horizon.
particularities
Saint Luke is depicted on the one hand as an artist (silver pen , half-finished portrait), on the other hand as the theological scholar doctus Lucas (scrolls, books, office). For the first time since antiquity, Van der Weyden (again) represents an artist performing an artistic work. Among other things, the Evangelist Lukas has been the patron saint of painters for around 800 years, which is why he is also represented as an artist.
Maria is very lavishly dressed, her very wide dress is interwoven with gold and has green and red gemstones on the hem.
Others
The particularly elaborate choice of fabrics is a reference to the Flemish cloth , for which the region was world famous at the time. Tournai was the birthplace and place of work of the artist. It is not known who the models were or whether there were any models for this picture. Other artists who worked on the subject of Luke as a Marian painter included Dierick Bouts (15th century), Hugo van der Goes (1470–1480), Guercino (1652–1653), Maarten van Heemskerck (16th century) , Jan Mabuse (1520-1525) and Marten de Vos (1602).
literature
- Till-Holger Borchert : Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin. In: Van Eych to Durer. Thames & Hudson, London 2011, ISBN 978-0-500-23883-7 .
- Lorne Campbell: Van der Weyden . Chaucer Press, London 2004, ISBN 1-904449-24-7 .
- Helen Gardner, Fred S. Kleiner: Gardner's Art Through the Ages: the Western Perspective. Volume 2, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Boston 2009, ISBN 978-0-495-57364-7 .
- John OliverHand, Catherine Metzger, Ron Spronk, National Gallery of Art (US), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Belgium): Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych . Yale University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-300-12155-5 .
- Heidi J. Hornik, Mikeal Carl Parsons: Illuminating Luke: The Infancy Narrative in Italian Renaissance Painting . Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003, ISBN 1-56338-405-1 .
- Chiyo Ishikawa: Rogier van der Weyden's 'Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin' Reexamined. In: Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Volume 2, 1990, pp. 49-64.
- Patrich de Rynck: Rogier van der Weyden, "San Lucas dibujando a la Virgen". In: de Cómo leer la pintura. Grupo Editorial Random House, Mondadori, Barcelona 2005, ISBN 84-8156-388-9 .
swell
- Patrick de Rynck, Jordi Beltrán: Rogier van der Weyden, "San Lucas dibujando a la Virgen". In: de Cómo leer la pintura. Grupo Editorial Random House Mondadori, Barcelona 2005, ISBN 84-8156-388-9 , pp. 42-43.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.mfa.org Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin. Accessed February 4, 2014.