Madonna at the fountain
The Madonna at the fountain is a painting by the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck . With an inner image size of 19 × 12 centimeters, this painting, which is still in its original frame today, is only slightly larger than a postcard.
history
The painting was created in 1439 and thus belongs to the late work of Jan van Eyck. It is now in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp . What is unusual about this painting is that Jan van Eyck depicts the Madonna in a blue hay : the Madonnas of the Dresden Marien Altar , the Lucca Madonna , the Rolin Madonna and the Madonna of Canon Joris van der Paele wear red hay. The use of the color red to dress figures of the Madonna or God the Father is a characteristic of Dutch painting in the 15th century. In the Netherlands at that time, scarlet-colored garments, which were dyed with the most expensive textile dye carmine, were particularly valued . This dye was extracted from the eggs of the scale insect species Kermes ilicis and Kermes vermilio . In accordance with the fashion tastes of his Dutch contemporaries, Jan van Eyck used vermilion red as the lower layer of paint on several depictions of the Madonna and then painted over this light-sensitive material with transparent madder .
Italian painters, on the other hand, preferred to use the precious ultramarine for depicting the Madonna paintings , the best qualities of which were worth more than their weight in gold and which, because of its high material value, was considered an appropriate choice. The fact that Jan van Eyck chose blue here can be seen as an influence of Italian painting; Jan van Eyck was a member of the court of the Duke of Burgundy as chamberlain, was one of his close confidants and was sent on diplomatic missions abroad by him at least three times. While the destination of two of the trips is known, the destination of the first trip is unknown. Art historians today generally assume that this trip led Jan van Eyck to Italy. Evidence for this are a number of stylistic influences of Italian painting in the work of Jan van Eyck, such as the perspective representation of the Lucca Madonna. Jan van Eyck was also one of the first painters north of the Alps to sign and date their work. The signature can be found here on the preserved original frame.
Similar to the Lucca Madonna, the figure of the donor is also missing in this painting. The Madonna is shown here standing. Two angels hold up a veil behind her. A rose hedge can be seen to the left and right of it. Otherwise this painting shows only a few details; there is no representation of objects from everyday life, as can be found in the Lucca Madonna. The perspective representation, which conveys a depth of space, is also missing.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Margarete Bruns: The riddle of color. Matter and myth. Philipp Reclam jun. GmbH, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-15-010430-0 , p. 155 and p. 154.
literature
- Otto Pächt : Van Eyck. The founders of Dutch painting. Published by Maria Schmidt-Dengler. Prestel, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-7913-1033-x , pp. 87-88.
- János Végh: Jan van Eyck. Henschelverlag et al., Berlin et al. 1984.