Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical GuidesAllen, Grant
History
Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical Guides
Allen, Grant
Belgium -- Guidebooks
The _Inner Right Wing_ (copy: the original, likewise attributed to Jan,
is also at Berlin) has an angel (_not_ St. Cecilia) playing an organ,
with other angels accompanying on various musical instruments.
Taking it in its entirety, then, the altar-piece, when opened, is a
great =mystical poem= of the Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Lamb,
with the Christian folk, both Church and World, adoring. It was in order
to prepare your mind for recognition of this marked strain of mysticism
in the otherwise prosaic and practical Flemish temperament, that I
called your attention at Bruges to several mystic or type-emphasising
pictures, in themselves of comparatively small æsthetic value.
The composition contains over 200 figures. Many of them, which I have
not here identified, can be detected by a closer inspection, which,
however, I will leave to the reader.
Now, ask the sacristan to =shut the wings=. They are painted on the
_outer side_ (all a copy) mainly in grisaille, or in very low tones of
colour, as is usual in such cases, so as to allow the jewel-like
brilliancy of the internal picture to burst upon the observer the moment
the altar-piece is opened.
The _lower wings_ have (in this copy) representations of the Four
Evangelists, in niches, in imitation of statuary. Observe the
half-classical pose and costume of Luke, the Beloved Physician. These
figures, however, were not so arranged in the original, as I shall
afterwards explain.
The _upper wings_ represent on their first or lowest tier, the
Annunciation, a frequent subject for such divided shutters. In the
centre is the usual arcade, giving a glimpse of the town of Ghent where
Hubert painted it. (The scene is said to be Hubert’s own studio, which
stood on the site of the Café des Arcades in the Place d’Armes: the view
is that which he saw from his own windows.) To the L., as always, is the
angel Gabriel, with the Annunciation lily; to the R. is Our Lady,
reading. The Dove descends upon her head. The ordinary accessories of
furniture are present—prie-dieu, curtain, bed-chamber, etc. Note this
arrangement of the personages of the Annunciation, with the empty space
between Our Lady and the angel: it will recur in many other pictures.
Observe also the Flemish realism of the painter, who places the scene in
his own town at his own period: and contrast it with the mysticism of
the entire conception.
The _uppermost tier_ of all is occupied by figures of two Sibyls
(universally believed in the Middle Ages to have prophesied of Christ)
as well as two half-length figures of the prophets Zachariah and Micah,
(also as foretellers of the Virgin birth).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account