Rogier Van Der Weyden: A Long Forgotten Master

Rogier van der Weyden - The Magdalene Reading - c. 1445 - Oil, transferred from wood to mahogany, 62x55 cm - National Gallery, London (click photo for larger image)Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1399 – 1464) was a Flemish painter who, with the possible exception of Jan van Eyck, was the most influential northern European artist of his time. Though most of his work was religious, he produced secular paintings (now lost) and some sensitive portraits. By the middle of the 19th century, his fame and art had all but been forgotten. Only through a meticulous research have scholars over the past century been able to reconstruct Rogier's work and restore his reputation as one of 15th-century Flanders' leading masters. 

This beautiful figure seated on a cushion reading a devotional book can be identified as Mary Magdalene by the jar at her side, in reference to the ointment with which she anointed Christ's feet (Luke 7:37-8). When the painting was cleaned in 1956 it was discovered that its dark uniform background, applied probably in the nineteenth century, had concealed the body of Saint Joseph holding a rosary, part of a window with a landscape view, and the foot and crimson drapery of another figure, identified as Saint John the Evangelist.

Albrecht Dürer: the Greatest German Renaissance Artist

Albrecht Dürer - "Sylvan Men" with Heraldic Shields - 1499 - Oil on lindenwood, 49,3x15,9 and 49,7x15,7 cm - Alte Pinakothek, Munich (click photo for larger image)Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528) was the painter and printmaker generally regarded as the greatest German Renaissance artist. His vast body of work includes altarpieces and religious works, numerous portraits and self-portraits, and copper engravings. 

The two side panels that represent two "sylvan men" are wings to the portrait of Oswolt Krel. They bear the heraldic shields of the subject and his wife, Agathe von Esendorf. They originally let the portrait be closed from the retro; one could imagine, then, that despite the large dimensions, the painting was to be conserved closed. The present frame has been made recently.

Jan Van Eyck: Both Famous and Innovative!

Jan van Eyck - The Ghent Altarpiece: The Holy Hermits - 1427-30 - Oil on wood, 148,6x53,9 cm - Cathedral of St Bavo, Ghent (click photo for larger image)Johannes de Eyck (c. 1395-c. 1441) was the Flemish painter who perfected the newly developed technique of oil painting. His naturalistic panel paintings, mostly portraits and religious subjects, made extensive use of disguised religious symbols. Van Eyck was the most famous and innovative Flemish painter of the 15th century.

Opposite to the Soldiers of Christ and the Just Judges on the magnificent Ghent Altarpiece are the Holy Hermits who have renounced the world.

Correggio: Forward Looking—Forward Thinking

Correggio - Madonna and Child in Glory - c. 1510 - Oil on wood, 20x16 cm - Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence (click photo for larger image)Correggio (1490-1534) was the most important Renaissance painter of the school of Parma, whose late works influenced the style of many Baroque and Rococo artists. Italian painter, named after the small town in Emilia where he was born. (His real name was Antonio Allegri.) From his earliest days, he was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci. As a result, he developed a style of conscious elegance and allure with soft sfumato (layers of transparent color) and gestures of captivating charm. Correggio may well have visited Rome early in his career, although we don’t know for certain. The obvious inspiration of the paintings of Raphael and Michelangelo on his work could be accounted for by drawings and prints that were known all over Italy. He was one of the most sophisticated artists of his time.

Sorrow and glory are indistinguishable in this intimate work. Even the cloud-angels are solemn. The music-making angel on the right seems to play to the Child to sweeten the present, and distract him from his awareness of the future. The colours, too, are deep but muted. Correggio's figures occupy more three-dimensional space than those of many of his contemporaries' works.

Sandro Botticelli: An Outstanding Genius of Western Art

Sandro Botticelli - Agony in the Garden - c. 1500 - Tempera on panel, 53 x 35 cm - Museo de la Capilla Real, Granada (click photo for larger image)Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was one of the greatest lyrical painters of the Florentine Renaissance. It is to the pure visual poetry of his outcomes that he owes his fame. Botticelli’s manipulations of the visual facts for artistic purposes were as deliberate and creative in his day as Picasso’s were, in the 20 century. 

This is the only one of Botticelli's paintings known to have been exported from Italy during the artist's lifetime. It is recorded as being in the possession of Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Castille, in 1504. It was probably brought to the court of Castille by a merchant, accompanied by various other luxury goods.