Ян ван Эйк: ваша персональная экскурсия по выставке в Г… — Transcript

Welcome to the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, where there is a fantastic exhibition

called Jan van Eyck: An Optical Revolution, that unfortunately had to close during the Corona closure, the lockdown if you want to.

However, we thought it might still be interesting for since many people wanted to see the exhibition and couldn't either get tickets or couldn't travel anymore, that we would bring you a short glimpse of what you have missed in fact.

We have the unique opportunity to look at the paintings from the exterior and in this case also from the interior of the Ghent Altarpiece up close, which is a very sensational and very sort of like rare experience.

So here for example, you start with an exceptionally introduction, that is to say the Adam and Eve of the Ghent Altarpiece, something which must have been for the contemporaries of Jan van Eyck, probably less shocking than for later periods, as we know these panels were dismantled in the 18th century, they were actually stored, they were overpainted copies that didn't show Adam and Eve naked, but it is the extreme realism, I mean the focus of even the body hair that sort of makes this kind of very interesting.

Something which I had never seen before, but it was becoming extremely clear to me when I was here in the exhibition is that Eve is giving, you know, she's taken the forbidden fruit from the forbidden tree, and if you look at this at this this fruit, you know, regardless if it's a lemon or whatever, it just looks pretty evil, have a look at this.

Let's go to Adam, of course these are panels that originally sort of the upper tier, so the idea that you would see actually below the toes of Adam makes a lot of sense.

And above that you have next to Adam and Eve, you have the story of Cain and Abel, that means to say that the original sin had been committed and then sort of evil came into the world, and that evil came into the world, and it inevitably necessitated in the long run the birth of Christ, his sacrificial crucifixion, and the promise of eternal life that came with the New Testament.

Let's move on. Now here you have actually parts of the exterior of the Ghent Altarpiece.

This is one of the panels that has been restored.

It's the reverse of Adam, and you see here is actually part of the Annunciation scene, and you can see here a beautiful city view, and you can see how Jan van Eyck painted all the shadows of the houses on the street, and it's full of details, and if you look closely, you can see that there are people lurking through the windows, and above the door there are wall paintings, and you can even identify the house as a house of Saint Christopher, etc., etc.

So it's full of details, and you wonder why on earth did Jan van Eyck bother to paint this, because this was installed somewhere up there, who was able to see that?

So almost obsessive in his way of recording details, and then you have, as you can see, you have this kind of frame, that's part of the Eyckian, which you see the frame seems to cast its own shadow into the painting, and that is like playing with realism, that, I think, for the contemporaries of Jan van Eyck was really, really something extraordinary, and the fact that the frame is conceived like as a painted stone wall, you know, shows you that, I think, the idea of that this was supposed to be actually windows into something otherworldly that was behind a closed wall.

All right, here you have a painting which shows Saint Barbara, and it's again one of these paintings that have caused a lot of discussion in the art historical literature.

It's a painting that comes from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and it shows the saint in front of a tower, of course, as you know, Barbara was a saint that would actually kept in a tower, where she was martyred, so in a way Jan van Eyck is able to depict a contemporary cathedral building side and combines that with the image of the martyr itself.

And it a lot of details in the background shows the working people carrying stones around and a crane that is installed in order to lift stones up to the upper edge, it's a very important painting that gives also ideas of how cathedrals were actually built.

What makes this painting special is the fact that it's actually in black and white, and the discussion goes pretty much about is it an unfinished painting or was Jan van Eyck already so far that he would actually that an unfinished painting would be the equal of a finished one, now this is a discussion that is not settled, however, if it's unfinished, and there are some arguments for that, it is interesting to note that it has an inscription, it says Jan van Eyck me fecit and a date, and that means that the date and the inscription perhaps not in all cases refer to the finishing of the work itself, it's not a date, but may actually refer to the moment that it was conceived in the first time.

On the reverse you see it's also painted, it's sort of like an imitation of stone, jasper or porphyry, etc., etc., and that indicates, of course, there are prints glued on top of that, but it indicates that this painting was to be seen on both sides, that that also implies that it was actually turned around, people didn't hang all the paintings on the wall, they were actually used like silverware, they were presented, handled, that part of a performative act perhaps.

Let's look at these two exceptional loans that are here, the Saint Francis receiving the Stigmata.

There are two known versions of that, both associated with Jan van Eyck, one kept in the Turin Galleria Sabauda, the bigger one, and the smaller one, which is a gem of a painting, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

And this is actually another of these paintings, it's in beautiful condition, that are intriguing, it has a painted frame, a kind of trompe-l'oeil frame that gives the idea that it sort of creates depth, and it's painted on parchment, so again parchment glued on wood, so again sort of proving the the association between Jan van Eyck and illuminators, now this is an oil painting and probably by one of the close followers and workshop members by van Eyck.

Now this room is dedicated to the subject of Mother and Child, it's a room where we don't have works from the Ghent Altarpiece, but it's focused on actually on one of two versions of the Madonna at the Fountain.

The original is in Antwerp, it's a beautiful, it's a gem-like painting that shows the Virgin Mary with the Infant Christ in front of a fountain, and you can see how precisely Jan van Eyck depicts even the splash of water coming up, two angels are holding a cloth of honor in her back.

And it's a painting that that that had a great afterlife, here you have again the inscription of Jan van Eyck, 1439, two years before his death, and here you have in fact almost the same composition by a follower of Eyck, by a workshop member, I think by a workshop member, and this is most likely the version that was actually kept in the collection of Margaret of Austria in Mechelen.

This room is called The Word of God, and this is all focused on the Annunciation from the Ghent Altarpiece, the Archangel Gabriel approaches the Virgin from the left.

Both figures are actually far too big for the room in which they are presented, it's a typical thing of van Eyck, when figures are standing up, they're almost getting through the roof, and it's still it looks very, very realistic.

He brings a bouquet of lilies with him as a symbol of the Annunciation of the virginity of the of the of the Mary, and he speaks the words: "Ave Maria, rejoice, full of grace", addressing her appropriately.

And what happens then, Mary, who is sitting praying in front of a prayer book, looks up, she answers to the greetings: "I am the handmaid of the Lord", and Jan van Eyck turns the words around so that they actually be read from above from the perspective of God, and at that moment the dove of the Holy Ghost enters and Christ is incarnated.

On the top of these two depictions, you have two prophets that actually announce the coming of the Messiah, here are depicted the Old and New Testament, to show the transition from the Old Testament to the New.

This is the only painting that we can with some probability associate with the patronage of Philip the Good, and it again depicts the Annunciation, but in a very different way.

Jan van Eyck places this scene in a church interior, in the church interior we see both Gothic and Romanesque features, and again this is a way of him to indicate the dichotomy between the New and the Old Testament, the Archangel appears again from the left, approaches the Virgin, he says: "Rejoice, full of grace", she answers: "I am the handmaid of the Lord", again turned around, and you have seven golden rays that come from the upper window, down representing the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, that manifests itself in the form of a dove up there.

In the picture you have references to the Holy Trinity, like with the three windows behind the Virgin, you have above there you have a representation of God the Father, and Romanesque frescoes depicting the finding of Moses and his receiving of the Ten Commandments.

Below are several images of Old Testament scenes, for example, the scene of David and Goliath, the story of Samson, and also subjects that are closely related to the idea of the sacrificial death of Christ and the triumph over death, which marks his resurrection.

And here we have the Turin-Milan Hours, this manuscript is in the Civic Museum of Turin, it consists of a manuscript by the Limbourg brothers, Jean Lenoir and other artists of the early 15th century, and also other miniaturists

from the period 1450s and 1460s, all of them were followers of Eyck.

But in the manuscript there are two miniatures by Eyck himself, this miniature depicts the birth of John the Baptist, and it's a beautiful composition, this interior scene is really remarkable and multifaceted.

The view of the room foreshadows the works of Vermeer, the landscape painting of the Baptism of Christ is really one of the milestones in European landscape painting.

This is an extremely important work, and we are very proud that it is presented here.

Here we have the two grisaille from the lower tier of the Ghent Altarpiece, which were the exterior of the painting, they are painted in gray and look as if they were made of stone.

Both saints, John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, were patron saints of the church for which the altarpiece was commissioned, today it is St. Bavo's Cathedral, and it's really amazing, especially after the restoration.

You see that van Eyck took great care to make a clear distinction between the two types of stone, this stone is not like that, you can distinguish its texture, skillfully executed by the artist, in a way van Eyck, of course, competes with sculpture, and he tries to show that his "fake sculptures" are even better than the works of real sculptors, his contemporaries.

We have a few examples of sculpture from that period, and I think it becomes increasingly clear that the artist's skill is undeniable.

The concept of grisaille is even more evident in two other examples, this is the Annunciation diptych from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, and it's an amazing work, the culmination of Jan van Eyck's work, where he uses only three colors to create a general effect.

And, of course, the use of three colors - black, white and red - is what the ancient author Pliny recommended, and we know that van Eyck read Pliny.

Here the Annunciation is again depicted through the technique of painted sculpture, you see how the angel's wings seem to frame the painting, they go beyond the frame, and we observe the diminished reflections of the figures on the smooth background, and if you look at the Virgin Mary, you will see the dove, which is physically impossible, is simultaneously flying and absolutely static.

We are moving towards the end of the exhibition, each exhibition is an attempt to intrigue the visitor, and this is probably one of the most impressive rooms in the entire exhibition, it is dedicated to portrait painting.

This painting is from the Brukenthal National Museum, located in Sibiu, Romania, and it is probably the earliest portrait by van Eyck, this assumption arose because of the blue chaperon on the man, such headwear was fashionable in the late 1420s - early 1430s, so the painting probably predates other portraits by van Eyck.

And what do we see on it? The painting depicts a man who is indecisively looking somewhere to the side, he holds a ring in his right hand, the ring in the painting symbolizes an engagement, and the hero is waiting for an answer from his beloved, look how the ear is depicted, and this is very typical for van Eyck, as if he wants to say: "And now I'm waiting for your decision", the ear occupies a central position in the painting, and this semantic game is typical of van Eyck, quite often such tricks increase the realism of paintings.

The exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to learn about probable scenarios if details are restored, and with this painting, which depicts the Flemish nobleman Baudouin de Lannoy, a former member of the Burgundian court, the portrait was restored for the exhibition in the Berlin Picture Gallery, and now the painting is presented in all its glory, it depicts a military leader, a member of the prestigious chivalric Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Duke Philip the Good in 1432, the hero thoughtfully looks somewhere to the right, his attire is made of expensive brocade, which was probably a gift from Philip the Good.

Jan van Eyck and Baudouin de Lannoy apparently knew each other very well, as both were participants in the aforementioned diplomatic mission to Isabella of Portugal, whose portrait van Eyck also painted, they must have spent a lot of time together on the ship, however, de Lannoy's portrait was painted only a few years later, because, as I said, the hero had the insignia of the Golden Fleece with him.

This painting is similar to the portrait of the man in the blue chaperon that we saw earlier, but its meaning is completely different.

Here Jan van Eyck depicts a man named Jan de Leeuw, a famous jeweler, unlike the story of that portrait, where, in all likelihood, the ring was a symbol of engagement, here the wedding theme is also played out, but with irony, looking at the painting for the first time, one might assume that the ring on it also symbolizes a marriage proposal, but those who saw the inscriptions on the original frame, which is a kind of riddle frame, would have realized that in fact it is a jeweler, if you will, who is trying to sell you his merchandise.

The inscription is in Dutch, it's a kind of reference to the birthday of Jan de Leeuw, a small lion is depicted instead of the hero's name, this hint by van Eyck indicates the artist's acquaintance with the society of rhetoricians in Bruges.

Rhetoricians were not only craftsmen, but also poets, the first society of rhetoricians was founded in Bruges in 1428, among the founders were artists such as Jan van Eyck's contemporary Louis Halincbroot, in other words, this type of urban culture was very important for van Eyck.

And, perhaps, the hero of the painting was one of the few who could commission a portrait from his friend to depict his belonging to the guild and estate.

This portrait "Leal souvenir" is another riddle of the artist's work.

Many of van Eyck's works keep their secrets, and it's quite difficult to unravel them.

In the portrait you see a man behind a stone parapet, this painting from the London National Gallery was restored especially for the exhibition.

You see with what skill the optical illusion was created - the hand seems to extend beyond the painting.

On the stone it is written: "Leal souvenir", which means "For a good memory", and we also see the phrase "Timotheus, actum Anno Domini, 1432" and then "Jan van Eyck", this is quite an interesting inscription, because actum refers to a legal act, and the name Timotheus is written in Greek, which is unclear, and the painting as a whole resembles a memorial portrait, so if it is a memorial portrait, it means it depicts a person whose deeds and actions should be immortalized.

All these things are absolutely unclear,

but the theme itself provides excellent food for thought.

Here are remarkable portraits of a couple who donated money for the creation of the Ghent Altarpiece, this is Joos Vijd and Elisabeth Borluut.

In the place where I stand, you need to imagine the images of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in grisaille, and in front of you will be the entire lower register.

And pay attention to an interesting fact, the figures are depicted in the same niches, but if they rise from their knees, they will be too big for the space in which they are depicted, now these paintings have changed dramatically, because in the course of restoration, the upper layers of paint were removed from them, and we have an incredible opportunity to see them in their restored form.

When the Ghent Altarpiece was installed in the church of St. John - today it is St. Bavo's Cathedral - in 1432 it was a real revelation for van Eyck's contemporaries.

Never before had visitors seen such realistic figures, and I wonder how they looked at the portrait of this lady, who was standing next to them?

Were they confused by this fact? How did they perceive this painting? We cannot imagine now how such paintings influenced people in that era, when, unlike our time, images were rare.

Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, our short tour is coming to an end, it was a great pleasure for me to give you a tour, and I hope you enjoyed the exhibition and the masterpieces that we were able to show you.

For those who have already visited the exhibition, this will serve as a great reminder, for those who could not visit the exhibition, this is an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with the work of the exceptional artist Jan van Eyck, thank you very much!