Virgin and Child Enthroned (van der Weyden)

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Virgin and Child Enthroned
Rogier van der Weyden - Virgin and Child Enthroned - Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza 43
5.jpg
Artist Rogier van der Weyden
Year c. 1430 1432
Medium oil on panel
Dimensions 15.8 cm 11.4 cm (6.2 in 4.5 in)
Location Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
The Virgin and Child Enthroned (also known as the Thyssen Madonna) is a small oi
l-on-oak panel painting dated c. 1433, usually attributed to the Early Netherlan
dish artist Rogier van der Weyden.[1] It is closely related to his Madonna Stand
ing, completed during the same period. The panel is filled with Christian iconog
raphy, including representations of prophets, the Annunciation, Christ's infancy
and resurrection, and Mary's Coronation. It is generally accepted as the earlie
st extant work by van der Weyden, one of three works attributed to him of the Vi
rgin and Child enclosed in a niche on an exterior wall of a Gothic church. The p
anel is housed in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.
The panel seems to be the left-hand wing of a dismantled diptych, perhaps with t
he Saint George and the Dragon panel now in the National Gallery of Art, Washing
ton, D.C. As an early van der Weyden, it takes influence from Robert Campin and
Jan van Eyck. Van der Weyden served his apprenticeship under Campin, and the old
er master's style is noticeable in the architecture of the niche, the Virgin's f
acial type, her exposed breast and in the treatment of her hair.
Contents [hide]
1 Description
2 Iconography
3 Diptych
4 Dating and attribution
5 References
6 Sources
7 External links
Description[edit]
Robert Campin, The Virgin and Child before a Firescreen, c. 1430, National Galle
ry, London
The panel is the smallest extant work by van der Weyden[2] and follows the tradi
tion of a Madonna Lactans, with significant differences. Christ is dressed in a
red garment, as opposed to the swaddling he usually wears in 15th-century Virgin
and Child portrayals.[3] This is one of two exceptions where he is fully clothe
d; the other is Robert Campin's Madonna in Frankfurt, where he is shown in blue
clothing.[4] Mary's unbound blond hair falls across her shoulders and down acros
s her arms. Showing the influence of Campin, it is brushed behind the ears.[2] S
he wears a crown as Queen of Heaven and a ring on a finger as the Bride of Chris
t.[5] Reinforcing this, the blue colour of her robe alludes to her devotion and
fidelity to her son.[6] The folds of her dress are reminiscent of the lengthy, c
risp, curved intertwined gowns of Gothic sculpture.[7]
The pictorial space is bathed in soft light, probably an influence from Jan van
Eyck. The light falls from the right, throwing shadows of both Mary and the Chil
d's heads on the left wall of the niche.[2] The Virgin and Child are shown seate
d in a small Gothic chapel or oratory projecting from a wall and opening onto a
lawn. The painting pays very close attention to small realistic detail; for exam
ple there are four small holes above each arch, likely to hold scaffolding.[7]

Van der Weyden, The Madonna Standing, c. 1430 32, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Van der Weyden, The Durn Madonna, c. 1435 38, Museo del Prado, Madrid
As with other early van der Weyden depictions of the Madonna, her head is slight
ly too large for her body. Her dress is creased and almost paper-like. However,
the description of her lap contains inconsistencies also in Campin's Virgin and
Child before a Firescreen; it appears to lack volume and is if she had only one
leg. This seems to reflect an early difficulty both with foreshortening and in t
he depiction of a body under clothing.[8]
The chapel is unrealistically small compared to the Virgin; van der Weyden's int
ention was to emphasise the Virgin's presence while also symbolically representi
ng the Church and the entire doctrine of the Redemption.[5] The panel is one of
three surviving of van der Weyden's where both Madonna and Child are enclosed in
this way. However it is unusual in that the niche exists as a separate feature
within the picture, compared to the two other works where the enclosure is coter
minous with the edge of the painting, almost as part of the frame, a reason why
it is thought to predate The Madonna Standing.[2]
There are symmetrical differences between the left and right-hand sides of the p
ainting. This is most noticeable with the buttress, where the receding edges are
over half again the size of those on the front sides. In addition, the breath o
f the buttress contradicts the spatial depth of the much tighter space inhabited
by the Virgin and Child. This is a technical issue with foreshortening Campin a
lso struggled with, but which van der Weyden resolves in his mature work.[8]
Iconography[edit]
The work is rich in symbolism and iconographic elements, to an extent far more p
ronounced than that in the The Madonna Standing. An iris grows to the side of th
e aedicula, representing the Virgin's sorrow at the Passion, and on the other si
de a columbine, recalling the Sorrows of the Virgin.[5] This symbolic use of flo
wers is again a van Eyckian motif. While they may appear incongruous with the ar
chitectural setting, this was probably the effect that van der Weyden was seekin
g.[9]

Figures to the Virgin's left. David, standing in the centre, holds a harp
The lintel contains six reliefs from the New Testament of scenes from the Life o
f the Virgin. The first four, the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity and Adorati
on of the Magi, are associated with motherhood and infancy. They are followed by
the Resurrection and Pentecost. Above them, surmounting a "cross flower", is th
e Coronation of the Virgin.[5][3] The jambs on either side of the Virgin are ado
rned with statues most likely of Old Testament prophets. Of these only David, se
cond to the left, has been identified. The bearded man to David's left is probab
ly Moses, the man in the cap to the right is most likely the "weeping prophet" J
eremiah. On the opposite side, the outer figures may be Zechariah and Isaiah.[6]
In his usage of grisaille, van der Weyden distinguishes between the earthly real
m of flesh and blood, and the divine, represented by ancient sculptural figures,
who appear frozen in time.[9] Art historian Shirley Blum believes these figures
were relegated to the architectural elements so as not to crowd the central dev
otional image.[10]
The arrangement of the sculptural elements may have been influenced by Claus Slu
ter's Well of Moses (c. 1395 1403), which has a similar alignment. In the Chartreu
se de Champmol, the prophets represent the judges of Christ (Secundum legem debe
t mori, "according to that law he ought to die") and are thus tied to the crucif
ixion. In the van der Weyden they are associated with the Virgin.[6] Although po
rtraying figures in niches has a long tradition in Northern art, rendering the f
igures as sculpture was unique to the 1430s, and first appears in van Eyck's Ghe
nt Altarpiece.[2]
Diptych[edit]
Virgin and Child Enthroned
Saint George and the Dragon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The panel may have been conceived as either the left-hand wing of a since disman
tled diptych, or as the front piece of a double-sided panel.[11] Art historian E
rwin Panofsky suggests that the Washington Saint George and the Dragon of 1432 35
is the most likely opposite wing.[12] In that work, St. George, facing inwards a
nd to the right, slays the dragon before a Libyan princess. Although the pairing
might seem incongruous, his Madonna Standing is widely thought to have been att
ached with the St. Catherine of Alexandria in Vienna.[12] In both panels, the sa
ints face inwards and are within fully realised landscapes. In contrast, in both
left hand panels, the Madonna and Child are positioned frontally (although eye
contact is avoided) and isolated within cold grisaille architectural spaces.[13]
Blum suggests that van der Weyden sought to juxtapose the otherworldly realm of
the Madonna and Child with the earthly setting and contemporary dress of the sai
nts. She describes the couplings as serving to position each saint "as a 'living
witness' to the static, eternal presence of the Virgin and Child". She writes t
hat "Only in such early works do we find this kind of obvious solution. By the t
ime of the Descent from the Cross and Durn Madonna, van der Weyden has already wo
rked out a far more complex and effective means of mixing temporal and non-tempo
ral effects".[14]
Dating and attribution[edit]
The panel closely resembles van der Weyden's c. 1430 32 Madonna Standing, and seem
s influenced by the work of Robert Campin, under whom he served his apprenticesh
ip. It is especially close to Campin's 1430 Virgin and Child before a Firescreen
, now in London; one of the last works Campin completed before van der Weyden le
ft his studio on 1 August 1432.[2][9] In both, the Virgin has large, full, breas
ts, her fingers pressing as she nurses the Child. There are further similarities
in her facial features and expression; the colour, style, and position of her h
air; as well her pose.[10] Lorne Campbell attributes the work to van der Weyden'
s workshop,[15] while art historian John Ward credits it to Campin and gives a d
ate of c. 1435.[16]

In van der Weyden's Descent from the Cross, flesh and blood figures take on a di
stinctly sculptural appearance.[17]
Ward's thesis is based on the fact that the Thyssen panel, so named after its ho
me at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, is overwhelmingly influenced by Campin, whi
le the contemporaneous and more sophisticated Madonna Standing draws heavily fro
m van Eyck. He finds such a sudden shift unlikely, while also pointing out that
this work evidences some technical difficulties that Campin was never to resolve
, especially in respect to foreshortening and the rendering of the body beneath
the robes. He also points to the architectural similarities in Campin's Marriage
of Mary, although this may be a matter of influence.[16]
The painting was completed early in van der Weyden's career, probably just after
his apprenticeship with Robert Campin ended. Although highly accomplished, it i
s filled with symbolism of a kind absent from his more mature works. It is one o
f three attributed paintings, all early works, that show the Virgin and Child se
t within an architectural setting, surrounded with painted sculptural figures, t
he others being The Madonna Standing and the Durn Madonna.[4]
Sculptural figuration was to become a hallmark of van der Weyden's mature work,
and is best typified by the Madrid Descent, where the mourning figures are shape
d and take on poses more usually seen in sculpture.[10] Erwin Panofsky identifie
d this work and the The Madonna Standing as van der Weyden's earliest extant wor
k; they are also his smallest panels. Panofsky dated both panels as 1432 34, and b
elieved them to be early works based on stylistic reasons, their near miniature
scale, and because of the evident influences of both Campin and van Eyck.[6]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ The panel was attributed at various times in the late 19th and early 2
0th centuries to Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck. See Hand et al. (2006), 324
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Ward (1968), 354
^ Jump up to: a b Acres (2000), 83
^ Jump up to: a b Birkmeyer (1962), 330
^ Jump up to: a b c d Panofsky (1971), 146
^ Jump up to: a b c d Birkmeyer (1962), 329
^ Jump up to: a b Ward (1968), 356
^ Jump up to: a b Ward (1968), 355
^ Jump up to: a b c Birkmeyer (1962), 331
^ Jump up to: a b c Blum (1977), 103
Jump up ^ Hand et al. (2006), 26
^ Jump up to: a b The Saint Catherine panel is usually attributed to his worksho
p, based on a design by van der Weyden. See Panofsky (1971), 251
Jump up ^ Panofsky (1971), 251
Jump up ^ Blum (1977), 121
Jump up ^ Acres (2000), 105
^ Jump up to: a b Ward (1968), 354 56
Jump up ^ Clarke (1960), 47
Sources[edit]
Acres, Alfred. "Rogier van der Weyden's Painted Texts". Artibus et Historiae, Vo
lume 21, No. 41, 2000
Birkmeyer, Karl. "Notes on the Two Earliest Paintings by Rogier van der Weyden".
The Art Bulletin, Volume 44, No. 4, 1962
Blum, Shirley Neilsen. "Symbolic Invention in the Art of Rogier van der Weyden".
Journal of Art History, Volume 46, Issues 1 4, 1977
Clark, Kenneth. Looking at Pictures. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1960.
ISBN 978-0-7195-2704-3
Hand, John Oliver; Metzger, Catherine; Spronk, Ron. Prayers and Portraits: Unfol
ding the Netherlandish Diptych. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006. ISBN
978-0-300-12155-1
Panofsky, Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting: v. 1. Boulder CO: Westview Press,
1971. ISBN 978-0-06-430002-5
Ward, John. "A New Attribution for the Madonna Enthroned in the Thyssen Bornemis
za Collection". The Art Bulletin, Volume 50, No. 4, 1968
External links[edit]
Thyssen museum page
[hide] v t e
Rogier van der Weyden
Single religious
works
Virgin and Child Enthroned (c. 1430 32) The Madonna Standing (c. 1430 32) The Magdal
en Reading (fragment, c. 1435 38) Durn Madonna (c. 1435 38) The Descent from the Cros
s (c. 1435 38) Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin (c. 1435 40) The Dream of Pope Sergius
(c. late 1430s) Christ on the Cross with Mary and St John (c. 1440) Piet (c. 1441
) Visitation (c. 1445) Saint Jerome in the Desert (c. 1450 65) Virgin and Child (c
. 1460) Lamentation of Christ (c. 1460 63) Medici Madonna (c. 1460 64)
Portraits
Portrait of a Woman (c. 1435) Portrait of a Man (c. 1440) Portrait of a Young Wo
man (c. 1440 45) Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (c. 1445 50) Portrait of Philip th
e Good (after 1450) Portrait of Charles the Bold (1460) Portrait of Antoine, 'Gr
and Btard' of Burgundy (c. 1460) Portrait of Francesco d'Este (c. 1460) Portrait
of a Lady (c. 1460) Portrait of Jean Gros (c 1460 64) Portrait of John I, Duke of
Cleves (14??)
Diptychs
Diptych of Jeanne of France (c. 1452 70) Crucifixion Diptych (c. 1464 65) Diptych of
Philip de Cro with The Virgin and Child (c. 1460)
Triptychs
Annunciation Triptych (c. 1434) Miraflores Altarpiece (c. 1442 45) Seven Sacrament
s Altarpiece (c. 1448) Beaune Altarpiece (c. 1445 50) The Braque Triptych (c. 1452
) Saint Columba altarpiece (c. 1455) Altar of Saint John (c. 1455) Nativity Trip
tych (1460s)
Civic
The Justice of Trajan and Herkinbald (c. 1450)
Miniature
Jean Wauquelin presenting his 'Chroniques de Hainaut' to Philip the Good (1447 144
8)
Embroidery
Fragments of a Cope with the Seven Sacraments