November 19, 2008
Dutch Paintings and Their Afterlives
Christopher P. Heuer
Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton
Minutes of the Tenth Meeting of the 67th Year
At 10:15 AM, President Hansen called to order the tenth meeting of our 67th year.
Don Edwards led the invocation, a chorus of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, (with apologies to Her Royal Highness for borrowed music).
The minutes of the previous meeting, 12 November, 2008, were presented by John Frederick.
Dana Fearon introduced his guest, his wife Janet.
Jim Ferry introduced his guests George and Jeannine McLaughlin.
Today’s attendance was approximately 75.
President Hansen reminded us of the Snow Day policy – it follows that of the Princeton Regional Schools. Closings may be heard on the telephone starting at 5:30 AM at 609-806-4202 and are also announced on local radio and television stations. If Princeton Regional Schools will be opening not later than 10:00 AM, then POG will meet. The announcement will also be available on our website and from the Princeton University mail box.
He also announced that, due to the Thanksgiving holidays, there will be no meeting next week, November 26, and that the following meeting, December 3, 2008, will start at with a social gathering at 9:30 AM. at Friend Center.
John Schmidt of the Membership Committee announced that David Dodge has been awarded emeritus status. The sustained applause included appreciation for David’s continuing work as Chairman of the Program Committee.
Backdropped by a full-screen image of a multi-panel painting by the speaker’s principal subject, Jim Johnson introduced Professor Christopher P. Heuer. He came to Princeton last year and is on the tenure track in the Department of Art and Archaeology. Professor Heuer comes to Princeton from Columbia and earlier from the University of Washington, The Getty Research Institute, Rijks University at Lyden, BowdoinCollege, University of Southern California, and University of Edinburgh. He speaks Dutch, German and French, a fact that impressed the introducer. His subject today is Netherlandish Painting, particularly that of the Flemish master Jan van Eyck, and how his work in the early 15th century that articulates a new understanding of painting in the late Middle Ages and well beyond.
The image projected was a photograph of the interior of the so-called Ghent Altarpiece, in the Cathedral of Saint Bavo, Ghent, Belgium. It is a triptych consisting of a main section and two hinged side sections, each consisting of several framed oil paintings on wood panels with wooden frames. The opposite sides of the side sections are also paintings, visible when the shutters are closed. The whole altarpiece is approximately 12 feet high and 17 feet wide when open, and has 24 painted panels in all. In the cathedral, the altar piece hangs directly above the communion table.
The art critic Arnold Pecht called this “The most complex and powerful of all works of painting.” Professor Heuer said that this altar piece changed what art as a whole was. It indicates that, emerging from the Middle Ages, ideas of how individuals related to invisible deities such as God were changing. It presents an esthetic bridge between older notions of devotion and noveaux ideas akin to those to which we are accustomed today. It also demonstrates new techniques in oil painting and finishing. Art historians have said that the pigments and materials used were costly. Painters of that era marveled that just the blue used for the Virgin’s robe was worth “three years salary of a shoemaker.” Actually, the painting work was a collaboration between Jan and his brother Hubert. Hubert is credited with planning the whole work and with starting painting in 1426, to be succeeded by Jan in 1432. There are words to this effect written on the frame.
Professor Heuer took us on a “visual tour of the panels.” The subject matter is entirely biblical, including illustrations of scripture from the old and new testaments. On the interior, the upper central figure is an anthropomorphic "God the Father," seated on a throne and wearing a papal crown. He is flanked by The Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. In the panel below we see "The Son of God," depicted as a lamb on a platform, spurting blood from his throat into a chalice. "The Holy Spirit" hovers above, depicted as a dove in a cloud of brilliant white with gold rays. Apostles and saints surround the sacrificial lamb. At the bottom center is a fountain and stone basin representing the water of life, again surrounded by biblical personages in a lush landscape. On the upper outer panels are the figures of Adam and Eve, rendered in convincing third dimension standing in architectural niches. They are completely nude, a radical departure from the artistic practice of the time. Their children, Cain and Abel, are shown in the semi-circular lunettes above them. On the lower outer panels are legions of historical persons who fought for or followed Jesus, such as Crusaders, pilgrims, monks, nuns, martyrs, and hermits.
On the outside of the shutters, the upper panels illustrate the Annunciation with the angel and the Virgin Mary seen in architectural settings. The lower outer panels show the rich merchant, Joost Vijdt, and his wife, who commissioned the altarpiece. Between them are two well modeled statues, painted in “grisaille,” the French term for painting forms in tones of grey to simulate statuary.
The paintings are filled with symbolism, such as the four flowers in The Virgin Mary’s tiara that represent her four virtues; the forbidden fruit held by Eve, showing that she and Adam have fallen from grace; and the accoutrements of the apostles and saints that enable us to identify them. In contrast, the painted environment in which these divine, semi-mystical images exist is encyclopedic in its illustration of nature and materiality. We see fabric, hair, skin, soil, grass, trees, rocks and flowers. Botanists who studied the paintings have identified as many as 42 different plants.
Professor Heuer characterized this as a symphonic work of art, staggering in its complexity and monumental in its influence on the development of the art of painting in western culture. However, because of its liturgical function, it is not yet pure art for its own sake.
His talk ended at 11:06 AM.
Questions followed, which elicited the responses that:
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas S. Fulmer
[link to images of the Ghent Altar Piece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece]
Don Edwards led the invocation, a chorus of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, (with apologies to Her Royal Highness for borrowed music).
The minutes of the previous meeting, 12 November, 2008, were presented by John Frederick.
Dana Fearon introduced his guest, his wife Janet.
Jim Ferry introduced his guests George and Jeannine McLaughlin.
Today’s attendance was approximately 75.
President Hansen reminded us of the Snow Day policy – it follows that of the Princeton Regional Schools. Closings may be heard on the telephone starting at 5:30 AM at 609-806-4202 and are also announced on local radio and television stations. If Princeton Regional Schools will be opening not later than 10:00 AM, then POG will meet. The announcement will also be available on our website and from the Princeton University mail box.
He also announced that, due to the Thanksgiving holidays, there will be no meeting next week, November 26, and that the following meeting, December 3, 2008, will start at with a social gathering at 9:30 AM. at Friend Center.
John Schmidt of the Membership Committee announced that David Dodge has been awarded emeritus status. The sustained applause included appreciation for David’s continuing work as Chairman of the Program Committee.
Backdropped by a full-screen image of a multi-panel painting by the speaker’s principal subject, Jim Johnson introduced Professor Christopher P. Heuer. He came to Princeton last year and is on the tenure track in the Department of Art and Archaeology. Professor Heuer comes to Princeton from Columbia and earlier from the University of Washington, The Getty Research Institute, Rijks University at Lyden, BowdoinCollege, University of Southern California, and University of Edinburgh. He speaks Dutch, German and French, a fact that impressed the introducer. His subject today is Netherlandish Painting, particularly that of the Flemish master Jan van Eyck, and how his work in the early 15th century that articulates a new understanding of painting in the late Middle Ages and well beyond.
The image projected was a photograph of the interior of the so-called Ghent Altarpiece, in the Cathedral of Saint Bavo, Ghent, Belgium. It is a triptych consisting of a main section and two hinged side sections, each consisting of several framed oil paintings on wood panels with wooden frames. The opposite sides of the side sections are also paintings, visible when the shutters are closed. The whole altarpiece is approximately 12 feet high and 17 feet wide when open, and has 24 painted panels in all. In the cathedral, the altar piece hangs directly above the communion table.
The art critic Arnold Pecht called this “The most complex and powerful of all works of painting.” Professor Heuer said that this altar piece changed what art as a whole was. It indicates that, emerging from the Middle Ages, ideas of how individuals related to invisible deities such as God were changing. It presents an esthetic bridge between older notions of devotion and noveaux ideas akin to those to which we are accustomed today. It also demonstrates new techniques in oil painting and finishing. Art historians have said that the pigments and materials used were costly. Painters of that era marveled that just the blue used for the Virgin’s robe was worth “three years salary of a shoemaker.” Actually, the painting work was a collaboration between Jan and his brother Hubert. Hubert is credited with planning the whole work and with starting painting in 1426, to be succeeded by Jan in 1432. There are words to this effect written on the frame.
Professor Heuer took us on a “visual tour of the panels.” The subject matter is entirely biblical, including illustrations of scripture from the old and new testaments. On the interior, the upper central figure is an anthropomorphic "God the Father," seated on a throne and wearing a papal crown. He is flanked by The Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. In the panel below we see "The Son of God," depicted as a lamb on a platform, spurting blood from his throat into a chalice. "The Holy Spirit" hovers above, depicted as a dove in a cloud of brilliant white with gold rays. Apostles and saints surround the sacrificial lamb. At the bottom center is a fountain and stone basin representing the water of life, again surrounded by biblical personages in a lush landscape. On the upper outer panels are the figures of Adam and Eve, rendered in convincing third dimension standing in architectural niches. They are completely nude, a radical departure from the artistic practice of the time. Their children, Cain and Abel, are shown in the semi-circular lunettes above them. On the lower outer panels are legions of historical persons who fought for or followed Jesus, such as Crusaders, pilgrims, monks, nuns, martyrs, and hermits.
On the outside of the shutters, the upper panels illustrate the Annunciation with the angel and the Virgin Mary seen in architectural settings. The lower outer panels show the rich merchant, Joost Vijdt, and his wife, who commissioned the altarpiece. Between them are two well modeled statues, painted in “grisaille,” the French term for painting forms in tones of grey to simulate statuary.
The paintings are filled with symbolism, such as the four flowers in The Virgin Mary’s tiara that represent her four virtues; the forbidden fruit held by Eve, showing that she and Adam have fallen from grace; and the accoutrements of the apostles and saints that enable us to identify them. In contrast, the painted environment in which these divine, semi-mystical images exist is encyclopedic in its illustration of nature and materiality. We see fabric, hair, skin, soil, grass, trees, rocks and flowers. Botanists who studied the paintings have identified as many as 42 different plants.
Professor Heuer characterized this as a symphonic work of art, staggering in its complexity and monumental in its influence on the development of the art of painting in western culture. However, because of its liturgical function, it is not yet pure art for its own sake.
His talk ended at 11:06 AM.
Questions followed, which elicited the responses that:
- Yes, the scenery seen through the windows of the annunciation scene was local to the cathedral’s location, thus rooting the work in the vernacular of the artists’ time and milieu.
- No, Eve is not pregnant – the prominent belly of the female nude was an artistic convention of the time.
- Although Jan van Eyck is credited by some as the inventor of oil painting, Prof Heuer does not agree. There were predecessors. However, he was the first to make it a “style” – a labor- intensive pursuit, far more intellectual than a craft. The complete absence of brush strokes and the mirror-like surface of the painting had never been done before.
- The frames are of a costly wood from Scandinavia;
- The shutters do completely hide the interior panels when closed.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas S. Fulmer
[link to images of the Ghent Altar Piece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece]