“Descent from the Cross” is a triptych of the Dutch artist Jan Gossart, nicknamed Mabuse , the central part of which is in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum , and the side wings are in the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art .
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| Jan Gossart, nicknamed Mabuse | ||
| Descent from the Cross (central part of the triptych) . 1520-1521 | ||
| the nether Kruisafneming | ||
| Oil on canvas ( translated from wood ). 141 × 106.5 cm | ||
| State Hermitage , St. Petersburg | ||
| ( inv. GE-413 ) | ||
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| Jan Gossart, nicknamed Mabuse | |||
| Descent from the Cross (side wings of the triptych) . 1521 | |||
| Wood, oil . 120 × 47 cm | |||
| Toledo Art Museum , Toledo | |||
| ( inv. 1952.85AB ) | |||
In the central part of the three-winged folding altar , the plot described in all four Gospels is illustrated ( Matt. , 27: 57-59; Mk. , 15: 42-46; Lk. , 23: 50-54; John. , 19: 38- 40) and embodying the most important Christian dogma: the atonement of original sin by the death of Christ; it is located in the State Hermitage Museum, measures 141 × 106.5 cm and is exhibited in the Small Hermitage building in hall 262 [1] .
The side doors of the altar with images of the apostle Peter , John the Baptist , the archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary are in the Museum of the Arts of Toledo (inventory number 1952.85AB); they are 120 × 47 cm in size and are exhibited in the main museum building in gallery 16 [2] . On the inside of the left wing there is a signature of the artist, on the inside of the right wing the creation date is indicated: 1521 .
Story
The entire multi-figure composition of the central part of the triptych is built around the center where the cross is located.
At the top of the cross, on a leaf pinned to it, the inscription INRI is the abbreviation of Jesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews). Stairs are symmetrically leaned against the crossbeams of the cross on both sides: a man (probably Nicodemus ) on the right hand holds Christ’s hand, another man descends on the left staircase, grasping the body of Christ; below in the center is a group of three men, two (one of them John the Evangelist ) hold Christ by the legs, the third is preparing to catch the hand that Nicodemus is about to let go. Near this group, Mary Magdalene is depicted with her back to the viewer. This composition as a whole repeats the early engraving of the school of Andrea Mantegna .
In the foreground on the left is a group of four women: the fainted Mother of God is surrounded by holy wives, whose figures were copied by Mabuse from Marcantonio Raimondi 's engraving “Descent from the Cross”. The bent man on the right, raising the crown of thorns, is Joseph of Arimathea . Above Joseph, there is a male figure in a turban - it is believed that this is a possible self-portrait of Mabuse .
The walls and towers of Jerusalem are shown on the left side of the background landscape; in the right part of the cave with the empty Holy Sepulcher , next to it are again the figures of the three Marys.
On the inner sides of the wings in the Renaissance niches are the figures of John the Baptist , in which the customer of the painting Don Pedro from Salamanca, and St. Peter , in which Mabuse portrayed himself, are depicted. On the outer sides of the grisaille leaves are shown the figures of the archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary , they are located in Gothic niches, which also have the artist's signature and date of writing.
Soviet art critic N. N. Nikulin in his review of Dutch art of the 15th-16th centuries wrote:
Fascinated by imitation of Italian art, Jan Gossart was little interested in reality. Despite the magnificent picturesque skill of the artist, the picture was somewhat arbitrary. The gestures of the characters are theatrical, facial expressions are unconvincing [3] .
Provenance and authorship issue
The triptych in the form of a fold was created in 1520-1521 by order of the Spanish merchant Pedro from Salamanca , who lived in Bruges , and was intended for a family chapel in the Augustinian church in Bruges, where he was kept for the next 185 years. In 1796 he was captured by French troops and sent to the Cathedral of the Savior in the Dune Abbey in France, from 1810 he was in the collection of Alexis Delahant. In 1814, the triptych was in the collection of Edward Solly in London ; in 1837 acquired by King of the Netherlands Willem II .
In 1850, the central part of the triptych was bought in The Hague by F. A. Bruni on behalf of Emperor Nicholas I at the sale of paintings of the collection of the deceased Willem II [4] , the triptych itself was disconnected and the side flaps were left to an unknown buyer, then the central picture was lost with flaps that have long been considered independent works. At the end of the 19th century, the valves appeared in the USA in the collection of Edward Drummond Libby , who in 1901 presented them to the newly founded Toledo Museum of Art .
At the sale of the collection of Willem II, the central picture was listed as the work of Luke Leiden , and the shutters went as the work of Mabuse. In 1864, the attribution of the Hermitage painting was changed and the author was named Barend van Orley ; this attribution was supported by a number of other scholars [5] .
In 1916, Jan Gossart was named as a possible author [6] , and in 1933 the connection of the Hermitage painting with the shutters from the Toledo Museum [7] was indicated. In 1963, documents were published on the early provenance of the painting, where it was firmly said that the central part and side wings were once a single unit [8] . The final doubts about Mabuse's authorship disappeared after the disconnected parts of the picture were temporarily reunited in 1965 at the exhibition of Mabuse's works in Rotterdam and Bruges and a comprehensive study of all parts of the triptych was carried out [9] .
Some researchers suggested that this triptych was the author’s repetition of the altar from Middelburg , but this altar was destroyed as early as 1566 at the beginning of the Iconoclastic rebellion and there is no reason to unequivocally judge the identity of these works [10] .
Triptych Damage and Restoration
The altar hung in the chapel on a damp wall, and by 1767 its wooden base was covered with mold ; then the artist Jan Gamenim carried out his first restoration. The catalog of the sale of the collection of Willem II, stored in the library of the Berlin Art Gallery , contains a handwritten note about the poor preservation of the painting and that it was “heavily cleaned and restored” [8] .
Initially, the triptych was performed on wood, the wings retained their wooden base, and the central part in 1892 in the Hermitage was transferred to the canvas. When examining the central picture in the restoration workshops of the Hermitage, it turned out that the main defects of the painting are around the perimeter and in the places of the former joints of the base boards. The faces and figures of the characters were practically not affected by the damage, with the exception of the clothes of a man holding Christ by the legs and located in front of the base of the cross [11] .
Notes
- ↑ State Hermitage Museum. - Gossart, Jan, nicknamed Mabuse. "Descent from the Cross."
- ↑ Toledo Museum of Art. - Two Wings from the So-Called Salamanca Triptych
- ↑ Nikulin N. N. Art of the Netherlands of the XV — XVI centuries. Essay guide. - L .: Art, 1987 .-- S. 48.
- ↑ Nikulin N.N. Dutch painting of the XV — XVI century. Catalog. (The State Hermitage Museum. Collection of Western European Painting). - L .: Art, 1989 .-- S. 104.
- ↑ Waagen GF Die Gemäldesammlung in der Kaiserlichen Eremitage zu St. Petersburg nebst Bemerkungen über andere dortige Kunstsammlungen. - München, 1864. - S. 121; Semenov P.P. Etudes on the history of Dutch painting on the sounding of its samples in public and private collections in St. Petersburg. - SPb. , 1885. - S. 37; Hoogewerff GJ Nederlandsche Schilders in Italie in de XVI Feuw. - Utrecht, 1912. - Blz. 58.
- ↑ Friedländer MJ Von Eyck bis Bruegel. - Berlin, 1916 .-- S. 131.
- ↑ Held J. Overzicht der Litteratur betreffende Nederlandische Kunst. Duitschland // Oud-Holland. - Vol. 33. - Blz. 138-139.
- ↑ 1 2 Maréchal J. La chapelle fondée par Pedro de Salamanka, bourgeois be Burgos, chez les Augustins à Bruges, 1513-1805 // Académie Royale de Belgique. Classe Beaux-Arts. Mémoires. - Coll. 8 °, t. 13, fas. 2. - P. 11-16.
- ↑ Pauwels H., Hoeting HR, Herzog S. Jan Gossaert genaamd Mabuse. Catalogus. - Rotterdam — Brugge, 1965. - N 13. - S. 117-118.
- ↑ Dülberg F. Niederländische Malerei der Spätgothik und Renaissance. - Wildpark — Potsdam, 1929 .-- S. 153.
- ↑ Nikulin N.N. Dutch painting of the XV — XVI century. Catalog. (The State Hermitage Museum. Collection of Western European Painting). - L .: Art, 1989 .-- S. 102.