Jan van Eyck (Netherlandish, ca.1390-1441)
Saint
Barbara
Signed
and dated on the original marble frame:
IHOES DE EYCK ME FECIT,
1437
Oil
on chalk ground on panel, 31
x 18 cm
Royal
Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Click on this link to see the signature and to zoom:
BARBARA
In
this tiny panel van Eyck tells us the story of Barbara. She is reading her book and holding a palm
leaf. Does she look peaceful or
anxious? Why is her dress so long? If she were to stand on top of the tower
would the dress reach the ground?
The
building site behind her is bustling.
Spot a shed with stonecutters.
Can you see three dark windows?
They symbolize the Trinity (in the Christian faith this means: one God
in Three Persons). There is a river
behind the tower (perhaps the Rhine).
Barbara
was born in present day Syria and she was very beautiful. Her cruel father locked her up in a
tower. He did not want any man to lay
eyes on her.
He
thought he could completely control her, but couldn’t. When he was away she became a Christian. Her father was furious and tried to force her
to give up her faith. When she refused, he
killed her. At that moment lightning
struck him.
MEDIEVAL
SKYSCRAPERS
Do
you sometimes wonder what it takes to build a high rise? How many men are needed, how much time does it take and what kind of materials are involved?
Rewind
to the year 1437, the year Jan van Eyck painted Saint Barbara. You can see how
many men are working on the building. A man, perhaps the bishop, is showing three women around the construction site.
The
tower behind Barbara may be based on Cologne cathedral (a cathedral houses the
bishop’s throne, the cathedra). Cologne cathedral took 600 years to be completed
(they halted the construction for 400 years).
It is still the tallest Roman Catholic cathedral in the world.
Compare
some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world:
Burj
Khalifa, Dubai: 828 m
Freedom
Tower, New York: 415 m
Empire
State Building, New York: 381 m
Eiffel
Tower, Paris: 301 m
Cologne
Cathedral: 157 m
UNDERDRAWING
OR FINISHED PAINTING
The
picture is very small, about the size of the paper in a printer.
What
seems unusual in the picture?
Do
you see much color?
Find the only area with color?
Some artists prepare their pictures by drawing the outlines of the design. This is how the picture looks before they apply the
layers of colored oil paint.
Jan
van Eyck signed his name on the original marble frame. He makes the signature look as though it was
chiseled into the marble.
The
big question that has troubled the experts:
Is
this a study or the finished picture?
ART
DETECTIVES
Should
he have worked more on it or does it look perfectly beautiful to you the way it
is?
Your
opinion counts, please let me know on my website:
www.oldmastersrock.com
