Saint Barbara (van Eyck)
Saint Barbara is a 1437 brush stroke drawing on chalk ground laid on an oak panel, signed and dated 1437 by the Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck. Some areas and passages are more detailed than others, and it has long been debated if the panel was left as van Eyck intended or if it is an unfinished painting. If it was intended as extant, it would be the earliest surviving drawing of any artist, although not prepared on paper or parchment. Evidence to support this includes that the work was highly regarded at the time by Flemish aestheticists as an object in itself.[1]
The original is in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp.
Subject
Saint Barbara was a Christian martyr believed to have lived in the 3rd century, and a popular saint in the late Middle Ages. According to hagiography, her wealthy and pagan father, Dioscorus, sought to preserve her from unwelcome suitors by imprisoning her in a tower. While captive, Barbara let in a priest who baptised her, an act for which she was hunted and eventually beheaded by her father.[2] She became a popular subject for artists of van Eyck's generation; another notable contemporary depiction is Robert Campin's 1438 Werl Triptych.[3]
Description
Barbara is shown seated holding a book and palm leaves in front of a large Gothic cathedral still in the process of being built, with many workmen visible on the ground carry stone and on various parts of the tower. She has the typical narrow shoulders of a female van Eyck portrait. She is dressed in houppelande with wide sleeves, and a gown which is gathered at the waist. The opening in her bodice rises to a deep v-neck, while the trim rises to form a collar made of fur. Below the v-neck is a dark partlet, a rectangular piece of cloth with an open, standing collar, which is perhaps made of taffeta. As a maiden, she is bare headed.[4]
Three women behind and to Barbara's left are seen visiting the construction, each wearing similar houppelandes. The woman in the center raises her skirt to show her kirtle. The are each wearing headdress, probably burlets with ruffled golets draped from the head.[4]
The drawing is set against a sweeping landscape rendered in browns, whites and blues, although parts are only sketchily detailed.[5] The elements of the tower are highly described, and contain many complex architectural details. In a number of respects it resembles the Cologne cathedral, which in 1437 was still under construction. Van Eyck had earlier depicted the cathedral as well as a view of Cologne in the Adoration of the Lamb panel of the Ghent Altarpiece.[1]
The level of detail generally recedes as the eye extends towards the background. The craftsmen on the tower top are far less detailed than those on the ground at Barbara's level, while elements of the landscape are bare sketches. In some areas the line between the preparatory drawing and the underpainting cross over. The lower borders of the original marble frame contain lettering painted in such a manner so as to appear as if chiselled. They read IOHES DE EYCK ME FECIT. 1437. This fact has brought a lot of question to the exact role of van Eyck's signature; if it is taken that the work is unfinished, then the completion refers only to the design of the picture, rather than any completed work which he may have left to members of his workshop.[6]
Notes
Sources
- Borchert, Till-Holger. Van Eyck. London: Taschen, 2008. ISBN 978-3-8228-5687-1
- van Buren, Anne H. Illuminating Fashion: Dress in the Art of Medieval France and the Netherlands, 1325-1515. New York: Morgan Library & Museum, 2011. ISBN 978-1-9048-3290-4
- Borchert, Till-Holger. Van Eyck to Durer: The Influence of Early Netherlandish painting on European Art, 1430–1530. London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. ISBN 978-0-500-23883-7
- Harbison, Craig. Jan van Eyck: the play of realism. London: Reaktion Books, 1997. ISBN 0-948462-79-5
- Jones, Susan Frances. Van Eyck to Gossaert. National Gallery, 2011. 104. ISBN 1-85709-505-7
Further reading
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