Northern European Manuscript Illuminations from the Robert Lehman CollectionBy STAN PARCHIN
February 25, 2010
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| Jean Fouquet (French, 1420-1481). Hours of Étienne Chevalier (leaf: The Right Hand of God Protecting the Faithful against Demons) (ca. 1452-60). Tempera and gold leaf on parchment. 19.4 x 14.6 cm (7.6 x 5.7 in.). Robert Lehman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
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| Simon Bening (Netherlandish, 1483-1561). Self-Portrait (1558). Tempera on parchment. 8.6 x 5.7 cm (3.4 x 2.2 in.). Robert Lehman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
Fourteen rare and important works comprise
Northern European Manuscript Illuminations from the Robert Lehman Collection at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (March 2-June 13, 2010). Each represents a creative pinnacle in the history of French, German and Netherlandish art from the 13th through the 16th Century. The intimate exhibition of later medieval and Renaissance religious and secular images coincides with
The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry (March 2-June 13, 2010). Both installations are on view in the Robert Lehman Wing.
Jean Fouquet and Simon MarmionThe most prominent painter of 15th-century France was Jean Fouquet (1420-1481). Born in Tours, he traveled to Rome around 1445, where he executed a portrait of Pope Eugenius IV (r. 1431-1447) on canvas rather than wood. This distinctly Italian innovation revolutionized the history of French painting.
Peintre du rou to France's King Louis XII (r. 1461-1483), Fouquet administered a large workshop that produced paintings as well as manuscripts.
The Right Hand of God Protecting the Faithful against the Demons (ca. 1452-60), a tempera and gold leaf on parchment page from the
Hours of Étienne Chevalier, is notable for its accurate depiction of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame's façade, Saint-Chapelle's spire, the Pont Saint-Michel and other recognizable structures of the medieval Île de la Cité.
The highpoint of French manuscript illumination is also represented by
The Holy Virgins Greeted by Christ as They Enter the Gates of Paradise (ca. 1467-70). Painted by Simon Marmion (1425-1489) and part of the expensive
Breviary of Charles the Bold and Margaret of York, the lavish use of gold leaf in the full-page miniature reflects the opulent lifestyle of the Burgundian court.
Germany and the NetherlandsOn display is a
Crucifixion painted by an anonymous German artist closely related to the Housebook Master (act. ca. 1475-1500), a Middle Rhinish engraver. The coat of arms of Friedrich von Simmern (1417-1480) at the cross' base suggests that the illuminated page was once part of a manuscript produced for the Elector of the Palatinate.
A Netherlandish highlight of the exhibition is a
Self-portrait (1558) by Simon Bening (1483-1561). Completed when the artist was 75 years of age, the tempera on parchment miniature shows Bening in a contemplative pause while he draws an image of the Madonna and Child, his painting materials resting next to his easel. Bening's
Self-portrait allies him symbolically with Luke, the patron saint of painters. The Evangelist is usually depicted painting pictures of the Virgin Mary.
SourcesLes Heures de Étienne Chevalier de Jean Fouquet. Paris: Somogy Éditions, 2006.
Thorpe, James.
Book of Hours: Illuminations by Simon Marmion. Berkeley: Huntington Library Press, 2005.