Master of the Embroidered Foliage Virgin and Child in a Landscape 1492-1498

Aert van den Bossche or the Master of the Crispinus and Crispinianus-Legend (also known as Aert Panhedel, Aert van Panhedel, Arnoul de Panhedel, Arnoul Vanden Bossche and Harnoult van den Boske)Aert van den Bossche
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

was an

Early Netherlandish painter Early Netherlandish painting is the body of work by artists active in the Burgundian Netherlands, Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period, once known as the Flemish Primitives. It flour ...

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

s, active in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

in the late 15th century. There is still doubt as to whether he should be identified with the

Master of the legend of St. Barbara Master of the legend of St. Barbara (active 1470 – 1500), was an Early Netherlandish painter. Biography He was active in Brussels, but has been considered to possibly be the same person as Aert van den Bossche because he signed into the Bru ...

or was only one of the artists active in a workshop responsible for the works of that master.

Life

Little is known about the life of Aert van den Bossche. It is believed that he was born ca. 1455 or earlier. He was possibly originally from Bruges although he or his ancestors may have come from the town of

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

. This can possibly be concluded from the fact that in Brussels where he was active from the 1490s he was recorded in 1499 as 'Aert van Panhedel alias van den Bossche, schilder' (painter). The town of

is colloquially referred to as Den Bosch (hence ''van den Bossche'' would mean "from 's-Hertogenbosch') and his name could therefore indicate he was originally from there. This assumption is further confirmed by the fact that when he registered in the Bruges

Guild of Saint Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was iden ...

he signed with the name 'Harnoult van den Boske'. It is also known that Aert's father, the painter Yanne van den Bossche, had received some orders from the Brussels guild as well. Aert van den Bossche had a son Gielis, a.k.a. Gielis Panhedel, who signed ''Gilken van den Booeske'' and was an accomplished painter. Aert van den Bossche became a city councillor of Brussels.Aert van den Bossche and the Master of the Legend of Saint Barbe
at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium There is speculation that he may have been a pupil or assistant of

Hugo van der Goes Hugo van der Goes ( – 1482) was a Flemish painter who was one of the most significant and original Early Netherlandish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduced i ...

Work

There is uncertainty about which works can be attributed to Aert van den Bossche. The famous ''Virgin and Child in a Landscape'', on view at the

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United Stat ...

is currently attributed to: 'artist(s) unknown, possibly Master of the Madonna Grog or Aert van den Bossche, formerly Master of the Embroidered Foliage'. The ''

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

sacrificing to an idol of the

Manichaeans Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

'' is now attributed to the

. The name 'Master of the legend of St. Barbara' was created by the German art historian

Max Jakob Friedländer Max Jakob Friedländer (5 July 1867 in Berlin – 11 October 1958 in Amsterdam) was a German-Jewish museum curator and art historian. He was a specialist in Early Netherlandish painting and the Northern Renaissance, who volunteered at the Kupfers ...

to denote an anonymous painter or a group of painters who worked out of

and

. The only written proof that a specific artwork had been commissioned from him personally is a receipt of 1490 for the

remuneration Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with giving (away), or donating, or the act of providing to). Remuneration is one component of reward managem ...

paid by the Brussels shoemakers' guild for the triptych of the ''Martyrdom of the Saints

Crispin and Crispinian Saints Crispin and Crispinian are the Christian patron saints of Shoemaking, cobblers, curriers, Tanning (leather), tanners, and leather workers. They were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 Octob ...

''. The triptych was intended for the guild's altar in the St Nicholas Church. The discovery of this receipt led to the identification of an extant painting depicting the saints in question, and to the identification of its artist earlier referred to as the 'Master of the Legend of St. Barbara' with Aert van den Bossche. Since this discovery the triptych has been removed from the oeuvre of the Master of the Legend of St. Barbara. There is yet no unanimous view as to Aert van den Bossche's exact relationship with the Master of the Legend of St. Barbara and whether Aert van den Bossche formed part of the workshop of the Master of the Legend of St. Barbara. On stylistic grounds it is believed that Aert van den Bossche painted the right wing of the ''Triptych with the Miracles of Christ''. Some specialists have claimed that he also collaborated with the Master of the Legend of St. Barbara: for example, in the panel of the Scenes of the Legend of Henry II, the figures in the section on the left could possibly be the work of van den Bossche.

The Martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian

The subject of the painting is the martyrdom of the Saints Crispin and Crispinian. According to the Christian legend the two saints were twin brothers born to a noble Roman family in the 3rd century AD. They were allegedly persecuted, tortured and put to death for their faith by

Rictus Varus Rictius Varus (Rictiovarus, Rixius Varus, Rexius Vicarius) was a Vicarius in Roman Empire, Roman Gaul at the end of the 3rd century, around the time of the Diocletianic Persecution. The ''Roman Martyrology'' contains many references to the prefect ...

Belgic Gaul Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. Before the R ...

. They became the

patron saints A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fam ...

of cobblers,

tanners Tanners may refer to: * Tanners (company), a British wine company * Tanners, Virginia, an unincorporated community located in Madison County, United States * Jerald and Sandra Tanner, opponents of the LDS Church (Mormons) * ''The Tanners'' (novel) ...

, and

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

workers, and the church honoured them with a

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

celebrated on 25 October. The ''martyrdom''

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

has not survived in its original form, as the central part of the triptych has been separated from the wings. In the early 19th century, the central part (or the largest middle panel) was purchased in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

from a private owner by Count Stanisław Potocki,

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse () in the Roman Rep ...

(''Konyushy'') at the court of the Russian Tsar during the foreign

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

. It was put on display at his

Wilanów Palace Wilanów Palace (, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. It was built between 1677 and 1696 for the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania John III Sobieski according to a design by architect Augustyn ...

, which Potocki had turned into an art centre. Unlike other Polish nobles at the time, Potocki did not take part in the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

against Russia. For over a hundred years after its last verified purchase, nobody knew what subject matter was depicted in the composition. Speculation included the '' Ten thousand martyrs'' and other themes known already from Dürer. The subject matter was finally discovered by

Jan Białostocki Jan Białostocki (Polish: ; August 14, 1921 – December 25, 1988) was a Polish historian who was born in Saratov, Russia and died in Warsaw. He is considered to be one of the most renowned Poland, Polish art historians of the 20th century. Life ...

( pl) from the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

, professor of

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well as 100 specializat ...

and one-time curator at the National Muzeum in Warsaw. He identified some 13 plants in the painting, most of them used in leather tanning. The shoemakers' guild was a "connective tissue" in his subject-matter analysis. The written record confirms that the masterpiece was donated by the guild as an altarpiece for the St. Nicholas Church, located next to the Bourse, in Brussels to secure their own prosperity. The subject matter relates to the shoemaker trade. The painting depicts the legendary martyrdom of Saints Crispin and Crispinian. They had their bones broken (left), toenails extracted (upper left), skin ripped off of their backs in long narrow strips (center); they were thrown off the cliff into the Aisne river (upper right) and when they refused to drown they were boiled alive in a cauldron (upper corner) before being beheaded. The central panel of the painting is on display at the

Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Efforts to locate the missing panels continue even if only for the sake of historical record. Nothing is known about the left-hand side of the triptych including subject matter. Part of the outside panel of the right-hand wing (cut in half) is in the Moscow

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

, while the inside of the same right wing panel is in the

Museum of the City of Brussels The Brussels City Museum ( ; ) is a municipal museum on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt of Brussels, Belgium. Conceived in 1860 and inaugurated in 1887, it is dedicated to the history and folklore of the City of Brussels from its foundation into ...

Triptych with the Miracles of Christ

The ''Triptych with the Miracles of Christ'' is held in the collection of the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

in Melbourne. It is a fairly small scale work measuring about 112 by 184 cm.Lynn F. Jacobs, ''Opening Doors: The Early Netherlandish Triptych Reinterpreted'', Penn State Press, 2012, p. 148-150 Although there is still no unanimity on the attribution of each panel of the work, it is generally believed that the triptych represents a collaboration between three artists working in Brussels at the same time: the Master of the Legend of Saint Catherine (central panel), the Master of the Princely Portraits (left wing) and Aert van den Bossche. There is evidence to suggest that the works were not produced in a single workshop where they could have been placed side by side during their execution. Rather, the fact that the line of the horizon varies in each panel and that the scale of the figures nor the perspective match up are indications that the three parts of the triptych were produced in separate locations where each artist worked in isolation from the others. It has been assumed that a possible reason for this work method had to do with the urgency of the commission or that it was in response to specific instructions of the commissioner of the work.''The Triptych with the Miracles of Chris''
at the

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (, ; , ) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They are part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and consist of six museums: the Oldmasters Museum, the ...

The person who commissioned the work was

Adolph of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein Adolph of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein, Netherlands, Ravenstein (1425–1492) was the youngest son of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves, and of his wife Marie of Burgundy, Duchess of Cleves, Marie of Burgundy, a sister of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. ...

, a powerful individual connected to the rulers of Burgundy. He is depicted in the front and middle of the left panel entitled ''The Marriage at Cana''. The triptych depicts on the left wing Christ's first miracle at the wedding of Cana and ends with the last miracle of Christ, the

raising of Lazarus Lazarus of Bethany is a figure of the New Testament whose life is restored by Jesus four days after his death, as told in the Gospel of John. The resurrection is considered one of the miracles of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lazarus ...

, which is depicted on the right wing attributed to van den Bossche. The central panel depicts the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.

References

External links