1000 Paintings of Genius. Victoria Charles
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stars design in the ceiling, and the gold-leaf chair of the Virgin. A relief representing God the Father is in the circle between the archways, while a glowing dove symbolising the Holy Spirit hovers nearby.
Fra Giovanni Angelico
(1387 Vicchio – 1455 Rome)
Secluded within cloister walls, a painter and a monk, and brother of the order of the Dominicans, Angelico devoted his life to religious paintings.
Little is known of his early life except that he was born at Vicchio, in the broad fertile valley of the Mugello, not far from Florence, that his name was Guido de Pietro, and that he passed his youth in Florence, probably in some bottegha, for at twenty he was recognised as a painter. In 1418 he entered in a Dominican convent in Fiesole with his brother. They were welcomed by the monks and, after a year’s novitiate, admitted to the brotherhood, Guido taking the name by which he was known for the rest of his life, Fra Giovanni da Fiesole; for the title of Angelico, the “Angel,” or Il Beato, “The Blessed,” was conferred on him after his death.
Henceforth he became an example of two personalities in one man: he was all in all a painter, but also a devout monk; his subjects were always religious ones and represented in a deeply religious spirit, yet his devotion as a monk was no greater than his absorption as an artist. Consequently, though his life was secluded within the walls of the monastery, he kept in touch with the art movements of his time and continually developed as a painter. His early work shows that he had learned of the illuminators who inherited the Byzantine traditions, and had been affected by the simple religious feeling of Giotto’s work. Also influenced by Lorenzo Monaco and the Sienese School, he painted under the patronage of Cosimo de Medici. Then he began to learn of that brilliant band of sculptors and architects who were enriching Florence by their genius. Ghiberti was executing his pictures in bronze upon the doors of the Baptistery; Donatello, his famous statue of St. George and the dancing children around the organ-gallery in the Cathedral; and Luca della Robbia was at work upon his frieze of children, singing, dancing and playing upon instruments. Moreover, Masaccio had revealed the dignity of form in painting. Through these artists the beauty of the human form and of its life and movement was being manifested to the Florentines and to the other cities. Angelico caught the enthusiasm and gave increasing reality of life and movement to his figures.
65. Robert Campin (Master of Flémalle), c. 1375–1444, Northern Renaissance, Flemish, A Woman, c. 1435. Tempera on oak, 40.6 × 28.1 cm, National Gallery, London
Campin, long identified as the ‘Master of Flémalle’, painted three-dimensional figures with details of the face made clearly visible. This portrait was a pendant to a Portrait of a Man (London, National Gallery), presumably the husband of the woman represented.
66. Jan van Eyck, c. 1390–1441, Northern Renaissance, Flemish, Man in Red Turban (Self-Portrait?), 1433, Oil on panel, 26 × 19 cm, National Gallery, London
67. Jan van Eyck, c. 1390–1441, Northern Renaissance, Flemish, The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, Oil on oak panel, 82.2 × 60 cm, National Gallery, London
One of the most discussed of all paintings, van Eyck’s masterpiece of natural symbolism presents objects which have been given special meaning apposite to this couple’s marriage, yet the same objects are appropriate to the scene in themselves. The work is, in effect, a visual in how one can find synchronicity and deeper meaning in everyday circumstances. The lines between the neatly groomed dog and the pairs of discarded shoes create a triangle. The dog (symbolising loyalty) complements the shoes (also symbolising domesticity). The man’s feet are firmly in the middle of the lower triangle, indicating his vow of stability. The faces of the married couple and their clasped hands form the same size-and-shape triangle. The couple stands hand-in-hand as their other hands wear wedding rings, as if their love is authentic and complemented by, rather than caused by, their wedding vows. In the middle of that triangle is a mirror in a circular shape recalling eternity. Ten of the ‘Stations of the Cross’ are symbolised around the frame of the mirror. Prayer beads hang on the wall to the left of the stations-mirror. The reflection of the mirror shows the couple from the mirror’s point of view, as if creating a circle of time and space. A statue of a saint on the bedpost is crushing a dragon (symbolising evil). The elaborate signature of the artist is on the wall below the mirror. The chandelier holds a single, lit candle. A superstition at the time suggested that a single, lit candle near the wedding bed would assure fertility.
68. Jan van Eyck, c. 1390–1441, Northern Renaissance, Flemish, Portrait of Jan de Leeuw, 1436, Oil on panel, 25 × 19 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Considered the founder of western portraiture, van Eyck depicts here Jan de Leeuw, member of the Goldsmith Guild in Bruges.
69. Stefano di Giovanni di Console Sassetta, 1392-c. 1450, Early Renaissance, Sienese School, Italian, The Mystic Marriage of Saint Francis with Chastity, 1437–1444. Tempera on panel, 95 × 58 cm, Musée Condé, Chantilly
Sassetta’s work shows certain conservatism, especially in the architectural structures of International Gothic design. However, his figures are set in the unity of Renaissance pictorial space.
70. Rogier van der Weyden, 1399–1464, Northern Renaissance, Flemish, Deposition, c. 1435, Oil on panel, 220 × 262 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
The life-sized figures and the gold background recall the influence of Campin on van der Weyden as the composition imitates the low-reliefs from Tournai (where the artist came from
71. Antonio Puccio Pisanello, 1395–1455, International Gothic, Italian, Portrait of a Princess of the House of Este, c. 1435–1440, Oil on panel, 43 × 30 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Pisanello is regarded as the preeminent master of the International Gothic style in Italian painting, but most of his major works have perished. This portrait of a young woman (assumed to be Ginevra d’Este) is flat – due to the use of medieval patterns in a ‘modern’ way, and its flowers and butterflies, though drawn from nature, seem like ornamental patterns from French or Flemish tapestries.
72. Fra Giovanni Angelico, 1387–1455, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, The Deposition (Pala di Santa Trinita), 1437–1440. Tempera on panel, 176 × 185 cm, Museo di San Marco, Florence.
This painting was originally an Altarpiece in the sacristy of the church Santa Trinita in Florence. The main panel figures the Deposition and the pilasters on each side represent different saints. Fra Angelico was officially beatified by the Vatican in 1984 but he has long been called Beato Angelico (The Blessed Angelico).
73. Paolo Uccello, 1397–1475, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, The Battle of San Romano (Full title ‘Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano’), 1438–1440, Egg tempera with walnut oil and linseed oil on poplar, 181.6 × 320 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Paolo Uccello
(1397–1475 Florence)
Paolo di Dono was called ‘Uccello’ because he loved birds and the Italian word for bird is uccello. As well as painting on panel and in fresco, he was also a master of mosaics, especially in Venice, and produced designs for stained glass. We can feel the influence of Donatello especially in a fresco representing the Flood and the Recession, whereas the figures in this work is reminiscent of Masaccio’s frescos of Brancacci chapel. His perspectives studies are very sophisticated, recalling