Journal of Eurasian Studies

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October-December 2012 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume IV., Issue 4. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Jean Malouel, uncle of the Limbourg brothers Pol and Jean, is a well-known master of the period. The Virgin with Angels and Butterflies is an exquisitely beautiful painting, one of the main attractions on the exhibition, and also known as the earliest extant Franco-Flemish painting on canvas. Jean Malouel (?): The Virgin with Angels and Butterflies, c. 1410. Canvas, 107 x 81 cm. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Gemäldegalerie. Source: www.boijmans.nl. The artistic inventions spread very quickly. From the 1440s onwards, soon after Van Eyck’s death, his innovations became widely used. Copying of paintings was an established custom in the training of painters as well as for the reproduction of masterpieces. Van Eyck’s works were widely copied (of which we can see examples on the current exhibition) in drawing as well as in painting. Although he was innovatory in many respects, Jan van Eyck’s works also evidence a medieval belief in the harmonious unity and stability of the world: his figures are static and radiant with eternal beauty. In the art of the somewhat later Rogier van Weyden, though he was echoing Jan van Eyck’s work at an early stage, we see more of our modern concept of the human element: the figures of van der Weyden are less static 4 and his portraits are more of an interpretative character compared to the descriptive style of Jan van Eyck. 4 Kindly pointed out by Rien Monschouwer in the course of a personal conversation. _____________________________________________________________________________________ © Copyright Mikes International 2001-2012 146 *
October-December 2012 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume IV., Issue 4. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Putting up the present exhibition required a tremendous effort from both the organizers and the public. Private individuals raised some €700.000 for the purpose, without their help, it would have not come into being. In spite of the obvious public interest, visitors untrained in art history may face great difficulties when confronted with the celebrated artworks of six hundred years ago. This became apparent to me when a friend, with whom I visited the exhibition, asked me about the reason for dressing a large map at the entrance. I got surprised at this question and answered that it was the rightest way to present the differences of the political situation of then and now and to see the close ties between certain areas of France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands and help us to imagine the free movement of artists and artworks between these countries... Some time later it occurred to me that what I found evident, and what surprised this friend coming from a traditional religious background was the overwhelmingly intellectual approach that the current exhibition is set with. But how could we surpass the boundaries established by our own culture? How could we show these pieces, deprived of their original context, in a way that it would somehow evoke the feelings and ideas they had been able to evoke? It is easy to enjoy Van Eyck, because we partly share his world view but it can be tremendously difficult to enjoy the works of many of his contemporaries. I think some additional information either in pictorial or musical form on the late medieval monastery and court life might have helped to get more in tune with the presented artworks. Due to the scarcity of remaining 15 th century artworks and their world-wide dispersal, a broad international cooperation including more than fifty museums in twelve countries and years of work was required for putting up the exhibition. It is therefore a unique occasion to see these masterpieces together, in the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, until 10 February, 2013. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, substantial catalogue. References: Fransen, Bart (2012): Jan van Eyck and the Portraiture of his Predecessors. In: The Road to Van Eyck, exhibition catalogue, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 2012. Honour, Hugh and Fleming, John (2005): A World History of Art. Seventh edition, Laurence King Publishing, Great Britain. Stephan Kemperdick and Friso Lammertse (2012): The Road to Van Eyck. In: The Road to Van Eyck, exhibition catalogue, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 2012. _____________________________________________________________________________________ © Copyright Mikes International 2001-2012 147
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