St. Luke Drawing the Virgin and Other Early Renaissance Flemish and Italian Paintings / Eitan Kenner
St. Luke Drawing the Virgin and other early Renaissance Flemish and Italian paintings / Eitan Kenner
The piece St. Luke Drawing the Virgin, c. 1435-40 by Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden is an oil and tempera painting presented at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Its narrative is a popular theme in art, showing St. Luke painting the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus. Such paintings were often painted for chapels of Saint Luke (saint patron of artists) in European churches during the Renaissance. Fifteenth century Flemish painting in general and this particular piece are characterized by oil painted human figures and objects featured realistically and with meticulous attention to detail. Many Flemish paintings including Van der Weyden’s St. Luke Drawing the Virgin are based on biblical narratives but happen in a contemporary 15th century Flemish setting. In those paintings, there are many symbols and motives presented intentionally to convey different moral, philosophical and mostly religious messages. Through studying and comparing different 15th century Flemish paintings as well as 14th century Italian paintings, one can really learn about the characteristics, expand their knowledge and therefore enjoy the beauty of paintings of that era and St. Luke Drawing the Virgin in particular which is among the most important northern European paintings in the United States. St. Luke Drawing the Virgin is a masterpiece painted with oil and tempera. Oil painting gained popularity in northern Europe around the 15th century. Its advantages over previous painting techniques such as tempera (which will be discussed later), made it become the principal medium for creating artworks later on, and also made it possible for artists such as Van der Weyden to paint with such attention to detail. Oil is translucent, and dries slowly. It lets the artist paint in many different layers, and by varying the ratio of pigment and binder (oil), achieving
The piece St. Luke Drawing the Virgin, c. 1435-40 by Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden is an oil and tempera painting presented at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Its narrative is a popular theme in art, showing St. Luke painting the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus. Such paintings were often painted for chapels of Saint Luke (saint patron of artists) in European churches during the Renaissance. Fifteenth century Flemish painting in general and this particular piece are characterized by oil painted human figures and objects featured realistically and with meticulous attention to detail. Many Flemish paintings including Van der Weyden’s St. Luke Drawing the Virgin are based on biblical narratives but happen in a contemporary 15th century Flemish setting. In those paintings, there are many symbols and motives presented intentionally to convey different moral, philosophical and mostly religious messages. Through studying and comparing different 15th century Flemish paintings as well as 14th century Italian paintings, one can really learn about the characteristics, expand their knowledge and therefore enjoy the beauty of paintings of that era and St. Luke Drawing the Virgin in particular which is among the most important northern European paintings in the United States. St. Luke Drawing the Virgin is a masterpiece painted with oil and tempera. Oil painting gained popularity in northern Europe around the 15th century. Its advantages over previous painting techniques such as tempera (which will be discussed later), made it become the principal medium for creating artworks later on, and also made it possible for artists such as Van der Weyden to paint with such attention to detail. Oil is translucent, and dries slowly. It lets the artist paint in many different layers, and by varying the ratio of pigment and binder (oil), achieving