Louvre musée TRYPTICH OF THE VIRGIN
TRYPTICH OF THE VIRGIN
XVI th CENTURY
This tryptich which was an altar piece made of 3 panels is a flemish work of art made around 1510-1530.It was confiscated during the revolution of 1789 and given by the count of Montalivet, the minister of Louis Philippe, during the Restauration.
We can see the central panel lacks and the structure was remounted in the wrong sense.
Definition of an altar piece:
An altar piece is a vertical structure adorned with painted or carved or both decoration and which is located behind the altar, hence the name “retable” (behind the altar).The side panels of the tryptich stayed closed during ball the year except for the great religious celebrations and the days of the celebration of the saint patron of the church. So during the year when the tryptich was closed we could only see the painted panels. But during the celebrations the tryptich was opened so we could see the carved- in- wood panels and we can imagine that the brightness of the gold and the polychromy enhanced the signification of the commemorations and ceremonies.
As we can see, the tryptich is dedicated to the virgin, but the side painted panels present two scenes of the old testament:
1- Adam and Eve in paradise, God showing them the Tree of the knowledge/science on the right panel.
2- The temptation of Adam and Eve where the Evil is represented with a woman face, snake body and human foot, to remind us that after this episode, snakes were sentenced to crawl.
These scenes are good subject to paint naked figures.
On the lower panels are painted two scenes from the life of the virgin:
1- the Annunciation, painted in the tradition of the Flemish art because it’s happening in an interior, the bedroom of the virgin.
2- Blessed Virgin the temple.
Actually these side panels make a link between the Original Sin and the Redemption that the Virgin brings (cf Virgin of Mercy). We can recognise the elegant, refined maner, the love of the details and the elongated shapes of the Flemish art.
The carved in wood panels of the centre:
1- the first episode represented is the meeting of Anne and Joachim at the golden gate in Jerusalem.The legend goes that the Virgin was conceived without a sin : Joachim and Anne only kissed and Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary became pregnant.This belief was really controversed during all the Middle Ages until catholic church made it a dogma in 1854.
2- Blessed virgin in the temple (presentation of the virgin)
3- the Nativity
4- Presentation of Jesus in the temple : the Virgin and her husband Joseph go to the temple to present their child to the Lord and to make the sacrifice of two birds. Simeo the fair and Anne the prophetess recognise Jesus like the son of God.
5- Saint Luke painting the Virgin : a legend of the 6th CENTURY goes that Luke is the author of several portraits of the Virgin, so his the symbole of the best painter, the one who realized the portrait of the Virgin! then he became the saint patron of the painters in the 15th century.
6- Adoration of the sheperds : Franciscan monks are observing in the background so we can think that the tryptich was in a Franciscan monastery. Actually the real theme is the Annunciation of the sheperds or the Adoration of the Magi. There was a confusion in the 14th century. Annunciation of the sheperds : during the night of the birth of Jesus, an angel came to see them and told them about the good new!
7- the two last episodes tell two miracles of the Virgin:
-the first, on the left represent the Virgin saving a hanged man, holding him to avoid his death.
-the second, on the right, depicts the miracle of the Virgin saving monks in white togas from the drowning. We can see the monks sailing in the boat and a green Evil trying to make them fall into the sea.
These wonderful carved and colourful wooden panels present a multitude of small figures with very precise gestures and realist faces. This anonymous tryptich was recently restaured by the antique dealers company.