Rogier van der Weyden, pseudonimo di Rogier de la Pasture (Tournai, 1399 circa – Bruxelles, 18 giugno 1464), è stato un pittore fiammingo, allievo di Robert Campin. Fu pittore ufficiale della città di Bruxelles e destinatario di commissioni dei duchi di Borgogna e dei re di Castiglia. Ebbe rapporti con la Casa d'Este ed altri casati italiani come gli Sforza e i Medici. Rogier fu uno dei primi pittori che usarono il supporto della tela a nord delle Alpi. Influenzò molti altri pittori del tempo come Dieric Bouts, Hans Memling o di generazioni successive come Joos van Cleef e Frans Floris.
Biografia
Van der Weyden non è stato un pittore fiammingo, ma un pittore del Contado di Hainaut, della città libera di Tournai, che fu francese fino a 1521, quando è divenuta città dei Paesi Bassi spagnoli. La sua "nazionalità" è hanuyer, che è il nome degli abitanti del contado di Hainaut. Il padre Henry de la Pasture era forgiatore di coltelli. Tuttavia, a lungo il padre di Rogier è stato individuato nello scultore bruxellese Henry de la Pasture (omonimo e forse parente del vero padre). Si è quindi erroneamente ipotizzato che la primissima formazione di van der Weyden sia avvenuta nella bottega del presunto padre e questo dato ha contribuito a enfatizzare, forse eccessivamente, l'affinità della pittura del van der Weyden alla scultura, in modo simile a quella dell'italiano Mantegna.
In ogni caso poco o nulla si sa della sua giovinezza e i primi elementi documentati della sua biografia datano al terzo decennio del XV secolo, quando Rogier si approssima ai trent'anni. In particolare, il 5 marzo 1427 entrò alla bottega di Robert Campin a Tournai, dove completò la sua formazione. Solo il 1º agosto 1432, a più di trent'anni di età, fu nominato maestro di pittura indipendente.
Nel 1435 si trasferì a Bruxelles e in quella città sposò Elisabeth Goffaert, figlia del calzolaio Jan Goffaert. Da questa unione nacquero due figli: Jan, che divenne poi orafo, e Peter, che seguì le orme del padre. Ancora un van der Weyden figura nella storia della pittura, Goossen, che era nipote di Rogier.
Nel 1436 o nel 1437 Rogier venne nominato pittore ufficiale della città di Bruxelles, iniziando un periodo caratterizzato da grandi opere e da una notevole prosperità personale, segnalandosi tra i cittadini più ricchi e generosi della città.
Nel 1449, in occasione del giubileo del 1450, intraprese un viaggio verso Roma, dove acquistò grande fama e fu ritenuto secondo solo all'altro grande fiammingo del tempo Jan van Eyck. Questo viaggio, con tappe a Milano, Mantova, Ferrara, Firenze e Napoli, fu fondamentale negli studi storico artistici, per i precoci contatti tra scuola fiamminga e Rinascimento italiano, che ebbero profonde conseguenze sugli sviluppi successivi. Sicuramente Rogier vide e apprezzò gli affreschi nella basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano di Pisanello e Gentile da Fabriano, considerati all'epoca i maggiori artisti del tempo. Tra i vari artisti italiani con cui entrò in contatto ci fu anche Beato Angelico, all'epoca tra gli artisti più quotati a Firenze.
Tra il 1460 e 1461 fu maestro del pittore italiano Zanetto Bugatto. Morì a Bruxelles il 18 giugno 1464, all'età di 65 anni.
Anche l'equivoco linguistico sul suo nome (de la Pasture in francese, van der Weyden in fiammingo) contribuì non poco a confondere le idee ai primi storici dell'arte impegnati a ricostruire la biografia artistica del maestro: la stessa identificazione tra Roger, o Rogelet, de la Pasture e Rogier van der Weyden è stata inizialmente negata, e inoltre a lungo è stata fatta confusione tra van der Weyden e la figura del Maestro di Flémalle. Oggi è opinione pressoché unanime che quest'ultimo vada individuato in Robert Campin e che le affinità stilistiche dell'opera giovanile di van der Weyden con quella del Campin vadano spiegate con il discepolato del primo presso il secondo, o piuttosto il rapporto di collaborazione tra i due, sia pure sotto la direzione del Campin, posto che il loro sodalizio iniziò quando van der Weyden era già quasi trentenne.
Opere
Fu un pittore prolifico, ma molta documentazione riguardo alle sue opere è andata perduta; inoltre alcuni dipinti sono privi di data e di firma. Gli storici dell'arte, in base agli elementi raccolti, gli hanno attribuito con certezza la Crocifissione e la Deposizione e, in seguito, le altre opere elencate sulla base di affinità stilistiche.
Specializzato in ritratti di personaggi dell'aristocrazia, che nella loro pienezza formale catturano, in un primo tempo, l'osservatore con la loro grandiosa proporzione, ma in un secondo momento lo allontanano, a causa dell'elevatezza morale che trasmettono. Tra le opere più significative vi è il Ritratto di giovane donna, a Washington, caratterizzato da uno spirito geometrico, rappresentato dal busto piramidale, dalle direttrici degli abiti, dal copricapo a velo, non fine a sé stesso, ma intriso di rigorismo religioso.
La Deposizione dalla Croce, invece ha seguito uno sviluppo storico più articolato: innanzitutto era la parte centrale di un trittico parzialmente scomparso. L'opera fu eseguita per la gilda dei balestrieri di Lovanio e collocata nella chiesa di Notre-Dame della città belga. Già nel 1443, ne venne fatta una copia (il cui autore è ignoto) per la chiesa di San Pietro, sempre di Lovanio, copia che è arrivata integra fino ai nostri giorni: è solo la prima di una lunga serie di copie di questa tavola che ne comprovano il grande successo che essa riscosse. In effetti la deposizione è uno dei quadri più celebrati di van der Weyden. L'opera è piena e plastica nelle forme. Ferma restando una certa libertà di figure e di forme, l'opera trasmette un rigore tematico religioso, che non arresta il flusso di sentimenti, di caratteri, di tragicità, di emozioni, immerso in una struttura tecnica elevata, fine e particolareggiata.
Parte apprezzabile dell'opera di van der Weyden è giunta sino noi, anche se uno dei suoi massimi capolavori e ab antiquo certamente la sua opera più nota non ci è pervenuto. Si trattava di un imponente ciclo di dipinti a olio raffiguranti scene esemplari di applicazione della giustizia ed era collocato nelle stanze del municipio di Bruxelles in cui appunto si amministrava la giustizia. Il ciclo era costituito da quattro grandi pannelli, ognuno dei quali era suddiviso in due scene. L'intera opera copriva un'area di venti metri di lunghezza per due di altezza. La scena più nota era quella de La Giustizia di Traiano e Erchinbaldo, dedicata, per una parte, a un episodio in cui l'imperatore romano si mostra giudice saggio ed inflessibile e, per l'altra, all'omaggio che, secondo la leggenda, il papa Gregorio Magno secoli dopo dedicherà alle spoglie dell'imperatore giusto. L'opera andò distrutta nel 1695 durante il cannoneggiamento di Bruxelles fatto dai francesi, ma ce ne restano alcune descrizioni in cui, tra l'altro, è particolarmente lodato l'autoritratto del pittore presente nel ciclo. A livello figurativo la testimonianza più importante che ci rimane di questo perduto capolavoro è un arazzo, tratto dalle scene su Traiano, oggi conservato nel museo di Berna. È possibile farsi un'idea dell'opera osservando i noti pannelli di Gerard David dedicati alla Giustizia di Cambise (antico re persiano), creati con la stessa funzione civica ed ammonitrice.
Stile
Van der Weyden fu uno dei più grandi maestri della prima pittura fiamminga, assieme a Jan van Eyck, più o meno suo contemporaneo, e Robert Campin, suo maestro. Dal primo prese l'innovativa tecnica a olio e l'attenzione verso la resa analitica dei dettagli, dal secondo apprese il senso pieno dei volumi, dello spazio e l'emotività umana dei personaggi.
Questi modelli vennero comunque reinterpretati in maniera personale, sviluppando un linguaggio con caratteristiche compositive e cromatiche proprie, e segnando un predominio delle figure sugli ambienti. Tipico è il senso di composto ma partecipe sentimento, con personaggi dalle molteplici sfumature psicologiche, pur sempre atteggiati entro i limiti di un dignitoso contegno. Le tinte sono di solito fredde, accostate in maniera solida e molto raffinata, come i gialli e i violetti, oppure le varie sfumature di bianchi e grigi.
Nei ritratti trasferì sul piano monumentale e ricco di pathos la sottigliezza luministica e l'attenzione visiva di van Eyck, pervenendo a nuovi e penetranti traguardi. Ma se van Eyck fu uno scopritore, nel senso che trasferì la realtà sulla tela, van der Weyden fu essenzialmente un "inventore": delle forme, delle pose, delle iconografie.
Elenco delle opere principali
Periodo di Tournai
- Madonna col Bambino in una nicchia, 1425-1430 circa, Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
- Crocifissione, 1425-1430 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie (Berlino)
- Dittico con la Madonna col Bambino e santa Caterina, 1426-1430 circa, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
- Altare Miraflores, 1442-1445 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie (Berlino)
- Visitazione, 1426-1430 circa, Lipsia, Museo di belle arti
- Trittico dell'Annunciazione, 1428-1430 circa
- Annunciazione (pannello centrale), Parigi, Museo del Louvre
- Visitazione e Committente inginocchiato (pannelli laterali), Torino, Galleria Sabauda
- Ritratto di Guillaume Fillastre (attr.), 1430 circa, Londra, Courtauld Gallery
- Deposizione, 1432-1435 circa, Madrid, Museo del Prado
- Ritratto di giovane donna, 1432-1435 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie (Berlino)
- San Giorgio e il drago, 1432-1435 circa, Washington, National Gallery of Art
- Madonna Durán, 1435-1438 circa, Madrid, Museo del Prado
Primo periodo di Bruxelles
- Framnmenti di una Sacra conversazione, 1435-1437 circa
- Maddalena leggente, Londra, National Gallery
- San Giuseppe, Lisbona, Museo Calouste Gulbenkian
- Santa Caterina, Lisbona, Museo Calouste Gulbenkian
- San Luca dipinge il ritratto della Vergine, 1435-1438 circa, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts
- Pietà, 1441 circa, Bruxelles, Museo Reale delle Belle Arti del Belgio
- Trittico della Crocifissione, 1445 circa, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
- Dittico di Laurent Froimont, 1440-1445 circa
- Madonna col Bambino, Caen, Musée des Beaux-Arts
- Ritratto di Laurent Froimont, Bruxelles, Museo Reale di Belle Arti
- Miniatura della presentazione delle Chroniques di hainault (ms. 9242, fol. 1), 1446 circa, Bruxelles, Biblioteca reale del Belgio
- Dittico di Jean Gros, 1446 circa
- Madonna col Bambino, Tournai, Musée des Beaux-Arts
- Ritratto di Jean Gros, Chicago, Art Institute
- Trittico dei Sette sacramenti, 1440-1445 circa, Anversa, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten
- Polittico del Giudizio universale, 1445-1448 circa, Beaune, Hôtel-Dieu
- Sogno di papa Sergio (con bottega), 1440-1445 circa, Los Angeles, Getty Center
- Esumazione di sant'Uberto, 1440-1445 circa, Londra, National Gallery
Viaggio in Italia
- Compianto e sepoltura di Cristo, 1450 circa, Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi
- Madonna Medici, 1450 circa, Francoforte sul Meno, Städel
Secondo periodo di Bruxelles
- Trittico di san Giovanni Battista, 1450-1455 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie
- Trittico Bladelin, 1450-1455 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie
- Ritratto di gentiluomo, 1450-1455 circa, Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
- Trittico di Jean Braque, 1452 circa, Parigi, Museo del Louvre
- Ritratto di giovane donna (Marie de Valengin?), 1455-1460 circa, Washington, National Gallery of Art
- Ritratto di Giovanni da Coimbra, 1456 circa, Bruxelles, Museo Reale di Belle Arti
- Dittico di Cristo in croce, 1455-1459 circa, Filadelfia, Museum of Art
- Trittico di santa Colomba, 1455 circa, Monaco di Baviera, Alte Pinakothek
- Dittico di Philippe de Croy, 1457-1461 circa
- Madonna col Bambino (scomparto sinistro), San Marino (California), Huntington Library
- Ritratto di Philippe de Croy (scomparto destro), Anversa, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten
- Ritratto di Francesco d'Este, 1460 circa, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Crocifissione di Scheut, 1460 circa, El Escorial, Monastero di San Lorenzo
- Compianto sul Cristo morto (forse con Pierre van der Weyden), 1460 circa, L'Aia, Mauritshuis
- Annunciazione (forse con Pierre van der Weyden), 1460-1465 circa, New York, Metropolitan Museum
- Trittico della Madonna e Bambino raffigurati con Santa Barbara, Santa Caterina e angeli musici (attribuito), 1450 c. Polizzi Generosa, Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta.
Dipinti di scuola e bottega
- San Giovanni Evangelista (scuola), 1432-1435 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie (Berlino)
- Ritratto di Filippo il Buono (copia di scuola), 1446 circa, Digione, Musée des Beaux-Arts
- Madonna col Bambino (scuola), 1440-1450 circa, Chicago, Art Institute
- Madonna col Bambino (scuola), 1440-1450 circa, Germania, collezione privata
- Sante Margerita e Apollonia (scuola), scomparto destro di un trittico disperso, 1450 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie (Berlino)
- Ritratto di Isabella del Portogallo (copia da), 1450 circa, Los Angeles, Getty Center
- Sant'Ivo (scuola), 1450-1460 circa, Londra, National Gallery
- Ritratto di Jan I, duca di Clèves (copia da), 1452 circa, Parigi, Louvre
- Trittico Villa (Pierre van der Weyden?), 1455 circa, Riggisberg, Abegg-Stiftung
- Ritratto di Filippo il Buono a capo scoperto (copia da), 1455 circa, Anversa, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten
- Ritratto di Carlo il Temerario (copia da), 1455 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie (Berlino)
- Madonna col Bambino (bottega), 1454 circa, Houston, Museum of Fine Arts
- Ritratto di donna (scuola), 1455 circa, Londra, National Gallery
- Trittico Sforza (Pierre van der Weyden?), 1458-1460 circa, Bruxelles, Museo Reale di Belle Arti
- Frammento con Gruppo di cortigiani (scuola), 1460-1465 circa, Bruxelles, Museo Reale di Belle Arti
- Pietà (Pierre van der Weyden?), 1465 circa, Londra, National Gallery
- Pietà (scuola), 1480-1490 circa, Bruxelles, Museo Reale di Belle Arti
- Pietà (scuola di Pierre van der Weyden), 1500 circa, Berlino, Gemäldegalerie (Berlino)
- Pietà (scuola di Pierre van der Weyden), 1500 circa, Madrid, Museo del Prado
Curiosità
- L'asteroide 9576 van der Weyden porta il suo nome.
Rogier van der Weyden, portrait by Cornelis Cort, 1572Rogier van der Weyden (Dutch: [roːˈɣiːr vɑn dər ˈʋɛi̯də(n)]) or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 1400 – 18 June 1464) was an Early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly successful in his lifetime; his paintings were exported to Italy and Spain, and he received commissions from, amongst others, Philip the Good, Netherlandish nobility, and foreign princes. By the latter half of the 15th century, he had eclipsed Jan van Eyck
in popularity. However his fame lasted only until the 17th century, and
largely due to changing taste, he was almost totally forgotten by the
mid-18th century. His reputation was slowly rebuilt during the following
200 years; today he is known, with Robert Campin and van Eyck, as the third (by birth date) of the three great Early Flemish artists (Vlaamse Primitieven or "Flemish Primitives"), and widely as the most influential Northern painter of the 15th century
Very few details of van der Weyden's life are known.
The few facts we know come from fragmentary civic records. Yet the
attribution of paintings now associated to him is widely accepted,
partly on the basis of circumstantial evidence, but primarily on the
stylistic evidence of a number of paintings by an innovative master.
Van der Weyden worked from life models, and his observations were
closely observed. Yet he often idealised certain elements of his
models' facial features, who were typically statuesque, especially in
his triptychs. All of his forms are rendered with rich, warm
colourisation and a sympathetic expression, while he is known for his
expressive pathos and naturalism. His portraits tend to be half length
and half profile, and he is as sympathetic here as in his religious
triptychs. Van der Weyden used an unusually broad range of colours and
varied tones; in his finest work the same tone is not repeated in any
other area of the canvas, so even the whites are varied.
Early life and apprenticeship
Due to the loss of archives in 1695 and again in 1940, there are few certain facts of van der Weyden's life.[4] Rogelet de le Pasture (Roger of the Pasture) was born in Tournai (in present-day Belgium) in 1399 or 1400. His parents were Henri de le Pasture and Agnes de Watrélos. The Pasture family had earlier settled in the city of Tournai where Rogier's father worked as a maître-coutelier (knife manufacturer).
In 1426, Rogier married Elisabeth, the daughter of a Brussels
shoemaker, Jan Goffaert, and his wife Cathelyne van Stockem. Rogier and
Elisabeth had four children: Cornelius (b. 1427) became a Carthusian
monk; a daughter, Margaretha, was born in 1432. Before 21 October 1435,
the family settled in Brussels where the two younger children were
born: Pieter in 1437 and Jan in 1438, who would go on to become a
painter and a goldsmith respectively.
From the second of March 1436 onward, he held the title of 'painter to the town of Brussels' (stadsschilder), a very prestigious post because Brussels was at that time the most important residence of the splendid court of the Dukes of Burgundy. On his move to Brussels, Rogier began using the Flemish version of his name: "Rogier van der Weyden".
Little is known about Rogier's training as a painter. The archival sources from Tournai
were completely destroyed during World War II, but had been partly
transcribed in the 19th and early 20th century. The sources on his early
life are confusing and have led to different interpretations by
scholars. It is known that the city council of Tournai offered eight
pitchers of wine in honour of a certain 'Maistre Rogier de le Pasture'
on 17 November 1426.
However, on 5 March of the following year, the records of the painters' guild show a "Rogelet de le Pasture" entered the workshop of Robert Campin together with Jacques Daret. Records show that de le Pasture was already established as a painter. Only five years later, on the first of August 1432, de le Pasture obtained the title of a "Master" (Maistre) painter.
His later entry into apprenticeship might be explained by the
fact that during the 1420s the city of Tournai was in crisis and as a
result the guilds were not functioning normally. The late apprenticeship
may have been a legal formality. Also Jacques Daret was then in his
twenties and had been living and working in Campin's household for at
least a decade. It is possible that Rogier obtained an academic title
(Master) before he became a painter and that he was awarded the wine of
honour on the occasion of his graduation. The sophisticated and learned
iconographical and compositional qualities of the paintings attributed
to him are sometimes used as an argument in favour of this supposition.
The social and intellectual status of Rogier in his later life
surpassed that of a mere craftsman at that time. In general, the close
stylistic link between the documented works of Jacques Daret and the
paintings attributed to Robert Campin and van der Weyden are the main
arguments to consider Rogier van der Weyden as a pupil of Campin.
Acclaim in Brussels
The final mention of Rogier de la Pasture in the financial records of Tournai, on 21 October 1435, lists him as demeurrant à Brouxielles
("living in Brussels"). At the same time, the first mention of Rogier
de Weyden places him as the official painter of Brussels. It is this
fact that puts de la Pasture and van der Weyden as one and the same
painter. The post of city painter was created especially for Van der
Weyden and was meant to lapse on his death. It was linked to a huge
commission to paint four justice scenes for the "Golden Chamber" of Brussels City Hall.
Different properties and investments are documented and witness
his material prosperity. The portraits he painted of the Burgundian
Dukes, their relatives and courtiers, demonstrate a close relationship
with the elite of the Netherlands. Whilst Rogier van der Weyden became
increasingly wealthy, he also gave generously in alms to the poor.
Further testimony of his philanthropy is van der Weyden's position as
administrator of the hospital and charitable foundation Ter Kisten of
the Beguine convent in Brussels between 1455 and 1457
The Miraflores Altarpiece was probably commissioned by King Juan II of Castile, since Juan II donated it to the monastery of Miraflores in 1445.
According to some sources, in 1449 Rogier went to Italy, and in the holy year 1450 quite possibly made a pilgrimage to Rome, which brought him in contact with Italian artists and patrons. However, his Italian experiences had no influence on his style. The House of Este and the Medici
family commissioned paintings from him. After interventions from both
the Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin of France, the future Louis XI, Rogier van der Weyden was persuaded to accept the request of Bianca Maria Visconti, Duchess of Milan, that her court painter Zanetto Bugatto go to Brussels to become an apprentice in his workshop.
Rogier's international reputation increased progressively. In the 1450s and 1460s humanist scholars such as Nicolas Cusanus, Filarete and Bartolomeo Facio referred to him in superlatives: 'the greatest', 'the most noble' of painters.
Van der Weyden died on 18 June 1464 at Brussels, and was buried in St. Catherine's Chapel of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.
Attribution
No single work can be attributed with certainty to van der Weyden on 15th-century documentary evidence alone. However, Lorne Campbell has stated that three well-authenticated paintings are known, but each has been doubted or underestimated. The best documented is The Descent from the Cross in the Museo del Prado,
Madrid. Campbell points out that this painting's provenance can be
traced in some detail from the 16th century. Originally hung in the
church Notre-Dame-hors-des-Murs in Leuven, The Descent from the Cross
was sent to the King of Spain. While the ship on which it was
travelling sank, the painting fortunately floated, and careful packaging
meant that it was scarcely damaged. A copy of the masterpiece by Michel
Coxcie was donated to the people of Leuven to replace the original sent
to Spain. The Triptych of the Virgin or Miraflores Altarpiece, since 1850 in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, was given in 1445 to the Charterhouse of Miraflores near Burgos by John II of Castile; it was described in the deed of gift as the work of great and famous Flandresco Rogel. The Crucifixion, now in the Escorial Palace, was donated by Rogier to the Charterhouse of Scheut outside Brussels. In his catalogue raisonné of van der Weyden, the Belgian art historian Dirk de Vos agrees with Campbell about the authenticity of these three paintings.
Rogier's apprenticeship under Campin instilled a number of
preoccupations, most noticeably his approach to feminine beauty, which
was often expressed both through the elegant form of the model herself
as well as her dress. Both painters positioned their models within
strong diagonal lines, rendered either through headdress or folds of
surrounding draperies or cloth. Both emphasised the vivacity of their
model's character by contrasting them against dark flat backgrounds and
throwing strong light from the near left hand side. Campbell compares
Campin's Thief with Rogier's Prado The Descent from the Cross in their emotional depictions of anguish. The resemblance was to such an extent – compare Campin's Portrait of a Woman's similarity to Rogier's Berlin portrait – that Campin's works were for a period attributed to Rogier's early career.
Châtelet illustrates how subsequent generations of art historians
have conflated and confused Rogier van der Weyden's identity, thereby
mis-attributing works of art. It can be traced back to a geographical
error in Vasari's Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori where he states that the artist 'Rugiero da Brugia' lived in Bruges. Van Mander,
who knew that Rogier van der Weyden resided in Brussels, read Vasari's
text and believed that there were two different artists with the same
name, who both appear separately in his Schilder-boeck of 1604
Châtelet explains how the Brussels archivist Alphonse Walters
discovered in 1846 that there was a Rogier van der Weyden who lived in
Brussels but that he had died earlier than stated in the Schilder-Boeck; this led Alfred Michiels
to claim that there were two Rogier van der Weyden painters, a father
and son. A further complication arose at the end of the 19th century
when William Bode and Hugo von Tschudi
attributed a group of works of art to the "Maître de Flémalle"; despite
discrepancies, these works are similar to those of Van der Weyden and
so it was believed that these works were in fact by Rogier and that he
was the "Maître de Flémalle". It was only in 1913 that Hulin de Loo
indicated that these works were actually painted by Rogier's teacher
Robert Campin. There was still a divide in critical opinion over whether
there was one Rogier van der Weyden or two artists, the other being
Rogier de la Pasture of Tournai, until Erwin Panofsky wrote his definitive work in 1953 Early Netherlandish Painting and established that there was only one painter with two names.
Work
Relatively few works are attributed to van der Weyden's relatively
long career, but this does not mean he was un-prolific, more that it is
likely that many have been lost. Nonetheless, he had a very well defined
style, and the majority of the attributions are generally accepted. Van
der Weyden left no self-portraits. However it has been suggested that
he painted a self-portrait into one of the Justice panels, which was
subsequently copied into the Bern tapestry. A drawing with the
inscription "Recueil d'Arras" is also said to depict Van der Weyden.
Many of his most important works were destroyed during the late
17th century. He is first mentioned in historical records in 1427 when,
relatively late in life, he studied painting under Campin during
1427–32, and soon outshone his master and, later, even influenced him. After his apprenticeship, he was made master of the Tournai
Guild of St Luke. He moved to Brussels in 1435, where he quickly
established his reputation for his technical skill and emotional use of
line and colour. He completed his Deposition
in 1435, which as he had deliberately intended, made him one of the
most sought after and influential artists in northern Europe and is
still considered his masterpiece.
The fragment of the London National Gallery's The Magdalen Reading
has been described by Campbell as "one of the great masterpieces of
fifteenth-century art and among Rogier's most important early works". Since the 1970s, this painting has been linked to two small heads in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
(Lisbon), of Saint Catherine and of St Joseph. It is now widely
believed that these three fragments came from the same large altarpiece
depicting the "Virgin and Child with Saints", partly recorded in a later
drawing now in Stockholm. At some unknown date before 1811, this altarpiece was carved up into these three fragments.
The lost The Justice of Trajan and Herkinbald, which survived until the end of the 17th century, consisted of four large panels representing the Justice of Trajan and Justice of Herkenbald. These were commissioned by the City of Brussels for the Gulden Camere (Golden Chamber) of the Brussels Town Hall.
The first and third panels were signed, and the first dated 1439. All
four were finished before 1450. They were destroyed in the French Bombardment of Brussels
in 1695, but are known from many surviving descriptions, from a free
partial copy in tapestry (Bern, Historisches Museum) and from other free
and partial copies in drawing and painting. The paintings probably
measured about 4.5 m each, which was an enormous scale for a painting on
panel at that time. They served as 'examples of justice' for the
aldermen of the city who had to speak justice in this room. The
paintings were praised or described by a series of commentators until
their destruction, including Dürer (1520), Vasari (1568), Molanus (c. 1570–1580), and Baldinucci (1688).
In his commissioned portraits, van der Weyden typically flattered
his sitters. He often idealised or softened their facial features,
allowing them a handsomeness or beauty, or interest or intelligence they
might not have been blessed with in life. He often enlargened the eyes,
better defined the contours of the face, and gave a much stronger jaw
than the subject may have possessed in life. Among his most celebrated portraits are those of Philip the Good, his third wife Isabella of Portugal and their son Charles the Bold.
Influence
His vigorous, subtle, expressive painting and popular religious
conceptions had considerable influence on European painting, not only in
France and Germany but also in Italy and in Spain. Panofsky
writes how Rogier van der Weyden introduced new religious iconography
in his painting; he depicted patrons participating in sacred events and
combined half-portraits of the Madonna with portraits of people in
prayer to form diptychs. He also reformulated and popularised the
subject of Saint Jerome removing the thorn from the lion's paw.
Hans Memling
was his greatest follower, although it is not proven that he studied
under Rogier. Van der Weyden had also a large influence on the German
painter and engraver Martin Schongauer
whose prints were distributed all over Europe from the last decades of
the 15th century. Indirectly Schongauer's prints helped to disseminate
van der Weyden's style. Delenda writes that, with the exception of Petrus Christus, who was a disciple of Jan van Eyck, traces of Rogier van der Weyden's art can be found in all fifteenth-century artists to varying degrees.
Antoine de Bourgogne 
Charles the Bold 1460.
Karl
der Kühne von Burgund (1433-1477), hier noch als Graf von Charolais
dargestellt. Auf dieses Original beziehen sich alle weiteren Darstellung
Karls als Herzog von Burgund 1454 
Compianto sul Cristo morto
crocifissione di Gesù
Velo della Veronica
Creato: dal 1443 al 1445
De Zeven Sacramenten, Rogier van der Weyden, (1440-1445), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen
Copie d'après WEYDEN Rogier van der - Démons tourmentant un damné dans les Enfers
Der Dreikönigsaltar Rogier van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden - Descent from the Cross - 1460 circa
Rogier van der Weyden - Diptych - Creato: 1440 circa
El Calvario, de Rogier van der Weyden (Monasterio de El Escorial) Creato: tra il 1457 e il 1464 circa
El Descendimiento, óleo pene sobre tabla, 220 x 262 cm, Madrid, Museo del Prado
Creato: prima del 1443 
Weyden, Rogier van der - Francesco d'Este Creato: 1460 circa 
Francesco d'Este (born about 1430, died after 1475) 
frontispiece of the Chroniques de Hainaut
Persone ritratte: Jean Wauquelin, Philippe le Bon, Charles le Téméraire, Nicolas Rolin e Jean Chevrot
Creato: 1447 
Rogier van der Weyden (workshop) -Head of the Virgin - Louvre Creato: 1455-1464 circa 
Johann I von Kleve (1419-1481). Creato: 1460 circa 
Philippe de Croy, Rogier van der Weyden, (1460), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait Diptych of Philippe de Croy (left wing) 
Rogier van der Weyden - Pietà - tra il 1440 e il 1450 circa 
Polyptyc last judgment- 
Creato: XVI sec. 
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait Diptych of Laurent Froimont (right wing) - anni '60 del XV sec. 
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait Diptych of Laurent Froimont (reverse side) - anni '60 del XV sec. 
Rogier van der Weyden-workshop - Portrait of a Lady - 1460 (National Gallery London) 
Reverse of:'Portrait of a Lady'Bequeathed by Mrs Lyne Stephens 
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Lady - Creato: 1460 circa 
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Man (Guillaume Fillastre?) - Creato: anni '40 del XV sec 
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Man (reverse side) -Creato: anni '40 del XV sec. 
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Woman with a Winged Bonnet - Creato: 1440 circa 
Rogier van der Weyden (workshop of) - Portrait of Isabella of Portugal Creato: anni '50 del XV sec 
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of Jean Gros - Creato: tra il 1460 e il 1464 - Art Institute of Chicago
Armes de Jean Gros - Jean Gros Diptych - Rogier van der Weyden 1446 circa 
Weyden Portrait Diptych of Jean de Gros (left wing) Creato: anni '50 del XV sec. 
Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin 1435 
Rogier van der Weyden - The Altar of Our Lady (Miraflores Altar) - 1440 circa 
Rogier van der Weyden - The Altar of St. John - Creato: 1455 circa 
The Braque Triptych interior. Creato: 1450 circa 
Rogier van der Weyden - Triptych- The Crucifixion
"Virgin and Child" by Rogier van der Weyden; Museo del Prado, Madrid
tra il 1435 e il 1438 circa
Rogier van der Weyden, portrait by Cornelis Cort, 1572Rogier van der Weyden (Dutch: [roːˈɣiːr vɑn dər ˈʋɛi̯də(n)]) or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 1400 – 18 June 1464) was an Early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly successful in his lifetime; his paintings were exported to Italy and Spain, and he received commissions from, amongst others, Philip the Good, Netherlandish nobility, and foreign princes. By the latter half of the 15th century, he had eclipsed Jan van Eyck in popularity. However his fame lasted only until the 17th century, and largely due to changing taste, he was almost totally forgotten by the mid-18th century. His reputation was slowly rebuilt during the following 200 years; today he is known, with Robert Campin and van Eyck, as the third (by birth date) of the three great Early Flemish artists (Vlaamse Primitieven or "Flemish Primitives"), and widely as the most influential Northern painter of the 15th century
Very few details of van der Weyden's life are known. The few facts we know come from fragmentary civic records. Yet the attribution of paintings now associated to him is widely accepted, partly on the basis of circumstantial evidence, but primarily on the stylistic evidence of a number of paintings by an innovative master.
Van der Weyden worked from life models, and his observations were
closely observed. Yet he often idealised certain elements of his
models' facial features, who were typically statuesque, especially in
his triptychs. All of his forms are rendered with rich, warm
colourisation and a sympathetic expression, while he is known for his
expressive pathos and naturalism. His portraits tend to be half length
and half profile, and he is as sympathetic here as in his religious
triptychs. Van der Weyden used an unusually broad range of colours and
varied tones; in his finest work the same tone is not repeated in any
other area of the canvas, so even the whites are varied.
Early life and apprenticeship
Due to the loss of archives in 1695 and again in 1940, there are few certain facts of van der Weyden's life.[4] Rogelet de le Pasture (Roger of the Pasture) was born in Tournai (in present-day Belgium) in 1399 or 1400. His parents were Henri de le Pasture and Agnes de Watrélos. The Pasture family had earlier settled in the city of Tournai where Rogier's father worked as a maître-coutelier (knife manufacturer).
In 1426, Rogier married Elisabeth, the daughter of a Brussels shoemaker, Jan Goffaert, and his wife Cathelyne van Stockem. Rogier and Elisabeth had four children: Cornelius (b. 1427) became a Carthusian monk; a daughter, Margaretha, was born in 1432. Before 21 October 1435, the family settled in Brussels where the two younger children were born: Pieter in 1437 and Jan in 1438, who would go on to become a painter and a goldsmith respectively.
From the second of March 1436 onward, he held the title of 'painter to the town of Brussels' (stadsschilder), a very prestigious post because Brussels was at that time the most important residence of the splendid court of the Dukes of Burgundy. On his move to Brussels, Rogier began using the Flemish version of his name: "Rogier van der Weyden".
Little is known about Rogier's training as a painter. The archival sources from Tournai were completely destroyed during World War II, but had been partly transcribed in the 19th and early 20th century. The sources on his early life are confusing and have led to different interpretations by scholars. It is known that the city council of Tournai offered eight pitchers of wine in honour of a certain 'Maistre Rogier de le Pasture' on 17 November 1426.
However, on 5 March of the following year, the records of the painters' guild show a "Rogelet de le Pasture" entered the workshop of Robert Campin together with Jacques Daret. Records show that de le Pasture was already established as a painter. Only five years later, on the first of August 1432, de le Pasture obtained the title of a "Master" (Maistre) painter.
His later entry into apprenticeship might be explained by the fact that during the 1420s the city of Tournai was in crisis and as a result the guilds were not functioning normally. The late apprenticeship may have been a legal formality. Also Jacques Daret was then in his twenties and had been living and working in Campin's household for at least a decade. It is possible that Rogier obtained an academic title (Master) before he became a painter and that he was awarded the wine of honour on the occasion of his graduation. The sophisticated and learned iconographical and compositional qualities of the paintings attributed to him are sometimes used as an argument in favour of this supposition.
The social and intellectual status of Rogier in his later life surpassed that of a mere craftsman at that time. In general, the close stylistic link between the documented works of Jacques Daret and the paintings attributed to Robert Campin and van der Weyden are the main arguments to consider Rogier van der Weyden as a pupil of Campin.
Acclaim in Brussels
The final mention of Rogier de la Pasture in the financial records of Tournai, on 21 October 1435, lists him as demeurrant à Brouxielles ("living in Brussels"). At the same time, the first mention of Rogier de Weyden places him as the official painter of Brussels. It is this fact that puts de la Pasture and van der Weyden as one and the same painter. The post of city painter was created especially for Van der Weyden and was meant to lapse on his death. It was linked to a huge commission to paint four justice scenes for the "Golden Chamber" of Brussels City Hall.
Different properties and investments are documented and witness his material prosperity. The portraits he painted of the Burgundian Dukes, their relatives and courtiers, demonstrate a close relationship with the elite of the Netherlands. Whilst Rogier van der Weyden became increasingly wealthy, he also gave generously in alms to the poor. Further testimony of his philanthropy is van der Weyden's position as administrator of the hospital and charitable foundation Ter Kisten of the Beguine convent in Brussels between 1455 and 1457 The Miraflores Altarpiece was probably commissioned by King Juan II of Castile, since Juan II donated it to the monastery of Miraflores in 1445.
According to some sources, in 1449 Rogier went to Italy, and in the holy year 1450 quite possibly made a pilgrimage to Rome, which brought him in contact with Italian artists and patrons. However, his Italian experiences had no influence on his style. The House of Este and the Medici family commissioned paintings from him. After interventions from both the Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin of France, the future Louis XI, Rogier van der Weyden was persuaded to accept the request of Bianca Maria Visconti, Duchess of Milan, that her court painter Zanetto Bugatto go to Brussels to become an apprentice in his workshop.
Rogier's international reputation increased progressively. In the 1450s and 1460s humanist scholars such as Nicolas Cusanus, Filarete and Bartolomeo Facio referred to him in superlatives: 'the greatest', 'the most noble' of painters.
Van der Weyden died on 18 June 1464 at Brussels, and was buried in St. Catherine's Chapel of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.
Attribution
No single work can be attributed with certainty to van der Weyden on 15th-century documentary evidence alone. However, Lorne Campbell has stated that three well-authenticated paintings are known, but each has been doubted or underestimated. The best documented is The Descent from the Cross in the Museo del Prado, Madrid. Campbell points out that this painting's provenance can be traced in some detail from the 16th century. Originally hung in the church Notre-Dame-hors-des-Murs in Leuven, The Descent from the Cross was sent to the King of Spain. While the ship on which it was travelling sank, the painting fortunately floated, and careful packaging meant that it was scarcely damaged. A copy of the masterpiece by Michel Coxcie was donated to the people of Leuven to replace the original sent to Spain. The Triptych of the Virgin or Miraflores Altarpiece, since 1850 in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, was given in 1445 to the Charterhouse of Miraflores near Burgos by John II of Castile; it was described in the deed of gift as the work of great and famous Flandresco Rogel. The Crucifixion, now in the Escorial Palace, was donated by Rogier to the Charterhouse of Scheut outside Brussels. In his catalogue raisonné of van der Weyden, the Belgian art historian Dirk de Vos agrees with Campbell about the authenticity of these three paintings.
Rogier's apprenticeship under Campin instilled a number of preoccupations, most noticeably his approach to feminine beauty, which was often expressed both through the elegant form of the model herself as well as her dress. Both painters positioned their models within strong diagonal lines, rendered either through headdress or folds of surrounding draperies or cloth. Both emphasised the vivacity of their model's character by contrasting them against dark flat backgrounds and throwing strong light from the near left hand side. Campbell compares Campin's Thief with Rogier's Prado The Descent from the Cross in their emotional depictions of anguish. The resemblance was to such an extent – compare Campin's Portrait of a Woman's similarity to Rogier's Berlin portrait – that Campin's works were for a period attributed to Rogier's early career.
Châtelet illustrates how subsequent generations of art historians have conflated and confused Rogier van der Weyden's identity, thereby mis-attributing works of art. It can be traced back to a geographical error in Vasari's Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori where he states that the artist 'Rugiero da Brugia' lived in Bruges. Van Mander, who knew that Rogier van der Weyden resided in Brussels, read Vasari's text and believed that there were two different artists with the same name, who both appear separately in his Schilder-boeck of 1604 Châtelet explains how the Brussels archivist Alphonse Walters discovered in 1846 that there was a Rogier van der Weyden who lived in Brussels but that he had died earlier than stated in the Schilder-Boeck; this led Alfred Michiels to claim that there were two Rogier van der Weyden painters, a father and son. A further complication arose at the end of the 19th century when William Bode and Hugo von Tschudi attributed a group of works of art to the "Maître de Flémalle"; despite discrepancies, these works are similar to those of Van der Weyden and so it was believed that these works were in fact by Rogier and that he was the "Maître de Flémalle". It was only in 1913 that Hulin de Loo indicated that these works were actually painted by Rogier's teacher Robert Campin. There was still a divide in critical opinion over whether there was one Rogier van der Weyden or two artists, the other being Rogier de la Pasture of Tournai, until Erwin Panofsky wrote his definitive work in 1953 Early Netherlandish Painting and established that there was only one painter with two names.
Work
Relatively few works are attributed to van der Weyden's relatively long career, but this does not mean he was un-prolific, more that it is likely that many have been lost. Nonetheless, he had a very well defined style, and the majority of the attributions are generally accepted. Van der Weyden left no self-portraits. However it has been suggested that he painted a self-portrait into one of the Justice panels, which was subsequently copied into the Bern tapestry. A drawing with the inscription "Recueil d'Arras" is also said to depict Van der Weyden.
Many of his most important works were destroyed during the late 17th century. He is first mentioned in historical records in 1427 when, relatively late in life, he studied painting under Campin during 1427–32, and soon outshone his master and, later, even influenced him. After his apprenticeship, he was made master of the Tournai Guild of St Luke. He moved to Brussels in 1435, where he quickly established his reputation for his technical skill and emotional use of line and colour. He completed his Deposition in 1435, which as he had deliberately intended, made him one of the most sought after and influential artists in northern Europe and is still considered his masterpiece.
The fragment of the London National Gallery's The Magdalen Reading
has been described by Campbell as "one of the great masterpieces of
fifteenth-century art and among Rogier's most important early works". Since the 1970s, this painting has been linked to two small heads in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
(Lisbon), of Saint Catherine and of St Joseph. It is now widely
believed that these three fragments came from the same large altarpiece
depicting the "Virgin and Child with Saints", partly recorded in a later
drawing now in Stockholm. At some unknown date before 1811, this altarpiece was carved up into these three fragments.
The lost The Justice of Trajan and Herkinbald, which survived until the end of the 17th century, consisted of four large panels representing the Justice of Trajan and Justice of Herkenbald. These were commissioned by the City of Brussels for the Gulden Camere (Golden Chamber) of the Brussels Town Hall. The first and third panels were signed, and the first dated 1439. All four were finished before 1450. They were destroyed in the French Bombardment of Brussels in 1695, but are known from many surviving descriptions, from a free partial copy in tapestry (Bern, Historisches Museum) and from other free and partial copies in drawing and painting. The paintings probably measured about 4.5 m each, which was an enormous scale for a painting on panel at that time. They served as 'examples of justice' for the aldermen of the city who had to speak justice in this room. The paintings were praised or described by a series of commentators until their destruction, including Dürer (1520), Vasari (1568), Molanus (c. 1570–1580), and Baldinucci (1688).
In his commissioned portraits, van der Weyden typically flattered his sitters. He often idealised or softened their facial features, allowing them a handsomeness or beauty, or interest or intelligence they might not have been blessed with in life. He often enlargened the eyes, better defined the contours of the face, and gave a much stronger jaw than the subject may have possessed in life. Among his most celebrated portraits are those of Philip the Good, his third wife Isabella of Portugal and their son Charles the Bold.
Influence
His vigorous, subtle, expressive painting and popular religious conceptions had considerable influence on European painting, not only in France and Germany but also in Italy and in Spain. Panofsky writes how Rogier van der Weyden introduced new religious iconography in his painting; he depicted patrons participating in sacred events and combined half-portraits of the Madonna with portraits of people in prayer to form diptychs. He also reformulated and popularised the subject of Saint Jerome removing the thorn from the lion's paw.
Hans Memling was his greatest follower, although it is not proven that he studied under Rogier. Van der Weyden had also a large influence on the German painter and engraver Martin Schongauer whose prints were distributed all over Europe from the last decades of the 15th century. Indirectly Schongauer's prints helped to disseminate van der Weyden's style. Delenda writes that, with the exception of Petrus Christus, who was a disciple of Jan van Eyck, traces of Rogier van der Weyden's art can be found in all fifteenth-century artists to varying degrees.
crocifissione di Gesù
Velo della Veronica
Creato: dal 1443 al 1445
De Zeven Sacramenten, Rogier van der Weyden, (1440-1445), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen
Copie d'après WEYDEN Rogier van der - Démons tourmentant un damné dans les Enfers
Der Dreikönigsaltar Rogier van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden - Descent from the Cross - 1460 circa
Rogier van der Weyden - Diptych - Creato: 1440 circa
El Calvario, de Rogier van der Weyden (Monasterio de El Escorial) Creato: tra il 1457 e il 1464 circa
El Descendimiento, óleo pene sobre tabla, 220 x 262 cm, Madrid, Museo del Prado
Creato: prima del 1443 
El Descendimiento, óleo pene sobre tabla, 220 x 262 cm, Madrid, Museo del Prado
frontispiece of the Chroniques de Hainaut Persone ritratte: Jean Wauquelin, Philippe le Bon, Charles le Téméraire, Nicolas Rolin e Jean Chevrot
Creato: 1447
tra il 1435 e il 1438 circa
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento