The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art November 1974 [antikvár]

Jan Gossart de Mabuse: Madonna and Child in a Landscape Flemish painting underwent a great transformation in the early sixteenth century. During this period, the Late Gothic tradition of Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, and Hans Memling slowly gave way before the impact of a rising North-em Humanism and new aesthetic ideals. Artists now began to seek inspiration from ancient and Italian art, and one of the most important representatives of the emerging Renaissance style was Jan Gossart, called Mabuse. Later generations sought to define Gossan's significance by saying that he was the first Flemish artist, or one of the first, to paint nude mythological scenes in the Italian fashion.' While this is certainly true, it does not do justice to the richness and complexity of his art, as we are just beginning to realize. Bom around 1475-78 in the town of Maubeuge (from which he derives his surname "Mabuse"), Jan Gossart was closely associated for most of his life with the cultured Burgundián nobility.2 He worked for Margaret of Austria, Governess of the Netherlands, and for Jean Carondelet, Margaret's chancellor and friend of Erasmus. Until 1524, however, his chief patron was Philip of Burgundy, Admiral of the Sea, and later Bishop of Utrecht, whose great love for ancient hterature and art must have stimulated Gossart's own artistic interests.^ In 1508-09, Gossart accompanied Philip on a diplomatic mission to Italy where he made sketches after Roman antiquities at his patron's behest. After their return to the Netherlands, Gossart estabhshed himself in Middelburg, in Zeeland, although he traveled extensively throughout the Netherlands in connection with various commissions. Around 1516, for example, he helped to decorate Castle Souburg, the residence of Philip of Bur- Figure 1. Madonna and Child in a Landscape. On panel, 26-1/2 X 22-1/4 inches (67.3 x 56.5 cm.) with frame, dated 1531. Jan Gossart, called Mabuse, Flemish, ca. 1475/78 -1532. Purchase, John L. Severance Fund, cma 72.47 COVER Siill Life with Herring. Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin. Article begins on p. 309. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Volume LXI, Number 9, November, 1974. Published monthly, except July and August, by The Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Boulevard at University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. Subscriptions included in membership fee, otherwise $5.00 per year. Single copies, 60 cents. Copyright 1974, by The Cleveland Museum of Art. Second-class postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio. Museum photography by Nicholas Hlobeczy; design by Merald E. Wrolstad. gundy near Middelburg, where he probably painted the mythological nudes which earned him the title of the "Apelles of our time"'' and which were the chief basis of his reputation for centuries afterwards. The mythological scenes, however, comprise but a small part of his total artistic production; he also painted several large altarpieces and was especially sought after for portraits and small devotional pictures. From 1517 on, Gossart seems to have spent considerable time in Utrecht, where Philip had been elected bishop. He also worked in Antwerp and Brussels. After the death of Philip in 1524, Gossart entered the service of Philip's nephew, Adolph of Burgundy. According to recently published documents, he died in the autumn of 1532, possibly in Antwerp.^ One year before his death, Gossart painted the Madonna and Child in a Landscape which was acquired by The Cleveland Museum of Art in 1972 (Fig. l).®The armrest in the lower left comer (Fig. 2) bears the date 1531 and the words "Joan[n]es Malbo[dius] pi[n]gebat" (painted by Jan of Mabuse), showing the Latin form of his name which the artist regularly employed after 1516. As in so many of his representations of the Madonna and Child, Gossart enriched a basically simple motif with a wealth of form and movement. The picture surface is dominated by the imposing half-length figure of the Virgin, her monumentality enhanced by the mantle around her shoulders. She stands behind a stone ledge gazing at the Christ Child whom she supports with one hand. Her massive, immobile figure creates an effective foil for the more energetic pose of the Child; he turns in a complex contraposto movement toward the right, as if to offer the bunch of red currants held in one hand to an unseen observer. This gesture, as well as the direction of the Child's glance, suggests that the Cleveland painting may well have had a companion panel depicting a donor, such as we see in the diptych which Gossart painted for Jean Carondelet in 1517 (Fig. 3).'' Despite their differences in pose, the Virgin and Child are visually united through a number of formal devices. The diagonal toward the upper left, established by the Virgin's head and shoulder, balances the movement of the Child toward the opposite direction. The heavily crumpled folds of the Virgin's headdress are echoed in the cloth placed beneath the Child. Most important, the two figures display the same clearly defined contours and powerful, three-dimensional forms. The heads and limbs are modelled in boldly contrasted light and shadow, with attention to such subtle effects as the reflected lights along the Virgin's jaw and along the right edge of the Child's head. Through similar means, Gossart empha- 287