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Triptych of the Assumption of the Virgin
(Central panel)
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Triptych of the Assumption of the Virgin
by Adrien Isenbrant (Brugge, ca. 1520 - 1530)
The very high pictorial quality of this retable as well as its size (central panel: H. 1.15 x 0.86 m, each side panel: H: 1.15 x 0.37 m) and the state of its preservation make it an exceptional artefact.
When open, it shows the twelve Apostles surrounding the open tomb of the Virgin. Like landscapes, the Apostles appeared in a continuous line, from the central panel to the sides, conferring true unity to the triptych. The centre of the composition, dealing with the Assumption of the Virgin and her Crowning, is without equal. The originality of this work resides not only in the treatment and palette used, but also in the symbiosis between two worlds, the earthly world of the Apostles and the heavenly universe.
The collection of paintings at the musée national du Moyen âge, modest compared to other techniques (sculpture, goldsmithing, textile), currently displays panels from retables from the cathedral at Amiens of the church at Abbeville as well as many quality Flemish panels.
The addition of this Brugge tryptich to the Museum's collections (it will be displayed in Room 14), beside the great and famous sculpted retables from the workshops of Antwerp and Brussels - such as the retable of the Holy Sacrament from Averbode Abbey -, favourises a more complete understanding of the production from ancient Holland, on the one hand, and on the other, furnishes an original and unique link between the two Mays from Abbeville: The Holy Virgin Multiplier of Wheat and The Virgin in Front of the Church of Saint-Wulfran.
This is a very important addition to French collections in general, which are not rich in Brugge art from the beginning of the 14th century. |
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Leaf of a Lectionary
(front and back) |
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Illuminated Leaf from a Cluny Lectionary (late 11th - early 12th centuries)
This splendid fragment corresponds to one of the gaps in the famous manuscript from the Cluny Lectionary preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale. Of an unusual size (H. 44 cm x W. 32.5 cm), the leaf has on its back a column of text written in large lower-case letters derived from Carolina, and on its front, a large painting, the remarkably well-preserved Ascension of Christ. Enclosed by a triple-banded frame, it is made up of two parts. In the lower part the group of Apostles and the Virgin stand in a checkerboard frame, and in the upper part Christ, blessing and holder the scepter, is held in an almond-shaped oval whose point extends beyond the gilded frame. Between the two scenes, two angels brandish a phylactery.
The quality of the work of this painting, like the elegance of the writing, confirm that it is from the 12th century, apogee of the splendour of Cluny.
The Lectionary, "King of the Cluny Manuscripts" (F. Mercier, 1931), is the liturgical book which covers the offices and readings for a day in a monk's life: at assembly, at frater, and of course at choir. It contains the Gospel and commentary by the Church Fathers.
Until this acqusition the collection at the National Museum of the Middle Ages had only a single illuminated leaf from this period. The addition of the leaf from the Cluny Lectionary fills a great gap in its Romesque art collections, which are otherwise quite rich in sculpture and precious arts. It also recreates a strong virtual link between the mother abbey and the Hôtel des abbés, home of the Museum.
The illumination is displayed in Room 18. |
