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- Title
NODUS HERCULANEUS" AND OTHER MOTIFS FROM EARLY RENAISSANCE ITALIAN ICONOGRAPHY IN HANS MEMLING'S"LAST JUDGEMENT"TRIPTYCH.
- Authors
PURC, Beata
- Abstract
Hans Memling's "Last Judgement" has a systemic composition and, in spite of its Gothic form, its religious message follows Early Renaissance Italian ideas. The present article analyses these Italian themes. Influenced by his client, Memling introduced in ca. 1469-1470 some changes that impacted the iconography of the altar. Besides portraits of Byzantine and Florentine scholars in the "uomini illustri" tradition, Memling introduced a combination of patron saints in the triptych's closed wings that was unusual for Netherlandish painting. In the middle panel of the open altarpiece, he transformed a figure of a semi-nude woman lying in a meadow so that she became an image of Venus Urania who was associated in Italian culture with a bride, marriage and love; in the triptych she is presented as the virtù of the soul, its beauty and modesty. For the Italian humanists physical beauty was a symbol of spiritual beauty, related to virtuous (moral) behaviour. The link between beauty and virtue, described in 14th- and 15th-century treatises, was understood as the goodness of the soul and expressed with the symbolism of marriage and putting a diamond ring on the bride's finger. In the triptych, this role is played by the rainbow as a full circle, which was also used as a cryptographic ring from the Medici coat of arms. This iconographic motif, alien to Netherlandish painting, was surely introduced into the triptych at the request of an Italian customer. It included aspects that were raised at the time in the literature and art of Florence. They concerned the members of the bourgeoisie who dealt with science, seeking to combine intellectual ability with the ideal of conduct, and inner and outer nobleness supported by zealous faith.
- Subjects
EARLY Renaissance painting; MEMLING, Hans, ca. 1430-1494; SYMBOLISM in art
- Publication
Acta Musei Brukenthal, 2019, Vol 14, Issue 2, p267
- ISSN
1842-2691
- Publication type
Article