Jean Fouquet, Melun Diptych

Jean Fouquet, Melun Diptych

Jean Fouquet, Melun Diptych (c.1450) was a two panel piece of art work. The left panel shows Étienne Chevalier, the treasurer to the King of France praying. To the side of Chevalier is his patron saint St. Stephen, who is identifiable because there is  a large rock resting on his bible, as well as the fact that he appears to be bleeding from a head wound. This dictates the life and death of St. Stephen who is widely considered the first martyr of Christianity. The right panel displays an image of the Virgin and child. In this incarnation, Mary is represented dressed as a member of french royalty. She is surrounded by red and blue cherubim, thus representing the longstanding blue covering red motif when depicting the Virgin Mary. The physical image of the Mary is believed to have been taken from Agnés Sorel, Charles VII's mistress. This artwork represents the changing times. in earlier centuries a man such as Chevalier, who was born poor, could not have hoped to have died an aristocrat. The nature of marriage has experienced a large change since this the 15th Century. In today's time it would be unthinkable for a man, better yet a king, to have mistress and have a painting made of her as the Virgin Mary. Fouquet's work would be considered insulting to many christians today, but the people at the time would have been cool with this portrayal. At this point in history, marriage was more of a business contract. This allowed the royal court and queen sanctioned Sorel as Charles's mistress, as he was in love with her. Furthermore, Sorel was actually loved by the people of France and held some influence in the royal court. She died slightly before Fouquet made the diptych, suggesting that this was a special way that the king could mourn of his loss.  It was an interesting time with different values. Unfortunately, over time both panels as well as a medallion Fouquet used to sign the artwork were separated from each other. The left panel is located in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, Germany. The right panel is at the Koniklijk Museum (Royal Museum of Fine Arts) in Belgium. The copper and gold medallion resides at the Louvre in Paris, France.

Biography of Jean Fouquet
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/old-masters/jean-fouquet.htm

Gallery of other artworks by Fouquet
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/f/fouquet/index.html

Sources:
http://www.artbible.info/art/large/601.html
http://www.wga.hu/html_m/f/fouquet/chevalie.html

Saint Luke by Master Theodoric (1360-1364)

This is Saint Luke by Master Theodoric (1360-1364) made on the upper section of wall in the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Karlstein Castle near Prague.  This is a representation of Saint Luke as represented by the ox on his right shoulder, the symbol traditionally connected with Saint Luke.  This painting with its lavish use of gold around Saint Luke is the only painting in the chapel’s collection that looks directly at the viewer.

Saint Luke is also known as Luke the Evangelist, one of the four evangelists that authored the chronicle of Jesus Christ. This painting gives the viewer subtle but powerful messages about the word of God.  The blue cloak, in many cultures, represents peace or warding off evil.  If you look at where Saint Luke’s heart is, the viewer will notice a cross, most likely representing that Saint Luke has God in his heart.  Finally Saint Luke speaks to the viewer by showing an open book.  This book is almost positivity a representation of the bible because the book leaves the frame of the painting representing that the word of God cannot be contained. This sends a powerful message to the viewer, because the man with God in his heart is looking at you and showing you the word of God telling the viewer to read, understand, and follow the teachings Bible.

Sources:

http://arthistory.about.com/library/weekly/sp/bl_prague_rev.htm

http://forallsaints.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/saint-luke-the-evangelist/