Rogier van der Weyden was a Flemish Painter based in Brussels and did this painting around 1435. It started out as the reredos at a chapel in Leuwen but is now at the Prado in Madrid. It is almost certainly one of his most famous pieces and I feature it here for comparison with a drawing he did later in 1460.
What I find striking about this, apart from the composition being very similar to the painting is the style of the figures. They seem to have a quality very similar to a much later artist, Giacometti who was a twentieth century sculptor. Giacometti went in for elongated figures that posessed these same expressive qualities found in this Northern Renaissance drawing. You can read more here. Follow the links to Rogier van der Weyden.Its worth switching on the speakers on your PC when visiting the wga site for its baroque music.
2 comments:
I'm not sure if my neighbour might not be a bit of a fan of flemish paintings Norman as he has a print of RVW's madonna and child from the museum in Caen, although he probably just got his cheap cross channel booze wrapped up in it or something
http://www.abcgallery.com/W/weyden/weyden48.html
Sounds about right. Well he could always iron the wrapping smooth and frame it. I have often wondered how many drawings have finished up as the Renaissance equivalent of fish and chip wrapping.
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