1445 Oil on oak panel, 57 x 36 cm Museum der Bildenden K?nste, Leipzig This small Visitation, probably intended as a single panel, is related to the Miraflores Altarpiece, not in subject but in style. Comparatively speaking, it is a narrative picture, showing a definite event in its appropriate surroundings. Shortly after the Annunciation, Mary visits her cousin Elisabeth, who despite her advanced age has miraculously become pregnant, and has been carrying the future John the Baptist for six months. The picture illustrates the circumstances of the meeting described in St. Luke's Gospel much more clearly than many other earlier depictions. For example, the landscape divided up by paths behind the Virgin Mary, from which she seems to be approaching small figures of people riding and walking indicate that it is passable - show that she has traveled a long way to visit her cousin. Elisabeth lives in hilly country, represented by the hill with the complex of fortress-like buildings outside which her husband Zacharias is playing with a dog. The open courtyard gateway, and even more so the path dynamically winding downward, show that the pregnant older woman has hurried respectfully to meet the young girl as Mary takes the last few steps. Each of them acknowledges the miracle of pregnancy and is laying a hand on the other's belly, while Elisabeth's outstretched arm and pale hand, shown against Mary's dark blue dress, leave us in no doubt which is the more important child. The gestures, at once tender and eloquent, are typical of Rogier's expressive style. The picture is also closely related to the version of the same subject on the right wing of the Annunciation Triptych (Galleria Sabauda, Turin) which is of the same width but considerably taller and thus makes a much narrower composition. The smaller version therefore appears less dramatic by comparison; Elisabeth's house does not tower over her so much. It is possible that an older design by Rogier was the model for both painting. These hands and facial types, the figures, and such features as the modeling of the forms resemble those of the Miraflores Altarpiece. Dendrochronology provides a useful lead to the date of the Visitation, for the wooden panel used comes from the same piece of timber as a part of the panels of the picture known as the Abegg Triptych (Riggisberg near Berne), which was painted in Rogier's workshop and can be dated to around 1445.Artist:WEYDEN, Rogier van der Title: Visitation Painted in 1401-1450 , Flemish - - painting : religious
Painting ID:: 63876
Rogier van der Weyden 1445(1445)
Medium oil on oak panel
Dimensions Height: 57 cm (22.4 in). Width: 36 cm (14.2 in).
cyf Visitation Rogier van der Weyden 1399/1400 - 1464 was the most important representative of Netherlandish painting or Northern Renaissance ... is, with Jan van Eyck, considered one of the greatest exponents of the school of Early Netherlandish painting. Rogier van der Weyden was born in Tournai as 'Rogier de le Pasture' (Roger of the Pasture) in 1399 or 1400. His parents were Henri de le Pasture and Agnes de Watr??los. The family had settled before in the city of Tournai where Rogiers father worked as a 'maître-coutelier' (knife manufacturer). In 1426 Rogier married Elisabeth, the daughter of the Brussels shoemaker Jan Goffaert and his wife Cathelyne van Stockem. Rogier and Elisabeth had four children: Cornelius, who became a Carthusian monk, was born in 1427, a daughter Margaretha in 1432. Before 21 October 1435 the family settled in Brussels where the two younger children were born: Pieter in 1437 and Jan the next year. From the second of March 1436 onwards held the title of 'painter to the town of Brussels' (stadsschilder) a very prestigious post because Brussels was at that time the most important residence of the splendid court of the Dukes of Burgundy. It was at the occasion of his move to the Dutch-speaking town of Brussels that Rogier began using the Dutch version of his name: 'Rogier van der Weyden'Little is known about Rogier's training as a painter. The archival sources from Tournai (completely destroyed during World War II, but luckily partly transcribed in the 19th and early 20th century) are somewhat confusing and have led to different interpretations by scholars. From a document it is known that the city council of Tournai offered wine in honour of a certain 'Maistre Rogier de le Pasture' on March the 17th 1427. However, on the 5th of March of the following year the records of the painters' guild show a certain 'Rogelet de le Pasture' entered the workshop of Robert Campin together with Jacques Daret. Only five years later, on the first of August 1432, Rogier de le Pasture obtains the title of 'Master' (Maistre) as a painter.[1] Many have doubted whether Campin's apprentice 'Rogelet' was the same as the master 'Rogier' that was offered the wine back in 1426. The fact that in 1426-1427 Rogier was a married man in his late twenties, and well over the normal age of apprenticeship has been used as an argument to consider 'Rogelet' as a younger painter with the same name. In the 1420's however the city of Tournai was in crisis and as a result the guilds were not functioning normally. The late apprenticeship of Rogier/Rogelet may have been a legal formality. Also Jacques Daret was then in his twenties and had been living and working in Campin's household for at least a decade. It is possible that Rogier obtained an academic title (Master) before he became a painter and that he was awarded the wine of honour on the occasion of his graduation. The sophisticated and 'learned' iconographical and compositional qualities of the paintings attributed to him are sometimes used as an argument in favour of this supposition. The social and intellectual status of Rogier in his later life surpassed that of a mere craftsman at that time. In general the close stylistical link between the documented works of Jacques Daret, and the paintings attributed to Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden is considered as the main argument to consider Rogier van der Weyden as a pupil of Robert Campin. The last mention of Rogier de la Pasture in the financial records of Tournai, on October 21, 1435, lists him as demeurrant ?? Brouxielles ('living in Brussels'). At the same time, the first mention of Rogier de Weyden is made as the official painter of Brussels. Therefore Rogier de la Pasture and Rogier Van der Weyden are thought to be one and the same painter. The post of city painter was created especially for Van der Weyden and was meant to lapse on his death. It was linked to a huge commission to paint four justice scenes for the 'Golden Chamber' of Brussels City Hall.[2] Different properties and investments are documented and witness his material prosperity. The portraits he painted of the Burgundian Dukes, their relatives and courtiers, demonstrate a close relationship with the elite of the Netherlands. The Miraflores Altarpiece was probably commissioned by King Juan II of Castile, since Juan II donated it to the monastery of Miraflores in 1445.
