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Jan Gossaert, called Mabuse
Diptych of Jean Carondelet
1517
© Musée du Louvre/A. Dequier - M. Bard
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| Technical information |
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Jan Gossaert, called Mabuse
Diptych of Jean Carondelet
1517
Oil on panel
H. 42.5 cm; W. 27 cm (each panel)
Purchased from the architect Bernard at Valenciennes in 1847
INV. 1442, INV. 1443
Paintings
Dated at the bottom on the frame of the left panel, "Fait l'an 1517," and signed at the bottom of the right panel, "Iohannes Melbodie pingebat."
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| Author(s) |
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| Guillaume Kazerouni |
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Diptych of Jean Carondelet |
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In 1517, this cleric, who was an important official in the Dutch government, accompanied the future Charles V to Spain. The diptych was possibly painted on this occasion as a sort of ex-voto, with the moral of trusting in God and the Virgin Mary and being lucid in the face of death.
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Gossaert and the Northern Renaissance
Trained in Malines, Jean Gossaert was given the nickname of Mabuse. In 1508 and 1509 he went to stay in Rome with his protector Philip of Burgundy, the illegitimate son of Philip the Good. There, he studied and copied ancient Greek and Roman art and was able to see at first hand the creations of Michelangelo and Raphael, then at the height of his powers. This stay was to have a great influence on his painting, which also borrows on occasion from Van Eyck and Dürer. Gossaert subsequently played a pivotal role in Dutch art, inspiring it with the spirit, forms, and themes of the Italian Renaissance. With him began the vogue for Italianism and the Neo-Attic in Flanders. He was one of the first to paint large nudes (Adam and Eve) and mythological subjects (Danaë). However, he did not abandon the Northern tradition and, for this reason, his work with its wealth of influences makes him an artist of transition. His output is characterized by spirited drawings and sculptural, expressive forms.
The Virgin, the Child. and the donor
The Louvre diptych is a work of private devotion but the painter's talents, both for portraiture and still life, are manifest. The donor is shown half-length, kneeling in prayer with a thoughtful look on his face. We see him in a three-quarter view; he turns towards the right-hand panel where, following the same schema, the Virgin is holding the Child. The Child is turning to face the donor whereas his mother looks outwards towards the onlooker with a faraway gaze. The three figures are set firmly in a neutral space against a black background. The light plays a crucial role in the portrayal of volume and expressions, echoing Van Eyck and Dürer as much as painters such as Ghirlandaio. Gossaert combines Flemish realism and precision of execution with an Italian conception of the interplay between volume (in the form of monumental figures) and space.
Jean Carondelet
The donor, Jean Carondelet, can be identified by his coat of arms and the initials "I C" painted on the reverse of the panel depicting him. An inscription on the frame also refers to him and gives his age: "REPRESENTACION DE MESSIRE IEHAN CARONDELET HAULT DOYEN DE BESANCON EN AGE DE 48 A." The date 1517 is on the base of the frame. This high-ranking dignitary, the dean of the church at Besançon and adviser to Charles V, was given the task of accompanying the emperor and Princess Eleanor to Spain in the year when this small portable diptych was made. Gossaert's masterpiece appears to be a meditation on the human condition and the inevitability of death, however rich and powerful the individual may be. The striking vanitas depicted on the reverse of the right-hand panel, showing a skull with a dislocated jaw, serves as a reminder of mortality. Carondelet was then at the pinnacle of his glory.
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Paintings : 
