View of the interior of the triptych. The two outer wings contain an Annunciation scene in grisaille. Oil on oak panel, 1437. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. 33.1cm × 13.6cm; 33.1cm × 27.5cm; 33.1cm × 13.6cmDetail of the right panel showing St. Catherine and the inner mouldings of the protective frame
The Dresden Triptych (or Virgin and Child with St. Michael and St. Catherine and a Donor, or Triptych of the Virgin and Child) is a very small hinged-triptych altarpiece by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. It consists of five individual panel paintings: a central inner panel, and two double-sided wings. It is signed and dated 1437, and in a permanent collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, with the panels still in their original frames. The only extant triptych attributed to van Eyck, and the only non-portrait signed with his personal motto, ALC IXH XAN ("I Do as I Can"),[a 1] the triptych can be placed at the midpoint of his known works. It echoes a number of the motifs of his earlier works while marking an advancement in his ability in handling depth of space, and establishes iconographic elements of Marian portraiture that were to become widespread by the latter half of the 15th century. Elisabeth Dhanens describes it as "the most charming, delicate and appealing work by Jan van Eyck that has survived".[1]
The paintings of the two outer wings become visible when the triptych is closed. They show the Virgin Mary and Archangel Gabriel in an Annunciation scene painted in grisaille, which because of their near-monochrome colouring give the impression that the figures are sculpted. The three inner panels are set in an ecclesiastical interior. In the central inner panel Mary is seated and holds the Christ Child on her lap. On the left hand wing Archangel Michael presents a kneeling donor, while on the right St. Catherine of Alexandria stands reading a prayer book. The interior panels are outlined with two layers of painted bronze frames, inscribed with mostly Latin lettering. The texts are drawn from a variety of sources, in the central frames from biblical descriptions of the assumption, while the inner wings are lined with fragments of prayers dedicated to saints Michael and Catherine.
The work may have been intended for private devotion, perhaps as a portable altarpiece for a migrant cleric. That the frames are so richly decorated with Latin inscriptions indicates the donor, whose identity is lost, was highly educated and cultured. Because of a lack of surviving documentary evidence on commissions of 15th century-Northern painting, the identities of donors are often established through evidence gathered by modern art historians. In this work, damaged coats of arms on the borders of the interior wings have been identified with the Giustiniani of Genoa – an influential albergo active from 1362 – who established trade links with Bruges as early as the mid-14th century.
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The DresdenTriptych (or Virgin and Child with St. Michael and St. Catherine and a Donor, or Triptych of the Virgin and Child) is a very small hinged-triptych...
the function of margins in medieval manuscripts. Pieces such as the DresdenTriptych were usually commissioned for private devotion, and van Eyck would...
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1436 Groeningemuseum, Bruges 1.22 m x 1.57 m DresdenTriptych 1437 Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden 33 cm x 27.5 cm Lucca Madonna c. 1437 Städel Museum...
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wings similar to those seen in the donor panel of van Eyck's 1437 DresdenTriptych of the Virgin and Child. Michael appears, according to Smith, "like...
depiction is unusual in that the Madonna wears a blue robe; in the DresdenTriptych, Lucca Madonna, and the Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, van Eyck had depicted...
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rendering of the central panel. Jan van Eyck's portable altarpiece, the DresdenTriptych, was in Liguria in Italy by the end of the 15th century, and apparently...
closely resembles that of the London panel, the central panel of the DresdenTriptych, and a number of works by his workshop; likely they were all put together...
signatures on the Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele or the DresdenTriptych. The signature also appears in the scene itself, rather than van Eyck's...
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Virgin", after the triptych in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne. In 1894 it was discovered that the monogram on the back of the triptych was that of Joos...
Hell and Purgatory, as depicted in The Divine Comedy. It was premiered in Dresden on 7. November 1857, with Liszt conducting himself, and was unofficially...
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