Triptych with Virgin and Child, Saint John the Evangelist (left wing) and Mary Magdalene (right wing), Jan Provoost, c. 1505 - c. 1525 – (Jan Provoost) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Jan Provoost

Date: 1525

Size: 57 x 45 cm

Technique: Oil On Panel

The Virgin, seated beneath an ornate canopy in the centre panel, is supporting the Christ Child, who is seated on a cushion on a stone balustrade which extends inwards from the frame to form a link between the physical world of the viewer and the spiritual world of the Virgin and her child. The latter is holding a goldfinch, a symbol of his Passion, which is tied by a chain to a small majolica vase decorated with Christ’s monogram which holds red roses and lilies-of the-valley - symbols of Mary’s virginity.4 St John the Evangelist is shown on the left wing as an apostle, young and beardless. He is recognisable from his attribute of a chalice from which a small dragon is emerging.5 On the right wing, with her jar of ointment, is Mary Magdalen wearing a costly gown and jewellery in reference to her worldly life before she met Christ. She is also seen in the background as a penitent hermit after her conversion.6 The outer wings are painted in imitation marble; the left shows green marble and the right porphyry marble.] The original frame around the centre panel is decorated with motifs borrowed from woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer (fig. a). Along the sides are three heroes from the Old Testament - Moses, David and Gideon - and three prophets. Moses appears again at the bottom seated between two owls, which are symbols of the synagogue. All these figures symbolise the Old Covenant, which was replaced by the New Covenant with Christ’s arrival on earth. Along the top of the frame are figures mounted on unicorns doing battle with others on lions, which is an allusion to female chastity vanquishing sensuality.7 It is remarkable that the Virgin is shown half-length while St John and the Magdalen are full-lengths. Nor does the landscape in the centre panel match up with that on the wings. One would assume that the panels did not originally form a single unit were it not for the fact that the frame around the entire triptych is original.8 Friedländer, however, pointed out that the wings are more clearly in Provoost’s style than the centre panel.9 Examination with infrared reflectography revealed that the same applies to the underdrawings. The style and method of those on the wings are a good match with other underdrawings by Provoost, whereas that on the centre panel is not. This confirms the suspicion that the centre panel was executed by another artist.10 The infrared reflectogram assembly of the centre panel (fig. b) also shows that the composition was changed radically during the painting process. In the underdrawing the canopy is supported by four columns, and the cloth behind the Virgin was much narrower in an earlier paint layer, had light edges and extended forwards so that it draped over the balustrade. That original composition is very similar to a Virgin and Child in Paris by a follower of Rogier van der Weyden (fig. c), which is almost exactly the same size as the centre panel in the Rijksmuseum.11 It is possible that the latter was intended to be an autonomous work of art before it acquired wings in Provoost’s workshop, when the composition must have been altered. The saints on the inner wings were very probably inspired by figures by the Master of the Legend of St Lucy: a John the Baptist12 and a Mary Magdalen,13 which in turn is a free interpretation of a prototype by Hugo van der Goes that is known from copies.14 The date of the Amsterdam triptych is uncertain. The three Dürer woodcuts on which the motifs on the frame are based were published in 1511 in a series of scenes from the life of the Virgin. It is also conceivable that Provoost added the wings to the centre panel and painted the frame in the early 1520s after his meeting with Dürer in 1520-21. The dendrochronological findings seem to point in this direction.15 (V. Hoogland)