Wittenberg, October 31, 1517
Oil on canvas
Eyre Crowe, A.R.A.
English, 1824-1910
Click on the image to learn more about Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation!
Created by Donnalynn Hess, Director of Education
Published in 2013
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St. Mary Magdalene Turning from the World to Christ
Oil on canvas
Jan Hermansz. van Bijlert
Dutch, 1597/98-1671
Mary Magdalene, the penitent sinner, is one of the most popular figures in religious art. Mentioned in all four gospel accounts, Mary followed Christ after He cast seven demons out of her. She witnessed His crucifixion, was present at His burial, was the first to speak with Him following His resurrection, and was sent by Him to tell His apostles that He was no longer dead. Her own story is often confused with other biblical and traditional figures: the sinner of Luke 7 who wiped Christ’s feet with her hair before anointing them with oil, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and Mary of Egypt (a penitent prostitute who lived as a recluse in the desert).
In art, Mary Magdalene’s symbols are as varied as the stories attributed to her. Most common is her flowing hair and a jar of ointment, referencing the sinner in Luke 7 as well as the anointing of Christ’s body for burial. A skull and book represent her reflection on the transitory nature of life. A crucifix shows her faith in Christ. And even an egg, more common in Eastern art, references her witnessing Christ’s resurrection.
Jan Hermansz. van Bijlert’s St. Mary Magdalene Turning from the World to Christ (1597/98–1671) breaks from more traditional depictions of Mary Magdalene. As a Dutch Baroque portrait painter, van Bijlert reflected the daily life of those who commissioned his work, the rising middle class merchants. Mary Magdalene, one of his few religious subjects, lacks most of Mary’s traditional symbols. Instead, like his portraits, it reflects Dutch middle class fashion. Mary’s dress, hairstyle, and even the objects representing the world that she is rejecting—the globe, fine fabric, and pearls—would have been familiar to the Dutch middle class.
Though the artist’s style is Dutch, his message is universal: no one can follow both Christ and the world. The treasures of the world are on one side of the painting, and the crucified Christ on the other. Christ Himself taught that no one can serve both God and the world (Luke 16:13). Like Mary Magdalene, every person must choose which he or she will follow. As Mary kneels to the crucified Christ, an angel lays his hand on her arm and points upward, possibly to the risen Christ “who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).
Amy Beach Ruley, former M&G Graduate Assistant
Published in 2013
Sir Henry Irving as Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Oil on canvas
Edwin Long, R.A.
English, c. 1829-d. 1891
Henry Irving, the foremost actor in England from 1866 to 1902, was the first actor to be knighted for his artistry, which helped raise the social standing of the acting profession. As the premier actor and director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Irving produced plays known for their lavish spectacle and melodrama. The expensive productions included the musical talents of composers Mackenzie, German, Sullivan, and Stanford and the literary contributions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Irving’s major achievement was in presenting a play as a unified whole rather than as an excuse to showcase one great talent. In Irving’s productions, the music, lighting, costume, sets, and interpretation of his character all supported the text and the author’s intent. This revolutionary approach to drama gave Irving a permanent place in theater history.
Irving and his leading lady Ellen Terry were especially famous for their Shakespearean roles, and this painting captures Irving in one of his most successful characters. Richard III is the story of an evil younger son who plots and murders his way to the throne of England. Here, the detailed medieval costume of dark, rich fabrics, along with Irving’s nervous gesture and shifting, sideways glance are meant to reflect the evil cunning of Richard’s character and his guilty conscience. Irving’s slight stoop reflects Richard’s physical deformity, described as a “crooked back” with “his left shoulder much higher than his right.”
Portraits of actors in costume were fairly common during the 1800s, and Irving was painted many times—most notably by Edwin Long and Sir John Everett Millais. This painting was one of three from Long commissioned by Baroness Burdett Coutts. When the portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy of London in 1878, it was considered to be “the best portrait yet painted of the popular tragedian” and a good example of “the skill with which [Irving] made up for Richard after the best authorities for look and action.” Since Irving’s 19th-century audience knew his power as an actor and his association with this character, they would have easily understood the portrait’s significance; understanding the context increases our own appreciation today.
Published in 2013
Procession to Calvary
Oil on Panel
Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, called Il Sodoma
Sienese, c. 1477-d. 1549
The life and times of Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (1477-1549), better known simply as Il Sodoma, were filled with tumultuous events and dramatic historical change. Born under the auspices of the Renaissance in 1477, Bazzi lived during the apex of the High Renaissance style in art only to witness the style’s demise with the sacking of Rome in 1527.Bazzi contributed greatly to High Renaissance elegance, introducing the movement’s harmonious compositions and dignified, lifelike characters to his home city of Siena, Italy. In 1508, he had the good fortune to travel to Rome, where Pope Julius II commissioned him to assist in the painting of the Stanza della Segnatura in the papal rooms of the Vatican. Here, he worked with the incomparable Raphael Sanzio—who, as fortune would have it, was working in the same room!
Bazzi’s painting reflected the historical trends of his time, as the High Renaissance style that he made famous in Siena gradually intermingled with a new, more daring movement— Mannerism. Nowhere is this blending more evident than in his 1525 work, Procession to Calvary found in M&G’s collection. In his painting, Bazzi combines the sfumato styling of Leonardo da Vinci with direct references to Raphael’s 1520 altarpiece, Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary.
However, Bazzi’s Procession moves stylistically beyond both master painters by employing full-blown characteristics of the Mannerist movement, including use of bright and garish colors, character’s featuring extreme body contortions and theatrical poses, and close cropping around the painting’s edges. As M&G former curator John Nolan writes, “The bodies of the tormentors writhe in their effort to scourge Christ. Their awkward poses add to the tension of the scene.”
Bazzi was disliked by Renaissance art historian Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), who wrote critically of him in his famous Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550). As such, Bazzi’s immediate reputation suffered; however, taken together with his 1525 work entitled St. Sebastian, this period in Bazzi’s life was among his greatest in terms of artistic production, with this Procession rightly deserving recognition as one of Bazzi’s most exquisite masterpieces.
Published in 2013
The Holy Family
Oil on panel
Joachim Bueckelaer
Monogrammed and dated: JB (top middle column) 1565 (top left column)
Flemish, c.1534–d.1574
Joachim Bueckelaer received his training in Antwerp from his uncle, Pieter Aertsen, who originated a type of genre painting with peasants or biblical characters set amidst a kitchen or market scene. As an innovator in a new approach to narrative painting, Aertsen enjoyed considerable success with patrons, though not a large following from other artists. Bueckelaer emulated Aertsen’s style closely when he became an independent master in 1560 and remained inspired by his teacher-uncle’s style for the rest of his career.
The painting came to the collection in 1963, three years after it was purchased at a Sotheby’s auction by dealer Julius Weitzner. Weitzner relates in a letter to Dr. Bob Jones Jr. (founder of the Museum & Gallery at Bob Jones University that the under-bidder for the sale was Phillip Pouncy (then Deputy Keeper of the Drawings Department at the British Museum) on behalf of Dr. Julius Held—representative for the Ferre Foundation and assembling works for the new Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico.
Dr. Held later wrote to Dr. Jones about the painting saying, “Congratulations on the acquisition of the Bueckelaer; I know the picture very well and have always liked it very much. You did well to buy it.” Dr. Alfred Stange also commented that “The Holy Family by Bueckelaer is an outstanding picture; and signed and dated pictures by this master are, besides that, extremely rare.” Thieme-Becker listed the painting first among the artist’s most important works. The same year it was acquired by the museum it traveled to the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in Brussels for the important Le Siècle de Bruegel: La peinture en Belgique au XVIe siecle exhibit.
In the present work, the artist places the biblical scene front and center, forming a pleasing figural arrangement with limbs at active diagonals and a triangular focal point between the three main character’s faces. The large-scale figures of Joseph and Mary fill the immediate foreground, giving a monumentality and nobility to the peasant-looking characters. Bueckelaer’s other market scenes with biblical narratives often had a moralizing purpose, contrasting secular and spiritual values and/or illustrating the frivolity of pleasing the flesh. Here the spiritual tone is elevated throughout the scene, and the beautiful basket of fruits underscores the satisfaction and blessing that can be found only in Christ, the focus of the narrative.
Though Bueckelaer’s work influenced Northern Italians such as Bartolomeo Passarotti and Annibale Carracci, he had no close successors in the Netherlands. Nonetheless, his lifelong commitment to still life and genre painting proved an important on-going presence in Antwerp. Seventeenth-century painters such as Frans Snyders illustrate his continued influence into the Baroque era. His small, respectable output of about forty extant paintings and few followers can be explained perhaps by his early death at age forty.
Published in 2013
Dresden Monumental Armorial Urn
Porcelain, c. 1888-1901
Carl Thieme
German, 1838-1888
Carl Thieme was born in 1838 in Potschappel, a village on the outskirts of Dresden, Germany. In 1856 he was employed by the Meissen Manufactory, where he honed his porcelain modeling, sculpting, and painting skills under expert craftsmen. In 1865 he opened a porcelain and antique shop in Dresden. At this time he was also a hausmaler (a free-lance porcelain decorator) of unpainted items produced by Meissen and other manufacturers. In 1872 he opened the Dresden Saxonian Porcelain Manufactory in Potschappel. Thieme collaborated with prominent porcelain artists, such as Julius Konrad Hentschel, Eduard Eichler, and Ernst Bohne, and the company grew rapidly. The Dresden Saxony Porcelain Manufactory gained international recognition and received prestigious awards at national and international exhibitions.
Thieme died in 1888, and the business was eventually taken over in 1896 by his son-in-law, Karl August Kuntzsch (1855-1920). Kuntzsch was a talented modeler who started a tradition of lush, sculpted floral decorations. The business flourished and employed several hundred people. In time, the company became known as Dresden Porcelain. After the glory days of Thieme and Kuntzsch the company frequently floundered as it went through a succession of owners and directors. Tragedies destroyed its irreplaceable stock of over 12,000 models. At times Dresden Porcelain employed less than a dozen people, and by 2020 it had only two employees, tasked with selling the remaining pieces. Today the building which once produced Dresden Porcelain serves as a museum.
From its inception the Dresden Saxonian Porcelain Manufactory used various marks. The mark on the bottom of M&G’s urn indicates that the company produced it between 1888 and 1901 and that Thieme is credited with its design, even though it was produced after his death. The sculpted flowers may be early works of Kuntzsch or his apprentices.
A Monumental Urn
Monumental porcelain urns are generally large, ornate, highly decorated, and rarely intended to store anything. Some have ornate lids. Some come in pairs. The Dresden Saxony Porcelain Manufactory urns are legendary for their intricate beauty.
M&G’s monumental urn is 30 inches high. On its square base is a spindle-shaped pedestal with a pair of sculpted young people gathering flowers; between them, on the front, is a painted scene of Cupid and Venus.
In mythology, Cupid is the god of love and desire. He is often depicted as a mischievous, winged child, armed with a magical bow and arrows which he uses to strike people and gods madly in love. He enjoys the chaos of broken hearts and unexpected matches. Venus, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, is Cupid’s mother. In some stories Cupid goes too far with his pranks, and Venus stops him by taking away his bow. The scene painted on the front of the pedestal of M&G’s urn depicts Cupid trying to reclaim his bow. (Figure 1)
The body of M&G’s urn is ovoid, with the smaller end pointed down. Two, curved handles are embellished with gold. The back of the urn’s body features hand-painted florals. The front of the urn has two garlands of sculpted flowers and fruits, surrounding a painted scene of the Expulsion of Hagar. (Figure 2)
The Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar is a found in the Book of Genesis chapters 16, 19 and 20. It is also mentioned in the Quran. Abraham was a righteous man chosen by God. God promised that he would become the father of a great nation. However, Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was unable to conceive.
In an attempt to fulfill God’s promise, Sarah suggested that Abraham take her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, as a concubine. According to the customs of that time, a child born to Hagar would be considered Sarah’s child. Abraham agreed. Hagar became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Ishmael.
As years passed, God appeared to Abraham and reiterated the promise, specifying that Sarah would bear a son. Despite their old age, Sarah conceived and bore Isaac. This miraculous birth fulfilled God’s promise, and Isaac became the child through whom the covenant with Abraham was established.
Tension grew between Sarah and Hagar, and eventually, Sarah asked Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Reluctantly, Abraham did so. This is the event portrayed on M&G’s urn. The 100-year-old Abraham, the elderly Sarah and the young Isaac are central in the painted scene. The departing Hagar with her back to viewer is leading Ishmael into the wilderness. (The seated female is unknown, probably a servant introduced by the artist to balance the picture.)
In the wilderness Hagar and Ishmael faced desperation and thirst. Hagar thought they would die. However, God heard their cries and provided for them. God also promised to make a great nation of Ishmael’s descendants. He is the ancestor of the Arab people. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Hagar, and Ishmael’s story is one of faith, obedience, and the fulfillment of divine promises, emphasizing the importance of trust in God’s plan.
An Armorial Urn
An armorial porcelain piece includes a coat of arms. Occasionally large sets of armorial dinnerware have been commissioned. Other times a centerpiece or single serving piece is armorial. In the case of armorial monumental urns, there is generally only one created, but occasionally there are pairs.
Monumental armorial urns in porcelain were generally commissioned to commemorate an event: winning a battle, the completion of a major project, a significant anniversary. A piece with two family crests, like M&G’s, would most likely be a wedding or anniversary gift, or perhaps commemorating some joint victory or project completion. As the recipient proudly displayed the beautiful piece, it would serve as a reminder of the event.
On M&G’s urn just under the painted scene of Hagar, two winged cherubs hold a swag of small, sculpted flowers which appear to support the crest-bearing medallion topped by a sculpted crown. The right crest has crossed swords, a green ornamented band, and a stylized purple crown, all of which are parts of Saxony crests. The crest on the left has not yet been identified.
Although today we may not know what M&G’s armorial urn commemorates, we can still appreciate its delicate beauty and admire the supreme craftsmanship required to produce it.
William Pinkston, retired educator and M&G volunteer
References
Dresden Porcelain Studios: Identification & Value Guide by Jim and Susan Harran
Updated from 2013 and republished to reflect new research in 2024
Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of Pharaoh’s Butler and Baker
Oil on canvas, signed and dated, 1643
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout
Dutch, 1621–1674
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, the son of a goldsmith, studied with Rembrandt for five years (age 15-20) and was a “great friend” of the famous artist, according to his biographer. He also continued to imitate his teacher’s style throughout his career, especially in his religious paintings. His first signed painting is dated 1641 (age 20), which probably indicates the time he advanced from student to independent artist. Therefore the Museum & Gallery’s painting, dated 1643, was one of his earliest works. In addition to painting, he worked as an etcher and draughtsman. He never lost interest in his father’s work of goldsmithing, often including precisely painted metal objects in his paintings, as well as producing a book of patterns for ornamental designs for metalworkers. His family’s Mennonite faith influenced his preference for religious subject matter, although he was also known for portraiture and landscape painting.
The biblical story of Joseph is an inspiring one. After being sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and being falsely accused of attempted rape in Egypt, the depicted scene shows him in prison. Because of his trustworthiness, he has been placed in a position of leadership within the prison (notice the keys hanging from his waist) and is interpreting the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s servants. The butler (or person who tasted the king’s wine to make sure it was not poisoned) is shown to the right in fancier clothes with a jug at his feet; he would be pardoned in three days. The baker, however, would be killed in three days. We can see the look of despondency on his face as he learns his fate. Although the butler promised to remember Joseph to Pharaoh, it wasn’t until two years later that a circumstance caused him to remember. After all of Joseph’s trials, he praised God and told his brothers, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
The provenance, or ownership history, of the painting begins with a sale in Amsterdam in 1762, just a little over 100 years after its creation. The Dundas family of Scotland purchased it, where it remained by family descent until 1953; it became part of the Collection in 1963.
Published in 2013
The Holy Family in the Carpenter Shop
Oil on canvas
Gerrit van Honthorst
Dutch, 1592–1656
All museums have at least one or two works that visitors love to see again and again. First-time visitors often comment on their preferences after a tour through the galleries, and regular patrons tell us that they enjoy returning to see their favorite works. M&G’s Holy Family in the Carpenter Shop by Gerrit van Honthorst is one such crowd pleaser.
Honthorst’s mastery of lighting effects was inspired by the works of Caravaggio during a sojourn to Italy around 1612 or 1620. Even though Caravaggio only produced two known night paintings which depict artificial lighting such as a candle or a torch, Honthorst and a group of other Dutch artists from Utrecht followed this genre’s techniques and became known as the “Candlelight Painters.” In fact, the Italians gave Gerrit van Honthorst the nickname, Gherardo delle Notti, meaning “Gerard of the Night Scenes.”
For the viewer the primary, gripping element is the effect of light in the painting. Mary, Joseph, and Christ are gathered in a plain, dark room with a soft, warm light illuminating their forms from out of the darkness. Honthorst’s proficiency and sensitivity are noted in his ability first to concentrate the most intense light on the arms of Christ and Joseph and then subtly diffuse the beam as it stretches away from the light source. The emotional effect of the soft lighting is heightened by the characters’ gentle, loving facial expressions as well as the simple, natural portrayal of their manner. Christ holds the oil lamp while Mary carefully steadies His hand in order to position the flame for Joseph to see his work and to prevent Jesus from burning Himself.
In this favored work of M&G patrons, the meaning evoked by the light is as equally compelling as the painterly technique. Although Christ is but a child in the scene, the lamp which He grasps metaphorically alludes to the declaration of an adult Christ, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Scripture further describes Christ in these words: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:4-5). Perhaps another layer of Biblical significance is present in the work; as the youth eagerly looks to His father to please him and help him, the act faintly implies not only a family value or work ethic of Honthorst’s time, but also a Biblical injunction to children to obey and honor their parents (Ephesians 6:1, 2).
In order to fully appreciate the impression and effect of this remarkable work, come and view the painting for yourself. You will surely come to understand why this painting has become the favorite of so many.
Published in 2013
Madonna of the Fireplace
Oil on panel, ca. 1500
Attributed to Jan Gossaert, called Mabuse
Flemish, b. Maubeuge?, ca. 1478, worked in Antwerp, d. Antwerp 1532
Though the Madonna of the Fireplace is a painting that continues to lack a firm attribution to a known painter; nonetheless, it is one of the “star” paintings in the collection. One of the primary considerations of Dr. Bob Jones Jr. in assembling the collection during the 1950s and 60s, was the importance of the painting’s quality, even if the work lacked sure authorship by a known artist.
The characteristics of this painting epitomize late fifteenth-century painting in the area of the Low Countries generically referred to as Flanders. The highly angled and stylized folds of the drapery are typical of paintings in the 1400s and even occur in carved sculpture from this period. The slightly awkward proportions and elongated facial features are stylistic hallmarks of the era as well as the very accomplished and detailed surface treatment. Even the setting for Mary and Christ strongly betrays its Northern origins. Though the fireplace carvings and treatment reveal the artist’s knowledge of Italian models, the tile floor patterns and the carved linen-fold wooden paneling would have been found in many well-to-do homes throughout Flanders. It is also the same kind of carved, period paneling on the very gallery wall on which this painting hangs in the museum.
One of the turning points in the history of Northern Renaissance art began when painters started depicting the Virgin in domestic interiors. Artists of the 1300s and early 1400s typically placed the Virgin within a church interior as part of an Annunciation scene or other narratives. However, this setting changed with innovations in the 1420s by Robert Campin, whose famous Merode Altarpiece (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) broke with tradition and pictured the Virgin in a domestic interior typical of a fifteenth-century home. M&G’s painter continues Campin’s vision later in the century with this remarkable panel—one of the most beautiful and well preserved paintings in the entire Museum & Gallery Collection.
Published in 2013
