Petrus
Christus, together with his elder contemporary Rogier
van der Weyden, was the successor of the founders of the old Netherlandish
school of painting: the van Eyck brothers
and Campin. Most probably Christus
was Jan van Eyck’s pupil; after the death of the teacher, in 1441, he took
over the workshop and completed van Eyck’s unfinished pieces.
Though his works have many characteristics found in van Eyck's style,
Petrus Christus significantly developed the Netherlandish school.
His importance today lies in his further development of the art of perspective.
He was the first painter in the North who arrived empirically at the law
of linear perspective and also applied it. He was also the first Dutch
master, who started to paint portraits in rooms, against recognizable interiors,
and not against a neutral background.
After Christus was made master and citizen of Bruges in 1444, van Eyck’s
influence on him faded and was replaced by his interest in van der Weyden
and Campin. His representation of background, often in the form of landscapes
in a mood of quiet harmony, influenced later Netherlandish painters, in
particular Bouts, Ouwater and Geertgen.
Like Jan van Eyck, Christus was a considerable traveler, probably active
in Milan, Venice, and Genoa as well as working for those centers’ mercantile
colonies in Bruges.
There are 24 known works by Christus Petrus. The best collections are in
Berlin and New York.
Note
Madonna of a Dry Tree. Since 1462 Petrus Christus and his wife were the members of the Brotherhood of Madonna of the Dry Tree, a religious society, which was engaged in charity and worshiped the immaculate conception of the Virgin. The society existed since 1396 and united aristocracy and clergy. This small painting was most probably a home altarpiece of a society member. This depiction was illustrating the verse by the Prophet Ezekiel (17:24)
“All the trees of the countryside will knowThese verses were interpreted in the medieval theology, as indication at barren St. Anna, who gave birth to St. Maria. The golden ‘A’ letters, which hang among the dry branches, symbolized 15 times Ave Maria. The work was fulfilled between 1460-1473.
that it is I, the Lord,
who bring low the tall tree
and raise the lowly tree high,
who shrived up the green tree
and make the shriveled tree put forth buds.
I, the Lord, have spoken; I shall do it.”
Bibliography:
Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999.
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