Herri
Met de Bles at Artprice. To look at auction records, find Herri
Met de Bles's
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Herri
de Patinir, called Herri Met de Bles, is one of the most mysterious
characters
in the Flemish art. He is considered to be a kinsman, probably a
nephew,
of Joachim Patinir. Karel van Mander,
author
of the Book about Artists, published in 1604, wrote about him: “… his
works…
witness that he was a master of great patience, who used to spend much
time and labor on his paintings, which were mostly of small size and
had
landscapes with tiny trees, rocks, towns, lots of little figures of
people
and various items. Bles was called ‘the painter of owls’, because on
nearly
all his pictures he put a small owl, which mostly was so well hidden
that
spectators often bade who would find it first and spent hours looking
for
an owl.” This description of van Mander is also interesting for us as
it
gives the characteristics of comprehension of paintings by the
spectators
of the 16th century.
Bles followed Leonardo da
Vinci’s
intructions on how to create depth in the landscape: objects in the
distance
disappear in a light mist, e.g. St. John on
Patmos. Procession to Golgotha,
one of the most tragical gospel episodes, is presented by Bles as a
ceremonial
and splendid procession of Adoration of the Magi. The picture is
mystifying,
it looks as if the evangelistic subject is used only for the sake of
landscape.
