Eyck van Barthélemy_Still life with books

Still Life with Books & the Prophet Isaiah

Barthélemy van Eyck, 1420-1470
c.1445 / Boijmans van Beuningen

♦ Description
This depiction of the prophet Isaiah was once part of a triptych in the cathedral of the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence. The center panel still hangs in the church there.
The right panel, depicting the prophet Jeremiah, is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.
The still life depicting books and wooden boxes was cut from the top of this depiction of Isaiah by an art dealer in the 19th century. This still life is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

Over the centuries, paintings have often been treated with little care. Iconoclasm, revolutions, but also ever-changing tastes or simply carelessness have left their mark.
These two panels by Barthélemy d’Eyck, now considered among the highlights of 15th-century French painting, are a good example of this. They were painted between 1442 and 1445 on commission from a wealthy cloth merchant and were part of a large triptych in Saint-Sauveur Cathedral in Aix-en-Provence.

The altarpiece was presumably dismantled during the French Revolution.
The central panel, depicting the Annunciation, still hangs in the city in southern France.
The right panel, depicting the prophet Jeremiah, is in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels. Even later, some scoundrel sawed off the magnificent book still life—which had originally been painted in a niche above Isaiah—and sold it separately.
The still life eventually found its way to the Rijksmuseum, which loaned it to Museum Boijmans van Beuningen on a long-term basis, so that the bottom and top sections of the left panel are now reunited.

The painter may have been related to Jan van Eyck. He created a number of illuminated manuscripts for René d’Anjou, King of Naples and Count of Provence. The triptych is the only painting that can be attributed to him with certainty.

Erik Beenker / Boijmans van Beuningen
De Collectie / The Collection


Barthélemy van Eyck
He was a miniaturist and painter from the Dutch-speaking part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège who worked primarily in France, in Anjou and Provence, in the service of René I of Anjou.
He was active between 1444 and 1470. No works by him have been documented, but art historians have attributed several works by previously anonymous masters to him.

♦ Biography
Little or no biographical information is known about this artist, but we do know that Barthélemy was the son of Ydria Exters, a native of Maaseik, whose second husband was named Pierre du Billant—a French adaptation of “Van Bylant.” Billant had been working in Aix-en-Provence since 1440 as a painter and embroiderer for René d’Anjou.

From 1447 to 1467, payments to Barthélemy van Eyck appear regularly in René d’Anjou’s accounts, and according to Smeyers, he may have stayed with René d’Anjou in Naples as early as between 1438 and 1442.

Barthélemy must have been highly favored by René d’Anjou, for the duke had workshops with special furniture for Barthélemy installed in several of his castles and residences, close to his own apartments.
From the previous account, we learn that he was still alive in 1472, but he must have died shortly thereafter, between 1475 and 1480, because in a letter from that period to Jehanne de la Forest, the painter’s widow, René asks her to send him the “portraistures de feu Berthelemy” that had remained in her possession. It is not known exactly which works were involved—the term “pourtraistures” referred to drawings—but this certainly attests to works created by Barthélemy and indicates that he had passed away by then.

♦ Style
As mentioned above, no work can be attributed to Barthélemy van Eyck based on historical documents, but since the 1980s, a consensus has gradually emerged among art historians regarding the attribution of a number of works—previously associated with provisional titles—to Barthélemy van Eyck. The names previously used included the “Master of René of Anjou,” the “Master of the Annunciation of Aix,” the “Master of the Shadows,” and the “Master of the Coeur d’Amour épris.” Some art historians had attributed certain works to the duke himself, but this view has since been abandoned.

His style shows a connection to the painting style of the Flemish Primitives, and some art historians believe they can discern, in particular, the influence of Robert Campin—also known as the Master of Flémalle—in his work.
Others, however, see the influence of Jan van Eyck in his work, and family ties to the van Eyck brothers are sometimes suggested, although this cannot be proven. His interest in the play of light, chiaroscuro, and the rendering of shadows is characteristic of the master. His figures are stocky yet powerfully built and realistic in their postures and actions; a characteristic feature is the sidelong glance, which appears very frequently. He is a master at rendering the texture of fabrics and materials. His style is certainly closely related to that of the Flemish Primitives, but he was also influenced by other artists. For example, Barthélemy adopted the depiction of folds in clothing from the Swiss painter Konrad Witz. Barthélemy was the first miniaturist to spread his miniatures across two facing pages, which marked a breakthrough in book illumination. Based on the work attributed to him, he is undoubtedly regarded as one of the great artists of the 15th century.

Source: Wikipedia

Erik Beenker / Boijmans van Beuningen
The Collection Photos
Wikipedia