Portrait of a Young Girl (Christus)
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''Portrait of a Young Girl'' is a small oil-on-oak
panel painting A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...
by the
Early Netherlandish Early Netherlandish painting, traditionally known as the Flemish Primitives, refers to the work of artists active in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period. It flourished especiall ...
painter
Petrus Christus Petrus Christus (; 1410/1420 – 1475/1476) was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges from 1444, where, along with Hans Memling, he became the leading painter after the death of Jan van Eyck. He was influenced by van Eyck and Rogier v ...
. It was completed towards the end of his life, between 1465 and 1470,Upton, 30 and is held in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. It marks a major stylistic advance in contemporary portraiture; the girl is set in an airy, three-dimensional, realistic setting,Suckale, 84 and stares out at the viewer with a complicated expression that is reserved, yet intelligent and alert.Van der Elst, 69 It is widely regarded as one of the most exquisite portraits of the
Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. Called the Northern Renaissance because it occurred north of the Italian Renais ...
. Art historian Joel Upton described the sitter as resembling "a polished pearl, almost opalescent, lying on a cushion of black velvet." The panel builds on the work of Jan van Eyck and
Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...
, and was highly influential in the decades after its completion. Its appeal lies in part in her intriguing stare, accentuated by the slight misalignment of her eyes, while the eyebrows are faintly skewed.Harbison, 126–127


Description

Christus frames his sitter in a rigid and balanced architectural setting. She is positioned within a narrow rectangular space, before a wainscotted wall. The image is divided by the horizontal parallel lines of her wainscot and blouse, which join at the inverted triangle formed by the neckline of her dress. The rendering of the background departs somewhat from contemporary conventions in portraiture: Christus sets the girl against a dark brown wall with little detail, in contrast to the elaborate interiors of Jan van Eyck, who is often regarded as Christus' master. It is defined entirely by its material, a wooden
dado rail A dado rail, also known as a chair rail or surbase, is a type of moulding fixed horizontally to the wall around the perimeter of a room. The dado rail is traditionally part of the dado or wainscot and, although the purpose of the dado is main ...
along the top and the wainscot that forms the lower portion. The wall sets her in a realistic interior, perhaps intended to represent a space within her home.Kemperdick, 23 Light falls on the pictorial space from the left, creating shadows against the back wall, the strongest cast by the girl's
hennin The hennin (french: hennin ; possibly from Flemish nl, henninck meaning cock or rooster) was a headdress in the shape of a cone, steeple, or truncated cone worn in the Late Middle Ages by European women of the nobility. They were most common in ...
. The depth of space provided by the back wall gives room for this detailing, which Charles Sterling believes is indebted to van Eyck.Stapleford, 19 The light throws a murky but curved shadow on the wall behind the girl and acts as a counterpoint to the contour of her cheek and hairline. The girl has pale skin, almond and slightly oriental eyes and a petulant mouth. She reflects the Gothic ideal of elongated facial features, narrow shoulders, tightly pinned hair and an almost unnaturally long forehead, achieved through tightly pulled-back hair which has been plucked at the top. She is dressed in expensive clothing and jewellery and seems to be uncommonly elegant. She looks out of the canvas in an oblique but self-aware and penetrating manner that some art historians have described as unnerving. Joanna Woods-Marsden remarks that a sitter acknowledging her audience in this way was virtually unprecedented even in Italian portrait painting. Her acknowledgment is accentuated by the painting's crop, which focuses the viewer's gaze in a near-invasive manner that seems to question the relationship between artist, model, patron and viewer. The headdress is a variant of the truncated or bee-hive hennin, then fashionable at the Burgundian court. A very similar style, with no tail, is seen on the older of two girls in the donor panels of '' Presentation of Christ'' by the Master of the Prado Adoration of the Magi, a pupil of
Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...
. The black band under the chin is rarely found in other images from the period, and has been interpreted as a style borrowed from the male chaperon hat, which always has a long tailing tail or ''cornette'', sometimes worn wrapped under the chin in this way. The influence of van Eyck can be seen in the delicate rendering of the textures and details of the dress, trimmings and adornments. Her pale skin and strong bone structure is strongly van Eyckian, and recalls the male sitter in his '' Arnolfini Portrait''. But in other ways Christus abandons the developments made by van Eyck and
Robert Campin Robert Campin (c. 1375 – 26 April 1444), now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle (earlier the Master of the Merode Triptych, before the discovery of three other similar panels), was the first great master of Early Netherlandish paint ...
. He reduces the emphasis on volume of those artists, in favour of an elongation of form; the narrow, slight upper body and head are, according to the German art historian
Robert Suckale Robert Suckale (30 October 1943 – 13 February 2020) was a German art historian, medievalist and professor at the Technical University of Berlin. Life Suckale was born in Königsberg. Suckale completed his studies in art history with the sub ...
, "heightened by the V-shaped neckline of the ermine and the cylindrical hat." Further, while the first generation of
Early Netherlandish painters Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...
benefited from the patronage of the newly emerging middle class, secularising portraiture, and removing it from the preserve of royalty, Christus renders the girl as aristocratic, haughty, sophisticated, and exquisitely dressed.


Identity of the sitter

In a letter dated 1824 or 1825
Gustav Waagen Gustav Friedrich Waagen (11 February 1794 – 15 July 1868) was a German art historian. His opinions were greatly respected in England, where he was invited to give evidence before the royal commission inquiring into the condition and future o ...
, later Director of the Berlin Museums, gave his interpretation of Latin inscriptions he had seen on the original frame of the portrait, which was subsequently lost. As well as a Christus signature, he found an identification of the sitter as "a niece of the famous Talbot" (''eine Nichte des berühmten Talbots'').Ainsworth, 166, though Campbell, 677 cites this to a book of Waagen's published in 1863. The original Latin text of the inscription as Waagen read it does not appear to have been recorded. His research led to a consensus that the sitter was a member of the leading English family, the Talbots, then headed by the
Earl of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...
. In 1863 George Scharf suggested the panel was intended as the right-hand wing to a
diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...
with the 1446 ''Portrait of Edward Grimston'' (or "Grymston") in the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, London, leading to speculation that the girl might be Grimston's first wife, Alice.Upton, 30 This was rejected by Grete Ring in 1913, on the basis that neither the dimensions nor background of the panels match, and that the Berlin panel was most probably completed some 20–30 years after the Grimston portrait. Joel Upton, supporting Waagen's analysis, investigated whether the "famous Talbot" was
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
, killed at the
Battle of Castillon The Battle of Castillon between the forces of England and France took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne (later Castillon-la-Bataille). Historians regard this decisive French victory as marking the end o ...
in 1453. However, John Talbot had only one niece, Ankaret, who died in infancy in 1421. Lorne Campbell suggests that given the Latin signature, Waagen might have misinterpreted the word "nepos", which can also mean "grandchild". Upton concludes that she was more likely a daughter of John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury,Upton, 29 either Anne or Margaret. Their parents married between 1444 and 1445, suggesting that the sitter was under 20 at the time of the portrait. She may have travelled to
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...
to attend the famously lavish wedding in 1468 of
Margaret of York Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503)—also by marriage known as Margaret of Burgundy—was Duchess of Burgundy as the third wife of Charles the Bold and acted as a protector of the Burgundian State after his death. She was a daugh ...
, sister of Edward IV of England, to
Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...
,
Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...
.Ainsworth, 168


Provenance

The earliest extant record of the painting is in a 1492 inventory of the Medici family, where it is described as a small panel bust of a French lady, coloured in oil, the work of Pietro Cresci of Bruges. However, it seems from other works in the collection that the scribe was uninformed and noted any piece of northern art in the collection as "French". It was highly valued, with an unusually high price of 40 florins, and prominently displayed. The record does not address the matter of the girl's identity beyond her nationality, indicating that the painting was regarded as of aesthetic rather than historical interest.Nash, 101 In the 20th century
Erwin Panofsky Erwin Panofsky (March 30, 1892 in Hannover – March 14, 1968 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a German-Jewish art historian, whose academic career was pursued mostly in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. Panofsky's work represents a high ...
was instrumental in furthering Christus' reputation as a major 15th-century northern painter, described the work as an "enchanting, almost French-looking portrait", perhaps noting the resemblance to the virgin in
Jean Fouquet Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (ca.1420–1481) was a French painter and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from ...
's ''
Melun Diptych The Melun Diptych is a two-panel oil painting by the French court painter Jean Fouquet (c. 1420–1481) created around 1452. The name of this diptych came from its original home in the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame in Melun. The left panel dep ...
''. Sterling picks up on this, noting the many similarities between the two women, including their tightly pulled-back hair, high cheek bones, slanted eyes and sulky expressions. The portrait entered the
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n royal collection with the purchase in 1821 of the Edward Solly collection, from which the then-recently formed Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, was allowed to take its pick. It was positively identified in 1825 as an original by ChristusAinsworth, 25 when Waagen identified the lettering on the (now lost) frame "PETR XPI" as shorthand for "Petrus Christophori", which he associated with the "Pietro Christa" mentioned by
Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
in the 1568 edition of his " Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects". In this way, Waagen also identified Christus' so-called ''Saint Eligius'' panel, now in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York (and seen as just a portrait of a
goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...
), marking the painter's rediscovery after centuries of obscurity. Before this identification, a number of his paintings had been attributed to Jan van Eyck, but became identified with Christus after Waagen established him as a distinct and separate master. Christus is known to have signed six extant works, sometimes with the text "PETR XPI ME FECIT" (''Petr Xpi made me'').See Upton, 22, for extant variants of this signatureAinsworth, 30 Over the next century sketches of Christus' biography were constructed, as art historians – notably Panofsky – slowly disentangled his works from those of van Eyck.


Dating

The painting was dated c. 1446 by Wolfgang Schöne in the 1930s, mainly by matching the style and fashion of her clothing to contemporary trends. In the early 20th century the dating and authorship of works then attributed to Christus were challenged. Max Friedländer proposed a number of dates and an ordering of works in the 1957 volume of his ''Early Netherlandish painting'', but many of his assumptions were discounted by
Otto Pächt Otto Pächt (7 September 1902, Vienna - 17 April 1988, Vienna) was an Austrian art historian and one of the representatives of the second wave of the Vienna School of Art History. He mostly wrote on the medieval and Renaissance art of Europe. An ...
just a few years later. In 1953, Erwin Panofsky established that Schöne's dating was at least twenty years too early. In his view, the girl's dress resembles Burgundian high fashion of the late 1460s to mid-1470s. He compared the hennin worn by Maria Portinari in a c. 1470 portrait by
Hans Memling Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a painter active in Flanders, who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was born in the Middle Rhine region and probably spent his childhood in Mainz. He ...
, and her gown to that worn by a lady in an illumination from around the 1470s Froissart of Louis of Gruuthuse of Bruges.Panofsky, 313 Sterling, placing the work as c. 1465, remarks that the hennin in the Berlin panel is of a different type to that of the New York painting. The New York headdress is far more extended, and seems to be of a style prevalent a few years after, and moreover lacks the draped and hanging veil. Sterling further notes that the panel has increased depth of field and more intricate detailing of light than Christus' earlier works. On this basis he believes the work was executed late in the artist's career.


References


Notes


Sources

* Ainsworth, Maryan.
Petrus Christus: Renaissance Master of Bruges
'. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. * Brown, David Alan. ''Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003. * Campbell, Lorne, review of ''Petrus Christus'' by Peter H. Schabacker, 1975, ''
The Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation s ...
'', Vol. 117, No. 871 (Oct., 1975), pp. 676–677
JSTOR
* ''Gemäldegalerie, Berlin''. Prestel Museum Guide, 1998, Prestel Verlag. * Hand, John Oliver; Metzger, Catherine; Spron, Ron. ''Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych''. New Haven, CT:
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...
, 2006. * Harbison, Craig. ''The Art of the Northern Renaissance''. London: Laurence King Publishing, 1995. * Kemperdick, Stephan. ''The Early Portrait, from the Collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein and the Kunstmuseum Basel''. Munich: Prestel, 2006. * Nash, Susie. ''Northern Renaissance art''. Oxford: Oxford History of Art, 2008. * Panofsky, Erwin. ''Early Netherlandish Painting''. London: Harper Collins, 1953. * Ridderbos, Bernhard; Van Buren, Anne; Van Veen, Henk. ''Early Netherlandish Paintings: Rediscovery, Reception and Research''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2005. * Russell, Archibald. (mis-catalogued as "Archibald G. B. Russell and Rouge Croix" by JSTOR!) "Van Eyck and His Followers", letter in ''The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs'', 1922, Vol. 40, No. 227 (Feb., 1922), p. 102, Van Eyck and His Followers
JSTOR
* Stapleford, Richard. ''Lorenzo De' Medici at Home: The Inventory of the Palazzo Medici in 1492''. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013. * Sterling, Charles. "Observations on Petrus Christus". ''The Art Bulletin'', Vol. 53, No. 1, March 1971 * Suckale, Robert. ''Gothic''. Cologne: Taschen. * Upton, Joel Morgan. ''Petrus Christus: His Place in Fifteenth-Century Flemish painting''. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1989 * Van der Elst, Baron Joseph. ''The Last Flowering of the Middle Ages''. Whitefish MA: Kessinger Publishing, 2005.


External links

* {{Authority control 1460s paintings 15th-century portraits Paintings by Petrus Christus Paintings in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin