The Adoration of Our Lord from Hluboká is a panel painting dating from the period around 1380, ascribed to the

Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece __NOTOC__ The Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece () was a Bohemian painter active in Prague around 1380–1390. His name is derived from the Třeboň Altarpiece from the church of Saint Eligius at the Augustinian convent of Třeboň (known in Ger ...

or his workshop. It is on display in the permanent collection of the Aleš South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou as a loan from National Heritage Institute in

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

History

The place where it was originally located is not known. In the 19th century the painting was the property of Princess Eleonore von Schwarzenberg at Hluboká nad Vltavou, in modern day

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It was then transferred from state-owned Hluboká Castle to the ownership of the National Heritage Institute in České Budějovice. The picture was heavily overpainted by a Renaissance artist in 1516. During restoration undertook in 1930 (J. Bělohoubek), only the crudest overpainting was removed. Antonín Matějček, who saw the picture before 1950, thus observed that it was in a poor state and was impossible to evaluate. The present-day appearance of the picture is the result of restoration undertaken between 1968 and 1969 ( National Gallery Prague, V. Frömlová).

Description and classification

The picture is painted in

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

on a panel of spruce wood stretched with canvas. The panel is composed of seven boards between 14 and 17 cm wide joined with pegs. The overall size of the picture is 129 x 98 cm. Considered an early work by the

, the painting was probably part of a winged altarpiece. Its size corresponds to the ''Resurrection'' from the Chapel of St Barbara near

Třeboň Třeboň (; ) is a spa town in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,300 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monum ...

that also comes from the workshop of the

. At some point in the past it was clearly exposed to severe heat that caused numerous small blisters in the damaged paint right down to the foundation layer. Thanks to successive overpainting, however, the flesh tones have remained very well preserved. The picture is identical with the Třeboň Altarpiece in terms of the construction of its frame, the foundation layer and the painting technique - specifically the red earth underdrawing and the delicate engraved drawing in the drapery; the light flesh tones on a foundation of white paint without coloured underpainting; the radiant lazure painting and the exceptional feeling for painting; the masterful sienna painting in the semi-shades; the gilding on black poliment and the same character of the halos. The central figure of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

leaning over the

Infant Jesus The Christ Child—also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, Divine Child, Divine Infant and the Holy Child—refers to Jesus Christ during his early years. The term refers to a period of Jesus' life, described in the canonical Gospe ...

in his cradle is accompanied on the left by the kneeling and gesticulating

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

. The

is kneeling on a

brocade Brocade () is a class of richly decorative shuttle (weaving), shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in coloured silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian langua ...

cushion in a simple wooden hut. She is dressed in a blue cloak with a red inner lining that is folded back on her head and covers her hair. Its drapery is modelled in long vertical folds that suppress the physical mass of the elongated figure. It was only restoration undertaking in the 1960s that revealed the perfection of the painting. According to Pešina, the delicate charm of Mary's feminine face, the soft modelling of its shape that almost melts into light, the colour harmony and the radiance of the lazure painting surpasses the quality of the Třeboň Altarpiece. The typology of the faces – the female face with its delicate nose and chin, Joseph's whiskery face, just like the character of the rocky landscape with its stunted trees, brightly coloured birds and details observed from nature, corresponds to other works by the

. The hut is depicted from three different angles in an imperfect perspective that, even so, evokes the impression of spatial depth. In the landscape, which still recalls the work of the

, there are two pairs of shepherds on the right in different spatial planes that depict events of the past: the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

and journeying to the stable in Bethlehem. In the top right-hand corner, we see the angel of the

with a ribbon bearing the inscription '''Ecce ego annun o vobis Gaudium'''. The grazing animals on the right symbolise the Old (the goat) and

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

(the sheep). They are accompanied by a couple of pigs and cows. The heads of a donkey and an ox appear in the stable behind the crib. The main figures (Mary and Joseph) are portrayed in a hieratical perspective as proportionally larger. The infant, who is entirely wrapped in swaddling reminiscent of a shroud and is lying in the wooden crib in the shape of a coffin, refers to

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

's future martyrdom. The image represents a new iconographical type that developed out of the earlier scene of

Nativity of Jesus The Nativity or birth of Jesus Christ is found in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew and Gospel of Luke, Luke. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, in Herodian kingdom, Roman-controlled Judea, th ...

through the influence of mystical trends in the church at that time (the Vision of St Bridget of Sweden, 1380). According to this interpretation,

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

recognised

's divinity after he was born and began worshipping him spontaneously. It is, in this case, a devotional image designed to encourage piety among the faithful.Látal H, 2016, no. 7

Details

File:Adorace Páně z Hluboké nad Vltavou (detail I), AJG Hluboká nad Vltavou.jpg File:Adorace Páně z Hluboké nad Vltavou (detail II), AJG Hluboká nad Vltavou.jpg File:Adorace Páně z Hluboké nad Vltavou (detail IV), AJG Hluboká nad Vltavou.jpg File:Adorace Páně z Hluboké nad Vltavou (detail V), AJG Hluboká nad Vltavou.jpg File:Adorace Páně z Hluboké nad Vltavou (detail III), AJG Hluboká nad Vltavou.jpg

References

Sources

* AJG, inv. no. DO-834 * Hynek Látal a kol., Meziprůzkumy. Sbírka AJG 1300–2016, no. 7, AJG 2016, * Roman Lavička, Gothic Art, Aleš South Bohemian Gallery 2008, p. 17-18, * Hynek Rulíšek, Gotické umění jižních Čech, Průvodce, sv. 3, p. 18-20, Alšova jihočeská galerie v Hluboké nad Vltavou 1989, {{ISBN, 80-900057-6-4 * Jaroslav Pešina, Desková malba, in: Dějiny českého výtvarného umění I/1, Academia Praha 1984 * Jaroslav Pešina, Studie k ikonografii a typologii obrazu madony s dítětem v českém deskovém malířství kolem poloviny 14. století, Umění XXV, 1977 * Věra Frömlová, Adorace děcka z Hluboké, Umění 19, 1971, p. 576-585 * Jaroslav Pešina, Desková malba, in: České umění gotické 1350–1420, Academia Praha 1970 * Vladimír Denkstein, František Matouš, Jihočeská gotika, Praha 1953 * Antonín Matějček, Česká malba gotická, Melantrich Praha 1950

External links

Eva Kolářová: The Třeboň Altarpiece: Reality or Myth? (reconstruction - orignial provenance - dating - commissioner)

1380s paintings Paintings in the Czech Republic Czech gothic paintings Paintings of the Nativity of Jesus