Three painters truly stand out among the Flemish Primitives: Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes. They were the greatest painter of the Low Countries, each in their own time; van der Goes being the last. Therefore it is fitting to devote this third and final instalment of my Flemish Primitives trilogy to him.
While van Eyck revolutionized painting and van der Weyden heralded modern art, van der Goes was the first to display overbearing emotion, chiaroscuro and highly complex pictorial compositions, thus being a precursor of the Baroque. These elements – save for the chiaroscuro, which is much stronger in his Monforte altarpiece – can most clearly be seen in his The Death of the Virgin (1470-1471).
In this work Mary is depicted at the exact moment of her death. She is surrounded by the apostles, who have gathered from all over the world. Above her head heaven opens and Christ, surrounded by scores of angels, spreads his arms in order to receive her. With this gesture he also shows the wounds in his hands, which indicate the triumph over death. Nevertheless the apostles are all mourning intensely. The way they are shown, each one of them displaying a different form of sorrow, all drawn back into their own individual grieve, was a novelty.
Also notable are the strange, unnatural colours. The painting radiates eerie blue and yellow. The curtain on the background is unnatural too: its foreshortening is purposely distorted. The whole effect of these elements is slightly disturbing; nearly sickening.
It is very probable that van der Goes displayed his own inner turmoil in this painting. He was known to lead an extravagant lifestyle, surrounding himself with the rich and famous, including emperor Maximilian of Austria. He also suffered severe depressions and it is recorded that he once had to be prevented from committing suicide. At the height of his fame he suddenly retreated to a monastery. So, van der Goes can also be seen as the first in a line of troubled geniuses, such as Caravaggio, Goya and van Gogh.
(text: Edgar Foley)
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