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For a number of years certain items found in the old museums, churches and cathedrals of Europe have caught my eye and really fascinated me from a from a historical, artistic and religious treasure aspect. Some are ordinary mundane things such as early urine bottles which accelerated the development of clear glass as to the pale green which was the norm. Other things such as reliquaries which many churches hold today in their treasuries. I am not sure that the people still believe in the provenance of these but I believe these are still held as a treasure of ancient craftsmanship.
I show a few Items here to demonstrate things which I believe are priceless each in different ways. Besides paintings, there are items of wood, silver, gold and jewels. All, however are jewels and treasures in their own right.
Some paintings are also extremely valuable from both an artistic viewpoint but also a historical one as well. I give one example of this, a painting in the ambulatory at The Church of Our Lady in Bruges.
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Above is shown the paintings by Pieter Pourbus (1524-1584) on the doors of the Triptych which shows the family of Anselmus de Boodt, who died in 1587. He is shown on the left with his seven sons, opposite this is a panel of his wife Johanna de Boodt who died in 1562, with the three daughters. One of the girls I am sure has been portrayed as being suffering from Downs Syndrome, the only time I have ever seen this condition displayed anywhere. Four sons and one daughter are marked on their head, just above the forehead, with a red cross which denotes that this child died before their father. The crosses would be added as each one deceased. This painting is not only an excellent portraiture item but also a historical record.
The picture
shown here is, to me, a fantastic piece of portraiture from the
15th Century. Canon Joris van der Paele is shown as the donor in
the picture of "Madonna with Canon Van de Paele 1436,"
by Jan van Eyck (1390 - 1441).
Jan van Eyck is said to be "the founder of optical realism so characteristic of late mediaeval panel painting" and the panel from which I have extracted two fantastic illustrations, is one of his two masterpieces which are displayed in the Groeninge museum in Bruges.
The first extract from the painting is the picture of Saint
Donatian and the attraction of this is the detail of the leaded
glass in the window and the detail and realism of the Saint’s
vestments and cross.
The second
extract is of Canon van de Paele. The ‘Dress Armour’ of
the figure next to him is brilliantly portrayed whilst Canon van
de Paele himself is also so lifelike, from the small wart on the
side of his beautifully portrayed elderly face right down to his
wrinkles in the wrist of the hand which supports his prayer book.
The most obvious and very early depiction is of the Canon’s
spectacles which look reasonably modern despite being over 500
years old.
Something else which also attracted me when researching in Bruges was two sets of two paintings each on paper from the end panels of a pair of grave vaults. These were just stuck onto the ends of the grave before the coffin or body was laid to rest. Here we have one pair which are from the chapel of St John’s Hospital also in Bruges and were removed during excavations. The first is an Angel holding a Cross and three Nails plus The Virgin and Child. Dated 1400 - 1425.
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| Angel with cross and nails. | Virgin with child. |
The second pair of paintings on paper (also described as fresco’s) are shown still in position in the tomb space of Provost Nikolaas van de Steene, {1339} in the choir of Our Lady’s Church. They show both Calvary and the Virgin Enthroned with the Infant Christ.
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| Calvary. | Virgin enthroned with the infant Christ. |
The
final item from Bruges is the Saint Ursula Shrine by Hans Memling
(1435/1440-94) dated around 1480 and of wood which is gilded and
painted. Although the cabinet work is recognised as being "Masterly"
the meticulous miniatures are its crowning glory. The Virgin with
two hospital sisters on one end and St Ursula with her companions
on the other. whilst down the sides are six scenes from the
legend of St Ursula. This is in the Memling Museum.
This museum contains six masterpieces of the renowned painter Hans or Jan Memling plus much, much more from Bruges charitable institutions and especially of the Hospital of St John where the collection is located.
The buildings also include the Hospital Chapel and the
Cornelius Chapel which both hold the Memling paintings collection.
Mediaeval Wards and the Old Monastery with its old Pharmacy and
the 19th century Hospital complex.
The
first item from Cologne is this casket of the Three Wise Men
which rests on the High Altar of the Cathedral. The remains of
the Three Wise Men were brought to the cathedral by Archbishop
Reinald von Dassel in 1164 from Milan where they had been kept in
a marble sarcophagus. The citizens of Cologne decided such
important relics should be encased in Gold silver and precious
stones.
The most famous craftsman was Nikolaus de Verdun who had to travel with his craftsmen to Cologne from Vienna in 1180. The casket took well over forty years to complete and comprised a basilica with a nave and single aisles. It measured 2.20m long by 1.10 wide and 1.53m high. On the upper section of the sides are the Apostles The back shows two scenes, of the Flagellation and the Crucifixion in the lower panels which depicts how the Lord atoned for the sins of the world. The upper panel shows how the faithful gathered round him.
On the front end there is the Adoration of the Three Wise Men and on the upper section Christ Judges the world
Along with many others I find it very hard to believe that the claims made for these being genuine could be true. However, in 1979 research dated the material the bones were wrapped in dated to between the second and fourth century A.D.
As well as the bones of the Three Wise Men the Casket contains the bones of Saint Felix, Saint Naborio and Saint Gregory of Spolito.
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The Casket rests upon the High Altar in the centre of the Choir. It is 4.52m long and 2.12m wide. The white carved marble figures set against the black marble slabs depict The life of Mary, The Annunciation, The Visit of The Three Wise Men, Christ’s Presentation at The Temple and Christ’s Entry into Heaven. The scenes are surrounded by Apostles, Saints and Prophets.
In the treasury
are kept many other items of antiquity. One of these is the three
links of the chain which bound St Peter in Rome and Jerusalem
which were brought from Rome at the time of Archbishop Bruno I (953-
965). These links are kept in a gold Ostensory-shrine from the 15th
Century.
Also in the treasury is an 11th century Byzantine Triptych (a
present from Emperor Alexis I of Constantinople). This was
altered in the 13th century to hold pieces of Christ’s Holy
Cross. This is known a The Kolner Kreuzreliquiar or the Shrine of
the Cross of Cologne. (Cologne Cross Reliquary).
The choir of Cologne Cathedral had been consecrated in 1322 it was not until 1880 that the rest of it was ready. In 1893 a new Bishops pastoral staff (Crosier) was made in a similar form to the one remaining from 1350. On the new staff (below left) the Bishop is depicted as kneeling before Christ on his Mother’s knee and offering Him an apple. This denotes the Bishop giving up all his worldly goods and the staff becomes the symbol of his office. The Bishop’s patron saint Hermann-Josef was supposed to have done this in the church of Santa Maria in Campidoglio. The staff belonged to the auxiliary bishop Hermann-Josef Schmitz who brought it with him from Essen to Cologne.
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The 1350 staff (above right) depicts Archbishop Wilhelm von Gennep kneeling in front of the Madonna who holds baby Jesus on her knee. There are panels of brightly coloured enamel right round the curve of the head and just as it is in the second there is an angel holding the curved end to the straight beginning section of the staff head.
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