GOES, Hugo van der

Hugo van der Goes painted this work in the closing years of his life, presumably a decade after the Monforte Altarpiece, after he had retired in 1478 into a monastery near Brussels as a lay-brother. The peculiar flatness of the faces and the contrived nature of the whole composition are symptomatic of his later period, in which transitory motifs also become prominent. Although this panel may lack the cohesion of the Monforte Altarpiece, one can still detect in it - particularly in the undignified intrusion of the shepherds - a bold and final attempt by a great artist, who was close to death, to break with accepted tradition in painting and strike out along a new path.

The Virgin and Joseph are kneeling - almost symmetrically placed - on either side of the crib which, viewed end-on, adds depth to the scene. Angels are crowding round behind the crib in order to be near the Child. Through an opening in the wall in the right background one has a glimpse of the shepherds in the fields, receiving the glad news. On the left side of the picture, two of them rush in, baring their heads as they enter. The entire scene is revealed to the observer by two prophets in the foreground, who draw the curtains back and create the illusion of ‘unveiling’ it.

The unusually wide yet shallow format of the picture has given rise to the suggestion that it may have been originally designed as a predella. But such an assumption would presuppose an altar of enormous dimensions, the existence of which could not have remained completely unknown. Besides, there is no evidence of predellas in Netherlandish painting, so for the time being the artist’s purpose must remain a matter of conjecture.

In his Adoration of the Shepherds the painter created something that is far removed from his earlier work, the Monforte Altarpiece. There the composure and dignity of the kings and the natural simplicity of their bearing contrast sharply with the commotion and crowding of the later work, which gives the impression of being somewhat contrived. There is no doubt that the format prescribed by the patron presented the painter with problems of form which were not easy to solve.

The Virgin and Joseph are kneeling - almost symmetrically placed - on either side of the crib which, viewed end-on, adds depth to the scene. Angels are crowding round behind the crib in order to be near the Child.

Although his working life was very short - a mere fourteen years - it was long enough for Hugo van der Goes to establish himself as a major innovator with a powerful creative imagination. There are fifteen altarpieces and paintings by his hand that are known today. Amongst them is the Calvary Triptych, long attributed to Justus of Ghent (Joos van Wassenhove). Most experts now agree that it must be the work of Van der Goes.

The central panel of the triptych depicts Christ nailed to a tall cross, with the two thieves to either side of him, tied to their gibbets. They are surrounded by a crowd of figures and horsemen, and the city of Jerusalem is visible in the background. This panel is an impressive work of its own right, but the two panels to either side, which draw their subjects from the book of Exodus, are in many ways even finer.

In the left wing, we see Moses beside a great rock that marks the limits of the foreground area. He is plunging a branch into the bitter waters of Marah to sweeten them, so that the Israelites could slake their thirst. Mothers are giving their children to drink, an old man holds out a bowl to his grandson, and another man is sipping the precious liquid from his cupped hand.

The right wing depicts the episode of the brazen serpent. The people of Israel are marching through a steep-sided valley. Moses has climbed up onto a rocky promontory above them, his stick in one hand. There he complains to Jehovah that the people will not obey him any more, whereupon Jehovah turns his stick into a snake before the eyes of the astonished crowd. The people of Israel, saved by Moses, are used here to prefigure the destiny of the Christian Church, whose people have been saved by Christ.

In the background, the clouds drifting across the sky link the vast landscape into one continuous sweep stretching across all three panels. Shadows are suggested by areas of saturated colour and by the use of cross-hatching. Van der Goes’s drawing is precise, taut and incisive. His palette is bright and vibrant, giving a strong sense of real open-air light. Along with more forthright tones, he delights in blending together delicate colours such as moss green and olive green, wine red, different gradations of blue, and soft pink.

The central panel of the triptych depicts Christ nailed to a tall cross, with the two thieves to either side of him, tied to their gibbets. They are surrounded by a crowd of figures and horsemen, and the city of Jerusalem is visible in the background.

In the left wing, we see Moses beside a great rock that marks the limits of the foreground area. He is plunging a branch into the bitter waters of Marah to sweeten them, so that the Israelites could slake their thirst. Mothers are giving their children to drink, an old man holds out a bowl to his grandson, and another man is sipping the precious liquid from his cupped hand.

The picture shows the Virgin and companions, a detail of the central panel.

The picture shows Jerusalem in the background of the central panel.

The picture shows a detail of the central panel.

The right wing depicts the episode of the brazen serpent. The people of Israel are marching through a steep-sided valley. Moses has climbed up onto a rocky promontory above them, his stick in one hand. There he complains to Jehovah that the people will not obey him any more, whereupon Jehovah turns his stick into a snake before the eyes of the astonished crowd. The people of Israel, saved by Moses, are used here to prefigure the destiny of the Christian Church, whose people have been saved by Christ.

In the left wing, we see Moses beside a great rock that marks the limits of the foreground area. He is plunging a branch into the bitter waters of Marah to sweeten them, so that the Israelites could slake their thirst. Mothers are giving their children to drink, an old man holds out a bowl to his grandson, and another man is sipping the precious liquid from his cupped hand.

The right wing depicts the episode of the brazen serpent. The people of Israel are marching through a steep-sided valley. Moses has climbed up onto a rocky promontory above them, his stick in one hand. There he complains to Jehovah that the people will not obey him any more, whereupon Jehovah turns his stick into a snake before the eyes of the astonished crowd.

This painting shows great psychological insight in its expression of intense grief, a typical feature of Hugo van der Goes’ tormented art. The relation between figures and the landscape setting increases the dramatic intensity of the episode.

This painting is the left wing of a diptych called “Small Deposition”. The right wing is in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

This painting is the right wing of a diptych called “Small Deposition”. The left wing is in a private collection.

The painting is the central panel of a triptych. It is in its original frame.

The most brilliant work from the early period of van der Goes is the Monforte Altarpiece, named after the town in which it was housed, in a college belonging to a group of Spanish Jesuits, before being subsequently transferred to the Berlin museum. It is a large-scale triptych, of which only the central panel, a long horizontal rectangle, has survived to the present day. A group of hovering angels have been amputated from the top of the panel, and the two wings have disappeared. The theme of the surviving picture is the adoration of the Magi.

The Three Kings and their followers come upon the Virgin, the Holy Infant and Joseph amid the ruins of a palace. A group of villagers observe this extraordinary scene through a gap in the wall. The figures, both actors and witnesses, are all shown on the same scale, whether humble or magnificent. They are neither reticent nor exalted, but react to the event in their various ways, surprised or self-conscious. In the background we can see a few women, some cottages and a river besides which the Kings’ horses are waiting. In the foreground, symbolic flowers - the lily and columbine - and a pottery vessel are depicted with great care. A tiny squirrel is running along one of the beams above the opening through which the villagers observe the scene. Van der Goes has given free rein to his imagination, both in the composition and in his handling of paint, deploying the splendidly rich colours that are so characteristic of his art, mixing blazing reds with the most delicately nuanced shades.

The most brilliant work from the early period of van der Goes is the Monforte Altarpiece, named after the town in which it was housed, in a college belonging to a group of Spanish Jesuits, before being subsequently transferred to the Berlin museum. It is a large-scale triptych, of which only the central panel, a long horizontal rectangle, has survived to the present day. A group of hovering angels have been amputated from the top of the panel, and the two wings have disappeared. The theme of the surviving picture is the adoration of the Magi.

The Three Kings and their followers come upon the Virgin, the Holy Infant and Joseph amid the ruins of a palace. A group of villagers observe this extraordinary scene through a gap in the wall. The figures, both actors and witnesses, are all shown on the same scale, whether humble or magnificent. They are neither reticent nor exalted, but react to the event in their various ways, surprised or self-conscious. In the background we can see a few women, some cottages and a river besides which the Kings’ horses are waiting. In the foreground, symbolic flowers - the lily and columbine - and a pottery vessel are depicted with great care. A tiny squirrel is running along one of the beams above the opening through which the villagers observe the scene. Van der Goes has given free rein to his imagination, both in the composition and in his handling of paint, deploying the splendidly rich colours that are so characteristic of his art, mixing blazing reds with the most delicately nuanced shades.

A group of villagers observe this extraordinary scene through a gap in the wall. The figures, both actors and witnesses, are all shown on the same scale, whether humble or magnificent. They are neither reticent nor exalted, but react to the event in their various ways, surprised or self-conscious.

A tiny squirrel is running along one of the beams above the opening through which the villagers observe the scene.

In the background we can see a few women, some cottages and a river besides which the Kings’ horses are waiting.

In the foreground, symbolic flowers are depicted with great care.

In the foreground details are depicted with great care.

Soberly painted in monochrome, the panels are entirely occupied by the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin of the Annunciation. The enormous figures are portrayed under a series of perspectively receding arches and in an extremely bare, linear setting, enriched only by the copious folds of the robes surrounding the figures.

The infant Jesus lies on the ground surrounded by rays of light to signify him as the Light of the world. His mother Mary, father Joseph, various angels and the shepherds stand around him in adoration. In the background, the previous moment in the narrative sequence, when the angel announces the birth of the Saviour, is depicted in the surrounding scenery. The continuity of the background landscape erases the division between the central image and the side panels, where the family who commissioned the work is shown in prayer under the protection of four saints. To the left, Thomas the Apostle and St Anthony the Great preside over the head of family Tommaso Portinari and his two sons Antonio and Pigello, while to the right St Margaret, victorious on the dragon which had swallowed her, and Mary Magdalen, holding a vial of unguent, stand watch over Maria Baroncelli Portinari and her daughter Margherita. The different proportions of the saints and the members of the family reflect their position in social and religious hierarchy.

Originating from Florence, Tommaso Portinari (1428-1501) lived in Bruges for many years where he worked as a representative of the bank of the Medici family. In 1470 he married Maria Baroncelli, also of Florence; the family is depicted with clothing and hairstyles that reflect the Flemish fashion of the time. During his time in Flanders, Tommaso Portinari commissioned Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes to paint the Adoration of the Shepherds Triptych to adorn the Portinari family chapel in the church of Saint Giles in the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Florence. The painting’s arrival in Florence in 1483, having first reached Pisa by sea, was quite an event; the work was perceived to be extraordinarily innovative in the eyes of the Florentine painters, who particularly praised the realistic likeness of the objects, landscape and facial features. The still-life imagery in the central foreground is astonishing and abounds with symbolic references: the white iris and red lily allude to the theme of purity and Jesus’s blood spilled during the Passion of the Christ, the purple columbine represents the sorrow of the Virgin Mary, while the carnations symbolize the Holy Trinity.

When closed, the triptych showed a depiction of the Annunciation, painted in black and white on the verso of the doors.

This large triptych is the most important work of the Flemish artist Hugo van der Goes, constituting the basis for a reconstruction of the artist’s entire oeuvre. It was painted in Bruges and was commissioned to the artist by Tommaso Portinari, an agent of the Medicean bank who resided in the city with his family. The painting was intended for the high altar of Sant’ Egidio, the church of the Arcispedale of Santa Maria Nuova founded in 1288 by the banker’s ancestor Folco Portinari. Shipped from Bruges by sea, with the financial aid of the banker Niccolò di Giovanni Capponi, it arrived in Pisa by way of Sicily. The painting was then transported along the Arno and finally completed its tortuous journey at the Porta San Frediano in Florence on 28 May 1483. From here it was carried to its destination by sixteen strong porters under the surveillance of Meo di Tingo, an envoy of the Arcispedale. In 1567 the triptych was dismembered.

When the work arrived in Florence, it immediately caused a sensation among the people and attracted a considerable following among contemporary artists. The triptych had an enormous impact, noticeably influencing the art of manuscript illustration in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries as well as illustrious representatives of Umbrian painting like Luca Signorelli.

This large triptych is the most important work of the Flemish artist Hugo van der Goes, constituting the basis for a reconstruction of the artist’s entire oeuvre. It was painted in Bruges and was commissioned to the artist by Tommaso Portinari, an agent of the Medicean bank who resided in the city with his family. The painting was intended for the high altar of Sant’ Egidio, the church of the Arcispedale of Santa Maria Nuova founded in 1288 by the banker’s ancestor Folco Portinari. Shipped from Bruges by sea, with the financial aid of the banker Niccolò di Giovanni Capponi, it arrived in Pisa by way of Sicily. The painting was then transported along the Arno and finally completed its tortuous journey at the Porta San Frediano in Florence on 28 May 1483. From here it was carried to its destination by sixteen strong porters under the surveillance of Meo di Tingo, an envoy of the Arcispedale. In 1567 the triptych was dismembered.

When the work arrived in Florence, it immediately caused a sensation among the people and attracted a considerable following among contemporary artists. The triptych had an enormous impact, noticeably influencing the art of manuscript illustration in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries as well as illustrious representatives of Umbrian painting like Luca Signorelli.

The triptych consists of The Adoration of the Shepherds (central panel, 253 x 304 cm); Saints Margaret and Mary Magdalen with Maria Portinari (right wing, 253 x 141 cm); Saints Anthony and Thomas with Tommaso Portinari (left wing, 253 x 141 cm).

Painted at Bruges on the commission of Tommaso Portinari, who was Medicean agent in that city. It was subsequently sent to Florence and placed upon the high altar of Sant’Egidio.

The picture shows the triptych as exhibited in the Uffizi.

The panel is the right wing of a diptych.

The picture shows the left wing of the Portinari Triptych.

Three members of the Portinari family, Tommaso Portinari and his two sons Antonio and Pigello, are portrayed kneeling, their faces pale, sculptural and almost ghostlike. Above them stand Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Thomas, two of the family’s patron saints, looking grave and solemn, their majesty almost compressed by the absence of a surrounding space. In the background, against a barren, rocky landscape, Mary and Joseph can be seen making their way to Bethlehem, an episode that prepares us for the holy event of the central panel.

In the background, against a barren, rocky landscape, Mary and Joseph can be seen making their way to Bethlehem, an episode that prepares us for the holy event of the central panel.

The right wing of the Portinari Triptych shows Tommaso Portinari’s wife, Maria Baroncelli, with her elder daughter Margherita, accompanied by Mary Magdalene and St Margaret. The beast between them is a dragon, the attribute of St Margaret referring to the legend of St Margaret. According to the legend she was thrown into prison because she rejected Olybrius, the Roman governor. In the prison she was attacked by the Devil and, while at prayer, swallowed by a dragon. Since she was carrying a small crucifix she was able to cut a hole in the monster’s belly and escaped.

In the right wing of the Portinari Triptych, we can see the Kings’ servant who has dismounted to ask the way from a peasant. The presence of these background figures serves to underline the unity of the triptych, as they apparently converge, from behind the donors and saints, towards the central scene.

The picture shows the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, the most important work by the greatest Netherlandish painter of the late 15th century, has a unique historical and artistic significance. The altar was donated to the Florentine church of San Egidio by Tommaso Portinari, who since 1465 had been living in princely style in Bruges as manager of the Medici family’s commercial interests. The central panel is flanked by two wings depicting other members of the Portinari family and the family’s patron saints, with a grisaille Annunciation on their reverse.

From an artistic point of view, the differences between this work and those of the preceding generation, and indeed earlier paintings by the same master, are astounding. While space and anatomy are easily mastered, they are no longer major themes of the composition, The infant Jesus lies within an aureole in an outdoor square, surrounded by his parents, clusters of angels and the worshipping shepherds. The more or less circular arrangement of the figures can be perceived equally in three-dimensional and two-dimensional terms. While the figures may have lost volume in comparison to the Monforte Altar, their faces and gestures have gained in expressiveness. A certain impression of spatial depth is suggested by the figures’ varying distances from the front of the picture and by the oblique line running from the Antique-style column beside Joseph in the left-hand foreground, through the manger with the ox and ass, and on through the buildings in the middle ground. Its logic is overthrown, however, as the artist reverts to the medieval system in which figures are portrayed on a scale directly related to their importance. Thus the angels in the foreground are surprisingly small in comparison to Mary and Joseph - a contrast repeated in the sizes of the donors and saints portrayed in the wings.

Details such as the angels in their copes and the still-life of flowers in the foreground are executed with an exquisite delicacy unsurpassed in the entire painting of the Early Renaissance.

The influence of the Portinari Altar, which was erected in Florence in 1478, was felt by many of the Florentine painters and is reflected in particular in the works of Ghirlandaio and Leonardo.

The picture shows a figure on the left side of the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows angels at the top left of the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows kneeling angels at the left side of the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows a vase and a glass containing orange lilies, the symbol of the Passion, three irises, Van der Goes’s favourite flower, and a few columbine stalks, the emblem of melancholy and a common symbol of the Virgin’s pains. A sheaf of corn lies flat on the ground behind these flowers, alluding to the Incarnation and the Eucharist.

The picture shows a detail of the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows the bare empty space in which the newborn Infant Jesus is lying in the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows a group of praying angels, a detail of the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows the group of shepherds on the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows the group of shepherds on the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows the top right of the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows the left side of the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The picture shows the bare empty space in which the newborn Infant Jesus is lying in the central panel of the Portinari Triptych.

The major painting of Van der Goes’s third period (between around 1478 and 1482) and very likely one of the last works he painted is the Death of the Virgin. The panel is almost square in shape. The scene is set in a totally enclosed room. The apostles are grouped around Mary’s bed. The Virgin’s fine blue robe contrast with the purple sheets that cover the bed. Her livid gray face is framed by the immaculate whiteness of her wimple, and of the cushion on which her head rests. Her hands are joined, her fingers look quite bony. Her eyes have lost their lustre. She looks up one last time towards the heavens, where her Son appears to her in His glory with arms outstretched, to display the wounds in his hands. He is dressed in a blue robe and a large red cloak held up by two angels. The picture represents the moment at which life has already gently slipped away, but death has not yet completed its work.

The painter uses the apostles to ring the changes on the different varieties of grief, and their profound sadness contrasts with the detachment of the Virgin herself. Their clothes have been creased into countless shifting folds which cut across one another at right angles. Van der Goes is revealed as a penetrating analyst of religious feeling, of grief and devotion, and of the agitation they can cause. This work, like all those he painted during his last period, represents the eruption of sacred experience into a profane world. The artist achieves this through an abundant use of colours which strike the viewer as unreal, as if they were themselves transfigured. In this way, Van der Goes seeks to identify his painting with the mystery of transcendence itself.

To this end too, the gestures of his figures are emphatic. He uses techniques or the progressive reduction of pictorial space and the transformation of figures, which he paints half-length, not full length.

The major painting of Van der Goes’s third period (between around 1478 and 1482) and very likely one of the last works he painted is the Death of the Virgin. The panel is almost square in shape. The scene is set in a totally enclosed room. The apostles are grouped around Mary’s bed. The Virgin’s fine blue robe contrast with the purple sheets that cover the bed. Her livid gray face is framed by the immaculate whiteness of her wimple, and of the cushion on which her head rests. Her hands are joined, her fingers look quite bony. Her eyes have lost their lustre. She looks up one last time towards the heavens, where her Son appears to her in His glory with arms outstretched, to display the wounds in his hands. He is dressed in a blue robe and a large red cloak held up by two angels. The picture represents the moment at which life has already gently slipped away, but death has not yet completed its work.

The painter uses the apostles to ring the changes on the different varieties of grief, and their profound sadness contrasts with the detachment of the Virgin herself. Their clothes have been creased into countless shifting folds which cut across one another at right angles. Van der Goes is revealed as a penetrating analyst of religious feeling, of grief and devotion, and of the agitation they can cause. This work, like all those he painted during his last period, represents the eruption of sacred experience into a profane world. The artist achieves this through an abundant use of colours which strike the viewer as unreal, as if they were themselves transfigured. In this way, Van der Goes seeks to identify his painting with the mystery of transcendence itself.

To this end too, the gestures of his figures are emphatic. He uses techniques or the progressive reduction of pictorial space and the transformation of figures, which he paints half-length, not full length.

This painting is the left panel of a diptych, the right panel showing the Lamentation of Christ. The diptych is one the early works of Goes reflecting the influence of Jan van Eyck.

This painting is the right panel of a diptych, the left panel showing The Fall. The diptych is one the early works of Goes reflecting the influence of Jan van Eyck.