Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

JAN VAN EYCK AND THE ITALIANS

1956; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1179/its.1956.11.1.1

1748-6181

Roberto Weiss,

Art History and Market Analysis

Jan Van Eyck's art was not slow in arousing the admiration of the Italians. During his lifetime he is known to have had some Italians among his patrons, and already shortly after his death his paintings found an appreciative public in Italy. Much of the activity of Jan Van Eyck had taken place in Bruges. It was therefore but natural that his Italian patrons should have been residents of that town, where Genoese, Lucchese, and Florentines played a very significant rôle in the fields of banking and international trade. Two Genoese merchants trading in Bruges, as well as one Lucchese, are in fact known to have commissioned pictures from him, and it was very likely through them that some other paintings by the great Flemish master reached Italy. It was for instance to one of the Bruges Genoese that we owe the little triptych at Dresden with the Madonna and Child sitting in a Romanesque church in the centre panel, St. Catherine in the left wing and St. Michael the Archangel with the kneeling donor in the right one. Van Eyck's elaborate inscription around the frame gives no clue as to the identity of the kneeling man. This is, however, disclosed by the coat of arms on the frame of the wing in which he figures, which is that of the Giustiniani of Genoa, and by the presence of the Archangel, since it was customary for a secular donor to be represented with his own protector saint at his side. The donor of the Dresden triptych can be accordingly identified with a Michele Giustiniani. Now no Michele Giustiniani occurs in the records of Bruges, where several other members of the family are known to have resided during the first half of the fifteenth century. Still his Flemish dress, as well as his being portrayed by Van Eyck, are guarantees to us of his presence in the Low Countries. In fact it seems quite likely that he was born and brought up there if, as seems highly probable, he was actually the Michele Giustiniani who petitioned in 1430 for permission to come and live in Genoa, which would of course not necessarily imply that the triptych was not later than that year.