Israhel van Meckenem

Christ shown in half-length with his head inclined to one side, arms folded at the elbows, and hands crossed at the wrists to exhibit the stigmata, executed in the micromosaic technique of Byzantine imperial icons, occupies a prominent place in the history of Christian devotional art in the West. Intimate in scale at only 13 x 9 cm, the imago pietatis, is thought to have originated in Byzantium around 1300 and been brought to Italy towards the end of the fourteenth century, when it was outfitted with the silver frame and donated to the Roman basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. It has been assumed that at the time of the donation the icon had already been integrated with the folding triptych bearing row upon row of compartments containing relics, the whole measuring almost a meter high and wide when open. The painting of Saint Catherine of Alexandria on the reverse of the central panel, a Western creation that imitates Byzantine style, and the classical segmental pediment of the front attest to the ensemble’s layered history.
In 1967 Carlo Bertelli inaugurated historical analysis of the triptych, and ever since, questions concerning the mosaic’s place of origin, date, and patronage have attracted the attention of art historians. An enduring interest in the association of the icon with the theme of the Man of Sorrows, and above all with its legendary identification as the image Pope Gregory the Great had created to memorialize the vision of Christ he experienced while celebrating the Mass, have directed scholarly attention toward devotional concerns. The present essay, instead, focuses on the afterlife of the triptych and, particularly, on the political significance that this object held around the year 1500, when it was drawn into a coordinated program to honor the achievements of Ferdinand of Aragón and Isabel of Castile in the international ambience of papal Rome.

What if the artist you would like to interview is dead? That is the problem for an art historian like Véronique Plesch, who reflects on the challenges of studying “dead artists,” dreaming of time travel, but who ultimately accepts the blessings of asking them questions. We come full circle with what we read in Kestenbaum’s opening essay, who similarly affirms the importance of asking questions as opposed to having ready-made answers. We must keep asking. You can find the article online here; https://maineartsjournal.com/veronique-plesch-of-dead-artists-and-time-travel/

Of all 15th century engravings, The Death of the Virgin by Martin Schongauer (c. 1440/45–1491) is assuredly one of the most famous. From the time of its creation (c. 1475), and throughout the 16th century, it came to inspire numerous artists and craftsmen, including great artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Hugo van der Goes, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. However, of all the works inspired by Schongauer’s masterpiece, we know only four engravings that faithfully reproduce his work in size and composition. This study seeks to analyse the relationship between those engravings and Schongauer’s original. It will investigate the techniques the copyists used to reproduce their model, the practical as well as the intellectual choices they made in producing the copies, and finally the reception those copies received.