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Description: | This triptych would have been placed upon a small side altar as an aid to piety and a source of instruction. For most of the year, it would have been shown open displaying the Nativity, Adoration of the Magi and Presentation which correspond to the three feasts of Christ's infancy in the church year, Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas. During Lent, however, the wings would have been closed to shown the Annunciation in grisaille (monochrome) on the exterior. This, the right wing of the triptych, shows the Presentation in the Temple, completing the cycle. This event confirms Christ's divinity as he is hailed as the messiah by Simeon and the prophetess Anna. The Temple is shown as the interior of a Gothic cathedral, its splendour contrasting with the ruins of the previous panels. The three main figures of this group were lifted, with little modification, from the travelling triptych of Charles V by Hans Memling, now in the Prado. The inscription on the canopy reads, 'Hail Mary mother of God'. Ysenbrandt spent his working life in Bruges, at that time an important artistic centre. He continued the tradition of the great Bruges painters, Hans Memling (1430/5-94) and Gerard David ((d. 1523). Little is known about his life and he left no known signed works, but a number of paintings, including this piece, have been attributed to him on the basis of style alone. | Subjects: | religion (Presentation) | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Ysenbrandt, Adrien (Flemish painter, ca. 1500-before 1551) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=9174... | Go to resource |
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