Art before the Renaissance

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Late Medieval Panel Paintings: Methods, Materials, Meanings

By Susie Nash

I'd never heard of St Hedwig! As her legend goes, she was a woman of means who gave everything to the poor, and punished herself severely, walking barefoot through ice and snow on her way to church. After her death in the mid 13th century she was venerated in and around Silesia, in modern day Poland. She was canonized in 1267 by Pope Clement IV and soon became the subject of panels and altarpieces for churches and chapels dedicated to her. But not beyond the small area of Northern Europe where she was known, and therein lies the attraction of both Sam Hogg's exhibition Late Medieval Paintings: Materials, Methods, Meanings in New York in 2012 and this detailed and well illustrated catalogue by Susie Nash, a professor of art history at the Courtauld Institute in London.

The title is a quandary: ‘late mediaeval’suggests the end of one epoch rather than the beginning of a new one but the avoidance of the 'R' word may be intentional. The Renaissance is typically linked with the rebirth of classical art in Italy. Although Giorgio Vasari's The Lives of the Artists would have us believe that this was a wholly Italian affair with a few pockets of influence in the Netherlands, it too affected Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Poland. Yet not only is there little published work on these centres but what art has survived, which is very small in quantity, is also undervalued as to quality. And although these centres may have contributed less to artistic innovation than did Italy, they are still worthy of historical enquiry.

Nash's catalogue ought to go some way in countering this bias as she provides an account of 22 works in considerable detail, covering their production, style, dating and some explanation of the iconography and original context. The physical construction of the panels is a major concern, with wood analysis, dendrochronology, infrared photography and X-rays taking up a major part of the text.

A fine example of Nash's efforts is The Dormition of the Virgin made in Vienna in about 1460. This remarkably crowded and surprisingly busy panel depicts the dying Virgin surrounded by apostles. The panel is, of course, just one part of a much bigger multi-panel altarpiece depicting other scenes from her life. Seven of these survive, scattered across public and, unfortunately, private collections, and the double-page reconstruction gives the reader a taste of the magnificent original, with its panelled wings and even possibly a carved centre panel up to two metres in height. Nash's detective work is tantalizing as she rebuilds the altarpiece, despite the successful attempts of the developing 19th-century art market to hack it to pieces. Her archaeological skills are also apparent in her reconstruction of the aforementioned Saints Hedwig of Silesia, John the Evangelist, Paul and Mary Magdalene: two panels from the end of the 15th century. What is also refreshing in this and her account is the avoidance of attribution to specific individuals: the anonymity of the Viennese Master of the Marienaltar or simply a Silesian Painter reminds us that art production at this time was a communal enterprise, and the work of many hands is to be found on these pious panels.

What seems to be lacking, however, is the historical context for many of these works. The 15th century in Northern Europe was a period of economic, political and religious turmoil and this must have had some impact upon artistic patronage and production. Furthermore, the events of the 16th century, and in particular Protestant iconoclasm in the centres where these works were produced, would go some way to explaining why so few works survive, but this is overlooked and the reader is left in the dark.

A work such as this is unlikely to be on the wish list of the typical museum visitor or art lover. That is to be regretted for there is much here to be enjoyed and to prompt further investigation the next time we find ourselves in a Viennese church or a Polish art museum. For the student, the volume lacks an index and bibliography which both frustrates yet prompts us to seek out additional readings elsewhere. And as a final footnote one would hope that major Western collections would open their minds to saving these works for the public, as all too many seem to languish in private hands.

Late Medieval Panel Paintings: Methods, Materials, Meanings by Susie Nash is published by Sam Fogg Ltd 2011. 298 pp. 440 colour illus, £40.00 paperback. ISBN: 978 0 955339 34 9