The sonosphere of the Heavens. A brief study of the history and iconography of three panel paintings by Hans Memling on display in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp

Grzegorz Kubies

Abstract

The present study consists of two parts. The first part is a multicontextual historical introduction offering the reader a more informed experience of a partially lost work of art by Hans Memling (c.1435–94) and his workshop. In the second part, the author attempts to grasp the meaning of the contents of the three Antwerp panels and to identify the ideological inspirations behind the metaphysical vision they display.                   The paintings, which probably constituted the top section of a Marian polyptych, come from the Benedictine monastery of Santa María la Real in Nájera (Spain). Apart from the paintings themselves (heraldic elements on the angels’ attire), the earliest and in fact the only surviving evidence linking the panels directly to the Nájera monastery is the travel diary of Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744–1811). In the diary, the author recorded the fact that, in addition to the ‘triptych’ now preserved in Antwerp, the monastery was in possession of a panel showing The Assumption of Mary into Heaven and other panels with the effigies of four saints and two apostles. 

The panels on display in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp present Christ surrounded by angel musicians. In the manner in which the central figure is presented, we find iconographic analogies with the figure of God/Christ in the Ghent Altarpiece (Ghent, Sint-Baafskathedraal; 1432) by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and Christ in the Braque Triptych (Paris, Musée du Louvre; c.1452) by Rogier van der Weyden. Christ’s attributes, a crown and a sphere with a cross, allude to His power over the world and the triumph of the Church. The angel musicians, bearing iconographic similarities to earlier Netherlandish art, bring to mind European vocal and instrumental music of the fifteenth century. The way they are deployed in the paintings seems to reflect an attempt to represent the hierarchy of the performance apparatus. The most important place is occupied by three trios flanking Christ; the next groups in order of importance are musicians playing loud instruments (three trumpets and a shawm) and soft instruments (psaltery, tromba marina, lute, portative organ, harp, vielle). This multitude and variety of instruments, as well as the presence of singers, is intended to express the splendour of the Heavens – a dimension of Eternity. The music performed by winged creatures must also be interpreted in the context of the central panel of the polyptych (The Assumption of Mary into Heaven) as an accompaniment to Mary’s peregrination and Her reception in Heaven. Due to the influence of the Dutch painting tradition, in which some types of iconographic composition were particularly prominent, in the panels from Antwerp we see very few authentic elements of the performance practice in Bruges at that time. The trios possess primarily Trinitarian connotations (in vocal music, three-part arrangements were prevalent during the first half of the fifteenth century). The loud instruments, intended to emphasise the ceremonial character of the central part of the retable, are not typical of alta cappella ensembles, and their selection probably results from the principle of the asymmetry of musical content applied by Memling. 

The fundamental ideas behind the panels are rooted in theology (Heaven, the Cross), liturgy (the attire of Christ and of the angel musicians) and iconography (the figure of Christ, the angel musicians, the instruments). Apart from the evident influence of the Ghent Altarpiece (the figure of Christ, the singers’ facial expressions), a crucial inspiration would seem to be The Fountain of Life (Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado; 1445/50) by the circle of Jan van Eyck. In all probability, Hans Memling was familiar with the iconography of that painting (from drawings, written/spoken accounts, direct experience?), because in the paintings from Antwerp we see the same soft instruments, including the tromba marina, rarely depicted in fifteenth-century panel paintings.