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Donne Triptych
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Donne Triptych
The Donne Triptych (or Donne Altarpiece) is a hinged-triptych altarpiece by the Early Netherlandish painter Hans Memling. The painting was created around 1478 for the soldier, courtier and diplomat Sir John Donne. The triptych comprises three panels that include five individual paintings. The central interior panel depicts the Virgin and Child, donor portraits of Sir John Donne, the patron, along with his wife and daughter, as well as Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Barbara, the two double-sided wings include images of Saint John the Baptist, Saint John the Evangelist on the interior sides of the wings, and Saint Christopher and Saint Anthony Abbot on the two exteriors of the wings.
Art historians have debated whether the altarpiece was painted in the early 1480s, around the same time Memling painted the Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Barbara, in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. An earlier date of sometime in the late 1470s is possible, at the time he completed the similar St John Altarpiece, or it may have been painted as a precursor to that altarpiece.
The donor, Sir John Donne of Kidwelly, was a Picardy-born Welsh diplomat for the House of York who visited Bruges at least once, in 1468 to attend Charles the Bold and Margaret of York's wedding; how he became acquainted with Memling is as uncertain as when he commissioned the triptych.
The triptych is in the collection of the National Gallery, London.
Sir John Donne, of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, a courtier to the English King Edward IV (r. 1461–1470 and 1471–1483) and a loyal supporter of the House of York, perhaps commissioned the painting on a visit to Bruges in 1479 after seeing Hans Memling's St. John Altarpiece that had been created in the mid-1470s for Old St. John's Hospital (Sint-Janshospitaal). Scholars have proposed that it is likely that the St. John Altarpiece was taken into consideration in the contract between Donne and Memling, as the composition, architectural setting, figural placement a virtually the same. Memling was known to re-use, recycle, and recombine workshop patterns in order to run an efficient workshop. The Donne Triptych is crafted with oil paint on wood and is also framed in oak wood.
Campbell has identified Donne's coat of arms as "Azure, a wolf salient argent" and they can clearly be seen attached to the two column capitals that flank the canopied throne of the Virgin Mary in the central panel of the triptych. The armorial escutcheons are also found in the stained glass seen in the right wing with the figure of Saint John the Evangelist. Similarly, an image of the Donne coat of arms, along with a donor portrait of Sir John Donne, can be seen in the Louthe Hours (also known as the Donne Hours), painted by Simon Marmion c.1480.
A livery collar represents a royal symbol presented to people who served in the royal household, sheriffs and those who expressed loyalty during the battlefield. There were two different types of livery collars in England during the fifteenth century: the Lancastrian and the Yorkist collar. In the painting, both Sir John Donne and his wife Elizabeth are donned with Yorkist collars. Their collars include the roses and suns of the House of York, as well as white the lion which hangs suspended at the center, to demonstrate their political fidelity to the House of York.
The exterior panels are only seen when the triptych is closed, and two saints anchor the wings: Saint Christopher and Saint Anthony Abbot, both executed in the grisaille technique, imitating marble or stone statues in niches. Both saints are shown with light shining on them, casting shadows behind them.
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Donne Triptych
The Donne Triptych (or Donne Altarpiece) is a hinged-triptych altarpiece by the Early Netherlandish painter Hans Memling. The painting was created around 1478 for the soldier, courtier and diplomat Sir John Donne. The triptych comprises three panels that include five individual paintings. The central interior panel depicts the Virgin and Child, donor portraits of Sir John Donne, the patron, along with his wife and daughter, as well as Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Barbara, the two double-sided wings include images of Saint John the Baptist, Saint John the Evangelist on the interior sides of the wings, and Saint Christopher and Saint Anthony Abbot on the two exteriors of the wings.
Art historians have debated whether the altarpiece was painted in the early 1480s, around the same time Memling painted the Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Barbara, in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. An earlier date of sometime in the late 1470s is possible, at the time he completed the similar St John Altarpiece, or it may have been painted as a precursor to that altarpiece.
The donor, Sir John Donne of Kidwelly, was a Picardy-born Welsh diplomat for the House of York who visited Bruges at least once, in 1468 to attend Charles the Bold and Margaret of York's wedding; how he became acquainted with Memling is as uncertain as when he commissioned the triptych.
The triptych is in the collection of the National Gallery, London.
Sir John Donne, of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, a courtier to the English King Edward IV (r. 1461–1470 and 1471–1483) and a loyal supporter of the House of York, perhaps commissioned the painting on a visit to Bruges in 1479 after seeing Hans Memling's St. John Altarpiece that had been created in the mid-1470s for Old St. John's Hospital (Sint-Janshospitaal). Scholars have proposed that it is likely that the St. John Altarpiece was taken into consideration in the contract between Donne and Memling, as the composition, architectural setting, figural placement a virtually the same. Memling was known to re-use, recycle, and recombine workshop patterns in order to run an efficient workshop. The Donne Triptych is crafted with oil paint on wood and is also framed in oak wood.
Campbell has identified Donne's coat of arms as "Azure, a wolf salient argent" and they can clearly be seen attached to the two column capitals that flank the canopied throne of the Virgin Mary in the central panel of the triptych. The armorial escutcheons are also found in the stained glass seen in the right wing with the figure of Saint John the Evangelist. Similarly, an image of the Donne coat of arms, along with a donor portrait of Sir John Donne, can be seen in the Louthe Hours (also known as the Donne Hours), painted by Simon Marmion c.1480.
A livery collar represents a royal symbol presented to people who served in the royal household, sheriffs and those who expressed loyalty during the battlefield. There were two different types of livery collars in England during the fifteenth century: the Lancastrian and the Yorkist collar. In the painting, both Sir John Donne and his wife Elizabeth are donned with Yorkist collars. Their collars include the roses and suns of the House of York, as well as white the lion which hangs suspended at the center, to demonstrate their political fidelity to the House of York.
The exterior panels are only seen when the triptych is closed, and two saints anchor the wings: Saint Christopher and Saint Anthony Abbot, both executed in the grisaille technique, imitating marble or stone statues in niches. Both saints are shown with light shining on them, casting shadows behind them.
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