Jan van Eyck and Portugal’s ‘Illustrious Generation’

This book investigates Jan Van Eyck’s patronage by the Crown of Portugal and his role as diplomat-painter for the Duchy of Burgundy following his first voyage to Lisbon in 1428-1429, when he painted two portraits of Infanta Isabella, who became the third wife of Philip the Good in 1430. New portrait identifications are provided for the Ghent Altarpiece (1432) and its iconographical prototype, the lost Fountain of Life. These altarpieces are analysed with regard to King Joao I’s conquest of Ceuta, achieved by his sons, who were hailed as an “illustrious generation.” Strong family ties between the dynastic houses of Avis and Lancaster explain Lusitania’s sustained fascination with Arthurian lore and the Grail quest. Several chapters of this book are overlaid with a chivalric veneer. A second “secret mission” to Portugal in 1437 by Jan van Eyck is postulated and this diplomatic visit is related to Prince Henry the Navigator’s expedition to Tangier and King Duarte’s attempts to forge an alliance with Alfonso V of Aragon. Late Eyckian commissions are reviewed in the light of this ill-fated crusade and additional new portraits are identified. The most significant artist of Renaissance Flanders appears to have been patronized as much by the House of Avis as by the Duchy of Burgundy. Barbara von Barghahn is Professor of Art History at George Washington University and a specialist in the art history of Portugal, Spain, and their colonial dominions, as well as Flanders. In 1993, she was conferred O Grao Comendador in the Portuguese Order of Prince Henry the Navigator. She has spent nearly a decade completing research about Jan van Eyck’s diplomatic visits to the Iberian Peninsula.

Preface Introduction: Jan Van Eyck Circa 1425-1427
Historical Prologue: The Hague and Flanders
Jan van Eyck's 1425-1426 "Secret Journey"
The 1427 "Secret Voyage" To Aragon The 1428-1429 "Secret Voyage" to Portugal
A Mission on Behalf of the Duke of Burgundy
Polemical Portraits of the Infanta
Jan's Grand Tour: Lisbon to Porto
Houses of Guimaraes and Braga's Monte Espinho
Parenthetical Thoughts about Jan van Eyck's Diplomatic Excursions The Fountain Of Life (1429) and the Avis Dynastic House
Portraits of King Joao I and Lusitania's Princes
The Wing Panels of the Fountain of Life:
Jan van Eyck's Diptych of the Crucifixion and the Last Judgment
The Chivalric Orders and the Defense of the Faith
The Portuguese Elevation of Charlemagne
Reflections upon the New Jerusalem The Lisbon of King Joao I and Sintra, The "Queen's Estate"
The Monarch's Palaces in Lisbon
The St. Martin Palace of Prince Duarte
Prince Henrique's Houses near St. Vincent Behind the Walls
Prince Pedro's Estaus Palace
The Houses of Princes Joao and Fernando
The Residence of Count-Duke Afonso
The Avis-Lancastrian Palace of Sintra: Templar and Arthurian Ideals
The "Swan Hall" or Sala dos Infantes
The "Magpie Hall" and Alchemical Emblems
A Royal Chapel for Crusader Knights: Pageants and the Complexion of Society
The Winds of Pentecostal Spirit: Sintra's Royal Apartments Isabel of Portugal and the Lion of Flanders
Departure from Portugal: An Infanta's Reception in Flanders
Festivities in Bruges
1430 and the Brabantine Inheritance of Philip the Good
A "House of Marvels" in Artois: Hesdin and Jan van Eyck's "Ducal Hunts"
The Versailles Hunting Party
Thoughts about Poetry and Music The Ghent Altarpiece (1432)
Medieval Ghent: A City of Political Islands
Philip the Good's Castles at Ghent
Sint-Janskerk and its Patrons: The Ghent Altarpiece and its Specters
The Exterior Panels of the Ghent Altarpiece
A "Tabernacle of God" with Man
Windows unto Ghent The Grail Quest & Chivalric Ideals: Counts Of Flanders & Paladins Of Lusitania
Throne for the "Dayspring on High": Adoration of the Lamb
The Tree of Knowledge
Cavalcade of Just Judges
Cavalcade of Holy Knights: Princes of Ceuta
In the Company of Royal Warriors
Holy Hermits and Pilgrims
Imitating the Heroes of Camelot
The Cistercian Ideal of the Grail Knight in Portugal Circa 1437: Jan Van Eyck's "Secret Mission" To Portugal
The Templar Citadel of Tomar: Romanesque unto Renaissance
King Joao I's Batalha Abbey 1429-1450
St. Barbara with her Tower: Batalha's Capelas Imperfeitas and a View of Lisbon
Tangier and the Sword of St. Catherine: The Dresden Triptych
A Setting for an Ex-Voto Triptych: The Chapel of St. Michael in the Lisbon
Castle of St. George "Our Lady's Knights" & The House Of Avis
Prince Henrique the Navigator, the Moroccan Campaign & Franciscan Spirituality
Prince Pedro, the Kingdom of Aragon and St. George the Dragon Slayer
Crucible of Wisdom: King Duarte and the Diptych of the Madonna in a Church
The Lisbon Cathedral of Santa Maria and the Chapel of St. Vincent Miscellanea: Reflections Within a Dark Glass
A Lost Triptych and the Lomellini of Lisbon and Madeira
Philip the Good's Mappamundi
The Ghent "Hell" Altar Frontal & the Passion Panels of Lodewijk Allyncbrood
A Portuguese Disciple of Jan van Eyck in Bruges
Holy Kinship, Holy Face: Imaging an Icon for the Avis Court
Ecclesia-Eleousa and a Metaphorical "Cloth of Honor": Magnifying Feminine Virtu Conclusion: Ecclesia and an Age of Crusaders
Shield, Spurs and Sword for La Sainte-Eglise: Revisiting the Theme of the Grail Banquet
and Knightly Entremets
The 1454 "Feast of the Pheasant" marking the Birthday of Duchess Isabel of Burgundy
In the Company of St. Thekla: A Last Glimpse of the Portuguese Infanta Index

• By (author) Barbara von Barghahn