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Commentary: The Virgin, holding the Child, stands in majesty on an Oriental carpet, enframed by a sumptuous brocade canopy and hanging inscribed AVE GRA[TIA] PLE[N]A (Hail [Mary] full of grace). She is attended by St. Barbara, with her attribute of the tower in which she was imprisoned rising behind her, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who gave up her crown to become a nun, and a kneeling Carthusian monk. As yet no clear explanation has been found for the presence of the two saints. Elizabeth may have been included because she was the patron saint of Isabella of Portugal, the Duchess of Burgundy, who apparently made donations to Carthusian monasteries throughout the Netherlands and Switzerland. Barbara was protectress against sudden death and, among other roles, patron saint of soldiers, which may explain the statue of Mars visible in a window of her tower. She appears here as sponsor for the donor, and it is possible that both saints had some particular association with his monastery or with his early membership in the Teutonic Order, a religious foundation with military ties.
The Carthusian monk has been identified as Jan Vos (d. 1462), Prior of the Charterhouse of Genadeda — or Val-de-Grâce — near Bruges, and a well-known figure in fifteenth-century monastic life in the Netherlands. He held various important posts in Carthusian houses before his appointment to Genadedal in 1441, the year of Jan van Eyck’s death. Documents relate that the Frick painting was ordered as a “pious memorial of Dom Jan Vos, Prior of the Monastery,” and that it was dedicated on September 3, 1443. Most scholars consider this one of van Eyck’s last paintings, begun by him in 1441 but completed after his death in his shop.
Many attempts have been made to identify the walled town beside the river at right. Such diverse cities as Maastricht, Prague, Lyon, Liège, and Brussels have been proposed. It has also been suggested that the large church to the right of St. Elizabeth represents old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. But despite the remarkably vivid details, the view appears to be imaginary.
Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.
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