ヤン・ヴァン・エイク作「ヴァン・デル・パーレの聖母」について : 制作目的に関する一考察

抄録

The Paele Madonna (1436, Bruges, Town Gallery) is one of the most important works by Jan van Eyck, and traditionally it has been regarded as an altarpiece. The work was placed over the altar of St. Peter and St. Paul in the collegiate church of St. Donatian at Bruges for a certain period, but there is evidence that it was not commissioned for the altar. As the Paele Madonna is so similar in composition to the northern epitaphs of 14th and 15th century, it leads us to believe that the painting had also been commissioned as an epitaph. R. Terner points out in his paper that the inscription style on the frame of the Paele Madonna corresponds exactly with these epitaphs. In particular, he says, the Bursner Epitaph (ca. 1348, Cathedral of Augsburg) is a good example of the similarity of composition. Jan van Eyck selected a composition which draws the observer into the painting. His technique is so perfect that we are invited to listen to the "sacra conversazione". On the shield on the shoulder of St. George, there is a reflection of a man who is believed to be Jan van Eyck himself. The painter along with the observer may be witnesses to some event, such as a wedding as is the case of the double portrait of G. Arnorfini and his wife (1434 London, National Gallery) which also has the reflection of the artist. Similarly with the Paele Madonna, maybe we are observers of the initiation of the foundation of a choral chaplain in St. Donatian's church by Van der Paele in 1434. Therefore it seems possible that Paele commissioned Jan van Eyck to paint the epitaph at the time he founded the chaplain. It took Van Eyck 2 years to complete this masterpiece which today can still be seen in its original condition. It therefore appears that the Paele Madonna is not an altarpiece as originally thought but an epitaphf for the foundation in 1434.