DOI issue:
Część II. Sztuka późnośredniowieczna i wczesnonowożytna / Part II. Late Medieval and Early Modern Art
DOI article:Herman, Zofia: Święty Łukasz malujący Marię Jakoba Beinharta w zbiorach Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie. Autorefleksja artystyczna a funkcja kultowa
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45361#0250
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Late Medieval and Early Modern Art
What is unusual in representations of Saint Luke painting the Virgin, the work at hand
features a motif of Our Lady weaving the miraculous seamless robe for her son, which the
artist borrowed from an engraving by Veit Stoss (Stoß) depicting the Holy Family (fig. 2).9This
poses the question of how the introduction of this motif alters the interpretation of the entire
scene. The juxtaposition of the two artists - the painting Luke and the weaving Mary, and the
pair of items - the painting and the robe, seems meaningful. The painting itself, placed at the
easel, is another story. In all likelihood it was moveable, but its initial form is unknown.
Saint Luke Painting the Virgin
The motif of Saint Luke in contemporary costume of an artist, painting the Virgin, who is
posing for him, did not emerge until the fifteenth century.10 Prior to that, the Evangelist was
depicted painting on his own, like in the scenes which show him writing. The legend of Luke
the painter legitimized the creation of Christian representations as well as the cult of numer-
ous icons attributed to him, which had the status of “true images” (yera effigies, vera imago)
and depicted both the Virgin and Christ. An image of Christ allegedly created by Saint Luke
may be seen at the Santa Sanctorum chapel in the Lateran Palace. One of the first known ver-
sions of the legend of Saint Luke as painter is associated with this work - the 1145 treatise by
Nicolaus Maniacutius devoted to the Sancta Sanctorum image of Christ: Historia Imaginis
Salvatoris.11 According to Maniacutius, Luke is not painting Christ from nature, but attempts
to reconstruct his image from memory. One example of such rendition of the subject is the
earliest representation of the painting Evangelist preserved in the West: the miniature by
Johannes von Troppau, which forms part of a series of illustrations depicting the saint’s life
(Österreichisches Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Cod. 1182, fol. çir).12 In this work he is depicted
alone, in the process of painting a crucifix at his easel. In the late Middle Ages, the Legenda
Aurea representation of Saint Luke as painter became more popular: with the Virgin and
Child posing in his workshop.13
Such representations of the scene of painting the Virgin may be associated with the
fifteenth-century popularity of realistic devotional images, which - according to priestly
9 See Stanisława Sawicka, Ryciny Wita Stwosza (Warsaw: Sztuka, 1957), pp. 9,16-7, fig. 4; Anna Ziomecka,
“Wit Stwosz a późnogotycka rzeźba na Śląsku,” in Wit Stosz. Studia o sztuce i recepcji, Adam Stanisław Labuda, ed.
(Warsaw-Poznań: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1986), pp. 125-45; Andrzej Olszewski, “Wpływy sztuki
Wita Stwosza w Polsce i na Słowacji,” in Wit Stwosz w Krakowie, Lech Kalinowski, Franciszek Stolot, eds (Krakow:
Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1986), p. 71.
10 For more information on the iconography of Saint Luke painting the Virgin see Dorothee Klein, St.
Lukas als Maler der Maria. Ikonographie der Lukas-Madonna (Berlin: Oskar Schloss, 1933); Gisela Kraut, Lukas malt
die Madonna. Zeugnisse zum künstlerischen Selbstverständnis in der Malerei (Worms: Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft,
1986).
11 See Gerhard Wolf, Salus Populi Romani. Die Geschichte römischer Kultbilder im Mittelalter (Weinheim:
VCH, Acta Humaniora, 1990), pp. 60-8,321-5.
12 Christiane Kruse, Wozu Menschen malen (Munich: Wilhelm Fink, 2003), p. 235: Till Holger Borchert,
“Rogiers St. Luke: The Case of Corporate Identification,” in Rogier van der Weyden St. Luke Drawing the Virgin
Selected Essays in Context, Carol Jean Purtle, ed. (Turnhout: Brepols, 1997), p. 65. For miniatures by Johannes
von Troppau see Max Dvorak, “Die Illuminationen des Johannes von Neumarkt,” Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen
Sammlungen der Allerhöchsten Kaisershauses, no. 22 (1901), pp. 82-91.
13 For more information on the literary sources of the legend of Saint Luke the painter see Ernst von
Dobschütz, Christusbilder. Untersuchungen zur christlichen Legende (Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1899); Clemens M. Henze,
Lukas der Muttergottesmaler. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis des christlichen Orients (Leuven: Bibliotheca Alfonsiana, 1948);
Hans Belting, Bild und Kult. Eine Geschichte des Bildes vor dem Zeitalter der Kunst (Munich: Beck, 1990); Wolf, op. cit.
Late Medieval and Early Modern Art
What is unusual in representations of Saint Luke painting the Virgin, the work at hand
features a motif of Our Lady weaving the miraculous seamless robe for her son, which the
artist borrowed from an engraving by Veit Stoss (Stoß) depicting the Holy Family (fig. 2).9This
poses the question of how the introduction of this motif alters the interpretation of the entire
scene. The juxtaposition of the two artists - the painting Luke and the weaving Mary, and the
pair of items - the painting and the robe, seems meaningful. The painting itself, placed at the
easel, is another story. In all likelihood it was moveable, but its initial form is unknown.
Saint Luke Painting the Virgin
The motif of Saint Luke in contemporary costume of an artist, painting the Virgin, who is
posing for him, did not emerge until the fifteenth century.10 Prior to that, the Evangelist was
depicted painting on his own, like in the scenes which show him writing. The legend of Luke
the painter legitimized the creation of Christian representations as well as the cult of numer-
ous icons attributed to him, which had the status of “true images” (yera effigies, vera imago)
and depicted both the Virgin and Christ. An image of Christ allegedly created by Saint Luke
may be seen at the Santa Sanctorum chapel in the Lateran Palace. One of the first known ver-
sions of the legend of Saint Luke as painter is associated with this work - the 1145 treatise by
Nicolaus Maniacutius devoted to the Sancta Sanctorum image of Christ: Historia Imaginis
Salvatoris.11 According to Maniacutius, Luke is not painting Christ from nature, but attempts
to reconstruct his image from memory. One example of such rendition of the subject is the
earliest representation of the painting Evangelist preserved in the West: the miniature by
Johannes von Troppau, which forms part of a series of illustrations depicting the saint’s life
(Österreichisches Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Cod. 1182, fol. çir).12 In this work he is depicted
alone, in the process of painting a crucifix at his easel. In the late Middle Ages, the Legenda
Aurea representation of Saint Luke as painter became more popular: with the Virgin and
Child posing in his workshop.13
Such representations of the scene of painting the Virgin may be associated with the
fifteenth-century popularity of realistic devotional images, which - according to priestly
9 See Stanisława Sawicka, Ryciny Wita Stwosza (Warsaw: Sztuka, 1957), pp. 9,16-7, fig. 4; Anna Ziomecka,
“Wit Stwosz a późnogotycka rzeźba na Śląsku,” in Wit Stosz. Studia o sztuce i recepcji, Adam Stanisław Labuda, ed.
(Warsaw-Poznań: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1986), pp. 125-45; Andrzej Olszewski, “Wpływy sztuki
Wita Stwosza w Polsce i na Słowacji,” in Wit Stwosz w Krakowie, Lech Kalinowski, Franciszek Stolot, eds (Krakow:
Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1986), p. 71.
10 For more information on the iconography of Saint Luke painting the Virgin see Dorothee Klein, St.
Lukas als Maler der Maria. Ikonographie der Lukas-Madonna (Berlin: Oskar Schloss, 1933); Gisela Kraut, Lukas malt
die Madonna. Zeugnisse zum künstlerischen Selbstverständnis in der Malerei (Worms: Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft,
1986).
11 See Gerhard Wolf, Salus Populi Romani. Die Geschichte römischer Kultbilder im Mittelalter (Weinheim:
VCH, Acta Humaniora, 1990), pp. 60-8,321-5.
12 Christiane Kruse, Wozu Menschen malen (Munich: Wilhelm Fink, 2003), p. 235: Till Holger Borchert,
“Rogiers St. Luke: The Case of Corporate Identification,” in Rogier van der Weyden St. Luke Drawing the Virgin
Selected Essays in Context, Carol Jean Purtle, ed. (Turnhout: Brepols, 1997), p. 65. For miniatures by Johannes
von Troppau see Max Dvorak, “Die Illuminationen des Johannes von Neumarkt,” Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen
Sammlungen der Allerhöchsten Kaisershauses, no. 22 (1901), pp. 82-91.
13 For more information on the literary sources of the legend of Saint Luke the painter see Ernst von
Dobschütz, Christusbilder. Untersuchungen zur christlichen Legende (Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1899); Clemens M. Henze,
Lukas der Muttergottesmaler. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis des christlichen Orients (Leuven: Bibliotheca Alfonsiana, 1948);
Hans Belting, Bild und Kult. Eine Geschichte des Bildes vor dem Zeitalter der Kunst (Munich: Beck, 1990); Wolf, op. cit.