Quentin Massys
Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting
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The Money Changer and His Wife (1514). Quentin Massys (also found as Metsys)
Oil on panel. 71 cm x 68 cm
Louvre Museum. Paris, France
Until the time in which Massys painted this work, religious themes prevailed in the history of painting. They had the function of exalting the religious characters and scenes, and also of teaching people who did not know how to read. There were not many books, as the printing press was invented near 1440. We can add the mythological theme. It was recovered at the beginning of the Renaissance, due to the admiration to the Greek- Roman world. We can observe some “earthly” characters also, but always related to power.
Nevertheless, at the time of this painting and in Flandes, where this artist was located, the genre painting started to become important. It portrayed the middle class and lower classes in everyday life, performing common tasks or celebrating in streets and pubs. This type of painting got a preeminent place with Bruegel the Elder, about half century after this painting by Massys.
This work is special because it is considered as one of those first scenes of genre of the “costumbrist” painting of the 16th century.
And speaking of history, social criticism, moral tone and satire —exposing with intelligence, humor some aspect of society to criticize it— started to appear when the different social classes were portrayed. And this Massys’s painting also has that “merit”: it is one of the initiators of painting with social criticism.
Which is the criticism? While the lender weighs the gold, the wife is distracted from her religious book and observes the coins. It is a time of prosperity, and the upper middle class is accumulating richness and the artist satirizes about the greed which puts those coins above spiritual richness.
Recommended links:
Characteristic Elements of the Painting of the Flemish Primitives.
Artistic Movements I: from Classical Antiquity to Rococo.
The Arnolfini Portrait, Jan van Eyck.
Van Eyck and the Rediscovery of Oil.
The Garden of Earthly Delights (1490-1500), El Bosco.
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