Ridderbos 2015
“Perspectieven op de Jongste Dag” (Bernard Ridderbos) 2015
[in: Kunstschrift, vol. 59, nr. 6 (December 2015/January 2016), pp. 6-13]
Ridderbos compares the representations of the Last Judgment that were painted by Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling and Jheronimus Bosch. An interesting question is what the painters and their patrons wanted to communicate. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the motives of the artists and the expectations of their public. Van der Weyden focuses on Christ, St Michael and the damned without painting even a single devil, whereas Bosch indulges in monsters and physical torture. Bosch and Memling are clearly different but their representations of the Last Judgment have more in common with each other regarding virtuosity and outward show than with Van der Weyden’s Last Judgment, which is more reserved in its depiction of both heaven and hell.
[explicit 4th February 2016]
