Allegory

Allegory with a Virgin (Allegory of Chastity), 1479-1480
Hans Memling, (b. ca. 1440, Seligenstadt, d. 1494, Bruges)
Height: 38 cm (14.96 in.), Width: 32 cm (12.6 in.)
oil on board

Wonderfully weird image. I can't seem to find out too much about it thought. The virgin/chastity aspect is pretty straightforward due to the elevation of our dear virgin upon the craggy rock (amythest) I will, as I have surely often done, admit my lack of knowledge when it comes to iconography in art. I do think I need to procure myself a good book and spend some time making up for this lack.

A wee bit about the painting: http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m/memling/2middle3/15allego.html

Virgin & Child

Virgin & Child with Angels, 1455
Marco di Antonio (known as Marco Zoppo) 1433-1478
Canvas; H. 89.2 cm; W. 72.5 cm
Musee du Louvre, Paris

With the intentions of sharing a Mantegna with you today because of a show currently at the Louvre in Paris, I was wandering around the exhibition website discovered this work by Marco Zoppo. This is my first introduction to the artist who was a contemporary of Mantegna and for a time worked in Padua, Italy, as Mantegna did. He was from Bologna where after being rejected by his painting master he returned to produce most of his paintings. I was particularly drawn by the detail and attention paid to the putti (the angels) as well as the books in the foreground.

Doing a quick search of Marco Zoppo, I don't find much other than opportunities to purchase oil reproductions of this work. A blog dedicated to sharing lesser known, or forgotten artist's pointed him out, but only delved into basic biographical information. Unfortunately I must admit that my knowledge of Renaissance art, while forged through intro art history courses (taken and as a grad asst.), I only seem to have recovered the basics lately. This is surely the fault of my leanings toward Modern and contemporary art over the years but I am working on broadening my range and am trying not to lean too heavily on what I know for this blog. Such babbling for a Sunday!