EAST DOORS, BAPTISTERY, FLORENCE (1403–1424). In 1401, a competition was announced in Florence for the east doors of the Baptistery that faced the cathedral. The south doors had already been executed in the previous century by Andrea Pisano with scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence. Seven artists submitted entries to the competition, including Filippo Brunelleschi, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Jacopo della Quercia. Participants were to follow certain specifications. Entries were to represent the Sacrifice of Isaac, they were to be executed in bronze, and enclosed in a quatrefoil to harmonize with Andrea Pisano’s reliefs on the south doors. In the end, Ghiberti won the competition as his relief was better suited to current tastes. Rejecting the medieval vocabulary that had permeated sculpture in the previous century, Ghiberti rendered a classicized Isaac, one of the earliest nudes of the Renaissance to depend on ancient prototypes. At first, officials intended the east doors (now the north doors) to include scenes from the Old Testament, with the winner’s entry filling one of the panels. Soon, however, the source was changed to the New Testament and Ghiberti’s Sacrifice of Isaac (now in Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello) was saved for inclusion in a third set of doors.
The east doors, like Andrea Pisano’s, are divided into 28 quatrefoils, arranged in seven rows of four. Each field is enclosed by a square composed of foliage, fruits, insects, lizards, and birds and, at each intersection, a bust of either a prophet or prophetess emerges. On the lowest panels are the four Evangelists and four Doctors of the Church. Of the scenes from the New Testament, which relate the story of Christ, the most often discussed is the Flagellation. Here, the event unfolds in front of a classical portico. Like Brunelleschi’s architecture, the scene is symmetrical and balanced. The figure of Christ is based on ancient models, with realistic anatomical details and believable drapery. Once installed, the doors were highly praised by contemporaries. The competition for the commission marked the transition from the Proto- to the Early Renaissance era.
EFFIGY. A commemorative representation of an individual, especially in sculpture or medals. The earliest tomb effigies of the Renaissance showed the deceased as a corpse, with the Tomb of Mary of Hungary (1325; Naples, Santa Maria Donnaregina) by Gagliardo Primario and Tino da Camaino providing a Proto-Renaissance example. In the 15th century, this mode persisted, as Bernardo Rossellino’s Tomb of Leonardo Bruni in the Church of Santa Croce, Florence (c. 1445) illustrates. It was not until the 16th century that live effigies became common. In the 1532 project for the Tomb of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo planned for a reclining effigy, and his tombs of the Medici dukes in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo, Florence (1519–1534), present seated effigies above the tomb. The most animated examples are from the 17th century, among them the enthroned effigy in the Tomb of Pope Urban VIII by Gian Lorenzo Bernini at St. Peter’s, Rome (1628–1647), who raises his right arm in a blessing gesture and is enveloped by movemented drapery.
EKPHRASIS. A poetic, written description of a work of art. This literary genre, first introduced in late antiquity, gained great momentum during the Renaissance. Not only did it flourish once again as a literary medium, but patrons often commissioned works of art that recreated the descriptions provided by the ancients. Raphael’s Galatea in the Villa Farnesina, Rome (1513), depends on an ekphrasis authored by Philostratus the Elder, and Sodoma’s Marriage of Alexander and Roxana in the same location (1516–1519) owes its visual components to Lucian’s description of a painting by the ancient master Apelles commissioned by Alexander the Great. Another ekphrasis written by Lucian provided the prototype for Sandro Botticelli’s Calumny of Apelles (1495; Florence, Uffizi), the earliest Renaissance painting to recreate an ekphrasis from antiquity. Titian’s Worship of Venus (1518; Madrid, Prado) depends on Philostratus the Younger’s description, and his Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–1522; London, National Gallery) is based on an ekphrasis by Catullus that describes a bedspread created for the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Among the Renaissance writers who delved in the genre are the poet Angelo Poliziano, who wrote an ekphrasis on the reliefs cast by Vulcan for the doors of his consort’s temple that provided the inspiration for Botticelli’s Birth of Venus (c. 1485; Florence, Uffizi), and the humanist Mario Equicola, who wrote the ekphrasis that Giovanni Bellini used for his Feast of the Gods (1514; Washington, National Gallery). Emulating the past, or perhaps even recreating it, was meant to bring prestige to writers, patrons, and artists for the erudition they demonstrated.
EL GRECO (DOMENIKOS THEOTOKOPOULOS; 1541–1614). Born in Candia, Crete, El Greco was trained in the Byzantine tradition. In 1568, he traveled to Venice, which, at the time, ruled Crete. There he discovered the art of Tintoretto and was deeply inspired by it. Two years later he moved to Rome where he entered in the service of the Farnese and began painting in a Venetianized style. His Christ Healing the Blind (c. 1576; New York, Metropolitan Museum) shows the loose Venetian brushwork and deep tones of Tintoretto, elements that would become characteristic of his own style.
El Greco did not achieve success in Rome, as his works only appealed to a small group of patrons. In 1576, Don Diego de Castilla, dean of the Cathedral of Toledo, invited him to Spain to render works at the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo that memorialized Castilla’s mistress and their child. It was in Toledo that the artist received the sobriquet El Greco (The Greek). One of the works for Castilla was the Holy Trinity (1577–1579; Madrid, Prado), a painting whose theme and composition were inspired by Albrecht Dürer’s work of the same subject (1511; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum). It shows God the Father as the “throne of mercy,” as he is described in the Book of Exodus. He supports the dead body of Christ, who is based on Michelangelo’s in the Vatican Pietà. The Santo Domingo commission proved to be a complete success and established El Greco as a master of note.
In 1580, El Greco received from King Philip II of Spain the commission to paint the Martyrdom of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion for the Monastery of San Lorenzo in El Escorial. Philip paid for the work, but then stored it in the monastery basement and never again commissioned El Greco; perhaps the master’s style was too abstract and progressive for its time. This work was followed by his famed Burial of Count Orgáz (1586), painted for the Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo, and St. Martin and the Beggar (1596–1599; Washington, National Gallery) for the city’s Chapel of San José. El Greco’s View of Toledo (1600; New York, Metropolitan Museum) has a cataclysmic quality that some have read as commentary on the Inquisition carried out in Toledo, then the second major Catholic center in the world and the leader of the Spanish Counter-Reformation. The portrait Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara (1605; New York, Metropolitan Museum) shows the head of the Spanish Inquisition seated, wearing glasses, his windswept drapery adding to his threatening demeanor.
Though considered a Mannerist for his elongation and distortion of forms, some prefer to classify El Greco as Proto-Baroque because his religious paintings addressed the concerns of the Counter-Reformation. Some, like Christ Healing the Blind, speak of the blindness of those who reject Catholicism in favor of Protestantism. Others, such as St. Martin and the Beggar and the Burial of Count Orgáz, stress salvation through charity, a key message imparted by the Church in these years. Among El Greco’s pupils, Luis Tristán is the most noted.
ELEVATION OF THE CROSS (1610–1611; Antwerp Cathedral). In 1609, the fathers of the Church of St. Walburga in Antwerp decided to commission a new altarpiece. It fell on Peter Paul Rubens to carry out the work, a charge he received from Cornelis van der Geest, a wealthy merchant, art collector, and one of the church’s wardens. The altarpiece originally included a predella, a figure of God the Father with angels crowning the main scene, and above that a pelican tearing its chest open to feed its young—a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice. In the 18th century, the altarpiece was taken by the French, who removed the secondary elements. It was returned in the following century to Antwerp where it was placed in the North transept of the cathedral since, by then, St. Walburga was no longer standing. When opened, the triptych presents a continuous scene along its three panels. Here, crude, muscular types pull up the cross with great effort. The crucified Christ is shown as a classicized, seminude heroic figure that contrasts with the crudeness of his tormentors. The scene is animated by the barking dog included on the left and the oblique placement of the cross and figures. These features qualify the work as Caravaggist. When closed, the altarpiece shows Sts. Amandus and Walburga on the left panel and Eligius and Catherine on the right, which indicates that the scenes of the predella may have depicted the legends of these saints.
ENGELBRECHTSZ, CORNELIS (1468–1533). Dutch Mannerist painter from Leiden. Engelbrechtsz is thought to have been trained by Colijn de Coter, a follower of Rogier van der Weyden. His style relates to that of Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, particularly in the crowding of forms and rich surface ornamentation. His Crucifixion (c. 1520–1525; New York, Metropolitan Museum) shows figures with dramatic gestures and emotive facial expressions, all pushed close to the foreground against a cloudy sky. His forms are elongated and contorted, features that qualify him as a Mannerist painter. His Constantine and St. Helena (c. 1510–1520; Munich, Alte Pinakothek) depicts a youthful saint dressed in contemporary garb, holding the true cross. Constantine, dressed as a Northern emperor, holds the sword and orb, symbols of power. Engelbrechtsz was the teacher of Lucas van Leyden, who became one of the leading masters of the region.
ENTOMBMENT. The entombment refers to the biblical account of Christ’s burial. Pontius Pilate granted permission to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to retrieve the body from the cross. In keeping with Jewish funerary customs, Mary Magdalen anointed Christ’s body, and it was then wrapped in a white shroud and placed in the sepulcher. Both Raphael (1507; Rome, Galleria Borghese) and Titian (c. 1523–1525; Paris, Louvre) showed the Entombment with men carrying the dead body in a white cloth for burial. Caravaggio’s version of 1603–1604 for the Vittrici Chapel in the Chiesa Nuova (Rome, Pinacoteca Vaticana) is an iconic image of figures cascading diagonally to lower the Savior into the tomb. Rembrandt’s (1639; Munich, Alte Pinakothek) instead presents the moment when Christ is laid on his bier, the scene dramatically lit by candlelight.
EQUESTRIAN MONUMENT OF GATTAMELATA, PIAZZA DEL SANTO, PADUA (c. 1445–1453). This work was commissioned from Donatello by the Venetian Senate to honor the condottiere Erasmo da Narni, known as Gattamelata, who served as chief commander of the Venetian army and left funds in his will for his own monument. Donatello based his work on the ancient equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius (Rome, Capitoline Museum), then thought to represent Constantine the Great. He also was inspired by Paolo Uccello’s Sir John Hawkwood on Horseback (1436) in the Cathedral of Florence. Gattamelata is shown as a forceful commander, stressed by the ferocious Victory figure on his breastplate. The tension on the man’s jaw and neck muscles, his piercing gaze, and lines on his forehead grant him an aura of authority. The noble nature of the animal serves to enhance Gattamelata’s heroism. Donatello was as comfortable rendering the anatomy of the man as that of the horse. The animal’s well-defined tendons and muscles, its flaring nostrils, and opened mouth are the details that denote Donatello’s mastery.
ESCORIAL. On 10 August 1557, the feast day of St. Lawrence, Philip II of Spain vowed at the Battle of San Quentin that, if his troops emerged victorious against the French, he would build a monastery in the saint’s honor. The Spaniards won the battle, an event that eventually led to the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis between France, England, and Spain (1559). Philip fulfilled his promise by building the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial (beg. 1563). He charged Juan Bautista de Toledo with the task and, when Toledo died in 1567, his pupil Juan de Herrera took over the project, bringing it to completion in 1584. The complex includes a palace for the king, his family, and courtiers, a seminary, basilica, and royal crypt. Its gridlike design, punctuated by four towers at the corners, two campaniles, and the dome of the basilica, is thought by some to have been inspired by the grill of St. Lawrence’s martyrdom. Others see the building’s plan as a modernized version of the Temple of Solomon described by Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century. If this is the case, then the architecture would speak of Philip as the new Solomon, the biblical builder hailed for his wisdom. Philip brought a team of Italian masters to El Escorial to decorate the complex, among them Fabrizio Castello, Pellegrino Tibaldi, and Luca Cambiaso. The Spanish artists Juan Fernández de Navarrete and Alonso Sánchez Coello were also involved, as was El Greco.
ESTE FAMILY. The ancestry of the d’Este dates back to the Carolingian era. Their name derives from the Castle of Este near Padua. In the late Middle Ages, they gradually took dominion of the Eastern half of the Italian Po Valley, so that, by the second half of the 13th century, they controlled Ferrara, Modena, Rovigo, and Reggio. Strategic marriage alliances with other noble families, like the Sforza and Gonzaga, ensured their hegemony. The d’Este court in Ferrara became a major center of art and culture. Both Jacopo Bellini and Antonio Pisanello worked for Lionello d’Este. Giovanni Bellini and Titian contributed works for Alfonso I’s Camerino d’Alabastro. Dosso Dossi worked as Alfonso’s court painter and the poet Ariosto as his military and diplomatic agent. Ariosto, in fact, wrote the Orlando Furioso while in his service, an epic poem that celebrated d’Este ancestry and provided inspiration to painters. Poets Torquato Tasso and Giovanni Battista Guarini were active in Alfonso II’s court. The d’Este women were also key figures in the history of Italian culture. Iacopina d’Este, the wife of Enrico Scrovegni, was instrumental in obtaining the services of Giotto to fresco the Arena Chapel (1305) in Padua. Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua, and her sister Beatrice, Duchess of Milan, promoted cultural life in their own courts. Isabella patronized artists such as Andrea Mantegna while her sister sponsored Leonardo da Vinci. The d’Este’s glory years ended when Alfonso II died in 1597 without heirs. He appointed Cesare d’Este, his uncle’s illegitimate son, as his successor, a choice disapproved by the papacy. The d’Este were expelled from Ferrara and Pope Clement VIII turned over the government of the city to a cardinal legate, ending 300 years of rule.
ESTE, ERCOLE I D’, DUKE OF FERRARA (1431–1505). Duke of Ferrara from 1471; father of Beatrice, Isabella, and Alfonso I d’Este. In 1474, Ercole married Eleonora of Aragon, the daughter of the king of Naples, an alliance that proved politically beneficial to Ferrara. His nephew Niccolò orchestrated a failed coup against him, after which his term as duke brought great political stability, save for the war with Venice in 1481 over the salt monopoly. Ercole allied himself with the papal forces, Milan, and Naples, and peace was achieved in Bagnolo in 1484, with Ferrara losing Polisene to its enemy. Ercole’s expansion of Ferrara beyond its walls, referred to as the Herculean Addition, more than tripled the size of the city. His architect was Biagio Rossetti, who designed for him a number of palaces and churches, including the famed Palazzo dei Diamanti, completed in 1493.
ESTE, ISABELLA D’, MARCHIONESS OF MANTUA (1474–1539). Isabella was the daughter of Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, and Eleonora of Aragon. She was the recipient of a solid classic education from the literati in her father’s service. At the age of 16, she married Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and ruled the city with great skill during her husband’s absences. At her new court, Isabella became a generous patron of art, literature, and music. She was also a major collector of antiquities and, as her letters reveal, at times she went to great lengths to obtain pieces for her collection. Some of the artists she patronized included Titian and Leonardo da Vinci, both of whom rendered her portrait—Titian in 1536 (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) and Leonardo in 1499 (chalk drawing; Paris, Louvre). In 1496, Isabella began the planning of her studiolo in the Mantuan Ducal Palace for which she commissioned a series of works with allegorical content. Among the artists who contributed works for the project were Andrea Mantegna, who rendered the Expulsion of the Vices from the Garden of Virtue (1497); Pietro Perugino, who painted the Battle between Chastity and Love (1503–1505); and Lorenzo Costa, who provided the Allegory of the Court of Isabella d’Este (c. 1506; all in Paris, Louvre).
ET IN ARCADIA EGO. In English, also in Arcadia I am. Arcadia is the land of milk and honey of Virgil’s Eclogues where shepherds and shepherdesses frolic about. Et in Arcadia Ego is the topic of a painting by Guercino rendered in c. 1618 (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d’ Arte Antica) and two by Nicolas Poussin in 1627 (Chatsworth, Devonshire Collection) and 1637–1638 (Paris, Louvre), respectively. These show shepherds and shepherdesses stumbling upon a tomb, implying that Et in Arcadia Ego are the words spoken by Death as a reminder that, even in the land of milk and honey, life is only temporary.
EVANGELISTS. The Evangelists were the writers of the Gospels, the first four books in the New Testament where the story of Christ is told. In the medieval era, the Evangelists were represented symbolically, with the winged man denoting Matthew, the lion for Mark, the ox for Luke, and the eagle for John. These creatures stem from a vision experienced by Ezekiel where they surrounded the throne of God. In the Renaissance, Andrea del Castagno rendered the Evangelists writing their Gospels, their symbols included, in the Chapel of Tarsasius at San Zaccaria, Venice (1442), as did Benozzo Gozzoli in his frescoed vault in the Cappella di Sant’ Agostino at San Gimignano (1464–1465). Jacob Jordaens painted the Evangelists together in a single canvas comparing one Gospel against the other (c. 1625; Paris, Louvre) and Fra Bartolomeo rendered Christ and the Four Evangelists (1516; Florence, Palazzo Pitti), a work that glorifies the rituals of the mass. Raphael painted the Vision of Ezekiel (1518; Florence, Palazzo Pitti), where a robust figure of God the Father hovers above the Earth and is supported by the symbols of the Evangelists.
EYCK, JAN VAN (bef. 1395–1441). Jan van Eyck is among the greatest innovators of the 15th century. Both Giorgio Vasari and his Northern counterpart, Karel van Mander, wrote that it was Jan who invented the oil painting technique. He is documented in the court of John of Bavaria, Count of Holland, in 1422, leaving in 1424 after the count’s death to settle in Bruges. There he received the attention of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and became his official painter in the following year. He remained in the duke’s service until his death in 1441, as painter and diplomat. In this last capacity, he was sent to Catalonia, Spain, in 1427 to paint the portrait of a possible marriage partner for Philip. This alliance was not to be, but, in 1428, Jan traveled to Lisbon for the same purpose, a journey that ended in Philip taking Isabella of Portugal as his bride. Van Eyck’s brother Hubert was also a painter, though not a single work can be attributed firmly to him. An inscription on the Ghent Altarpiece (c. 1425–1432; Ghent, Cathedral of St-Bavon) identifies Hubert as the one to have executed the work, with Jan completing it in 1432. The Crucifixion and Last Judgment panels at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (c. 1430–1435) are also thought to have been a collaboration between the two brothers.
In Jan’s case, nine of his works include his signature, the earliest being the Madonna in a Church (c. 1425; Berlin, Gemäldegalerie). Here the Virgin is taller than the nave arcade of the Gothic structure to symbolize that, according to Catholic doctrine, she is Ecclesia, the Holy Mother of the Church. Jan’s Annunciation (c. 1428; Washington, National Gallery) shows the Virgin kneeling in front of her book of devotions. On the ground, the tiles feature scenes from the Old Testament that prefigure the coming of Christ and the months, with March, when the Feast of the Annunciation is celebrated, at Mary’s feet. The Madonna with the Chancellor Nicolas Rolin (c. 1433; Paris, Louvre) and Madonna of Canon George van der Paele (1434–1436; Bruges, Groeningemuseum) are also among Jan’s masterpieces. The first presents the chancellor of Burgundy in prayer in front of the Virgin, who receives her crown from an angel. The detailed landscape in the distance denotes Jan’s dependence on the Flemish miniaturist tradition. In the second painting, the Virgin and Child are brought closer to the viewer and centralized. Canon van der Paele kneels to the right, his eyeglasses increasing the size of the lettering in his book of devotions. Another element within the painting that denotes Jan’s interest in optics is the inclusion of his own reflection in St. George’s armor. Both works establish the devotion of the men depicted toward the Virgin and Child, creating the sense that they imagine the divine figures in their presence as they engage in their daily prayers.
Another work where Jan’s attention to visual phenomena is shown is the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait (1434; London, National Gallery), where he included his reflection in the convex mirror that hangs on the back wall. Several single portraits by Jan also exist, including the famed Man in a Red Turban (1433; London, National Gallery), believed by some to be a self-portrait, and the portrait of his wife, Margaret van Eyck (1439; Bruges, Groeningemuseum). Jan’s interest in rendering every detail with exactitude is clearly seen in these works. Every strand of hair, skin fold, and vein is clearly denoted. Both figures are in a three-quarter position, with eyes firmly fixed on the viewer.
Jan’s art mingles the visual with the symbolic and the secular with the religious. Carvings in the spaces populated by his figures and everyday objects laden his images with deep spiritualism. His rendering of every detail betrays his close observation of the world and desire to replicate it on the pictorial surface, while his masterful manipulation of the oil painting technique resulted in realistic atmospheric and lighting effects. His most faithful follower was Petrus Christus, who some believe to have been Jan’s pupil and who continued the Eyckian emphasis on realism, interest in depicting reflective objects, and richness of surface and colorism.