Hugo van der Goes and the Procedures of Art and Salvation (St... by Margaret L. Koster

Above the villagers observing the scene a tiny squirrel runs along one of the beams.Ĭomposition: The Monforte Altarpiece is Hugo van der Goes's central work from his early period and it shows him unleashing his imagination with regards to both the triptych's composition and they way he uses color. In the foreground of the image, flowers and a pottery vessel are precisely captured. In the background a few more women can be seen as well as some cottages and a river, next to which the Kings' horses are positioned.

The figures are all painted to the same scale, irrespective of their status and each person reacts in their own way to the event unfolding before them. A gathering of local people watch this rare scene through a gap in the wall. Looking closely at the composition the Monforte Altarpiece depicts the Virgin, the baby Jesus and Joseph in the ruins of a Palace and shows them being discovered by the Three Kings and their followers. The two wings from this work have been lost and a group of flying angels has also been cut away from the top panel. Like the Portinari Altarpiece, the Monforte triptych was created on a large scale and today only the vast, horizontal central panel, featuring the theme of the adoration of the Magi, remains. Named after the town in which it was housed the Monforte Altarpiece could originally be found in a college that was home to a group of Spanish Jesuits.

The Monforte Altarpiece is Hugo van der Goes' most celebrated work from his early career.

Hugo van der Goes and the Procedures of Art and Salvation (St... by Margaret L. Koster