Healing of Jericho Blindness (Triptych Side Sash) by Lucas-van Leiden

Healing of Jericho Blindness (Triptych Side Sash) by Lucas van Leiden

Healing of Jericho Blind Oil on canvas, transferred from the tree. The side flaps are 89 x 32.5 cm. On the side doors of the triptych there are the coats of arms of the customers: Leiden burgher Jacob Floriszon fan Monfort and his wife, daughter of Amsterdam burgher Dirk Bodens. These coats of arms are held in the hands of a warrior and a graceful girl.

The costume of the warrior, his headdress with feathers, as well as the dress of the girl, correspond to the fashion of the XVI century. It should emphasize the secular character of the characters who replaced the traditional images of the saints and are not related to the religious content of the central scene. In its original form, the picture was a triptych, in which the scene of the healing of the Jericho blind was occupied by the center and side doors.

The figures of the warrior and the girls were on the outer sides of the wings. During the restoration in the XVII or early XVIII century, the central part was connected to the side in one composition, and the boards with the image of heralds were sawed off from the wings and turned into independent paintings. At the same time, the upper part of these paintings disappeared, which, according to the description of the historian of Dutch art fan Mandera, had a date -1531 year.

In 1848, in the Hermitage, the composition Healing of the Jericho Blind Man was transferred to canvas, and in 1850 the same was done with the images of heralds. Restorations and alterations, which the picture has undergone over many decades of existence, did not violate the basic elements of its composition and painting system. Triptych entered the Hermitage in 1772 from the Crozat collection in Paris.