‘Joseph Will Perfect, Mary Enlighten and Jesus save Thee’: The Holy Family as Marriage Model in the Mérode Triptych

Cynthia Hahn

8 citations0/0 files storedThe Art Bulletin

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Historical Art and Architecture Studies Medieval Literature and History Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

Abstract

The interpretation of the Mérode Triptych has always presented difficulties. In particular, scholars have focused on the right panel but have never fully resolved the meaning of Joseph's presence there. In this essay, Ambrose's metaphor of the Artisan of the Soul allows us to understand Joseph as a figure of God the Father in the Earthly Trinity of the Holy Family. Rather than comprising a series of objects of “hidden symbolism” within a loosely defined whole, the triptych's composition is based on contemporary understandings of the universal themes of marriage and family. Objects assume extraordinary meaning only within a well-structured pattern of devotion to the Holy Family.

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2019Early Netherlandish Painting 1986The Marian Paintings of Jan van Eyck 1945"Muscipula Diaboli," The Symbolism of the Merode Altarpiece

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