(e) reviewing konrad witz - an ingenious artist of the 15th century

7/14/2019 (E) Reviewing Konrad Witz - an ingenious artist of the 15th century

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Reviewing Konrad Witz An ingenious artist of the 15th century

Paulo Martins Oliveira ____________________________________________________________________

Born about 1400, the Swiss-German painter Konrad Witz expressed and developed certain conceptsrecently presented by Flemish colleagues, especially Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden.

In fact, the works of Konrad Witz are surprisingly elaborate, since he designed elegant compromisesolutions in order to merge different narratives.

A good example is The Miraculous Draught of Fishes , delivered in 1444 originally for the Cathedral of St.Peter (Geneva), being a picture in which the artist actually combined two different Biblical episodes,

with contrasting objectives.

Both layers of meaning use the same setting: the Lake of Geneva, which is equated to the inland Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias).

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© - Available for consultation



Layer 1 (official), illustrating John 21:4-8:

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.He called out to them, “Friends, haven't you any fish?”“No”, they answered.He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some”. When they did, they

were unable to haul the net because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved [John] said to Peter, “It is the Lord” As soon as Peter hear him say,“It is the Lord”, he wrapped is outer garment, for he had take it off, and jumped into the water. Theother disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, abouta hundred yards.

Layer 2 (subversive), illustrating Matthew 14:25-31:

Shortly before Dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost”, they said, and cried out in fear.But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I, don’t be afraid”.“Lord, if it’s you”, Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water”.“Come”, he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith”, he said, “why did youdoubt?”

With the drowning of Peter

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In the morning

The enthusiastic Peterjumping into water

The weather is calm

Christ is on the shore

In the predawn

Peter fails to walk on water

Christ is actually on water

The weather is windy



and the sarcastic expression of Jesus, Konrad Witz intends to criticize the first pope, i.e. the currentpapacy and its Inquisition1.

Another example is The Liberation of St. Peter , whose superficial layer illustrates the apostle escaping from prison with the help of an angel, some time after Christ’s death and resurrection, as mentioned inthe Bible (Acts 12:6-11).

However, in an underlying layer, Konrad Witz introduced the figure of Andrew, i.e. Peter’s humble anddisinterested brother, subtly used by several artists to make a contrast with the ambitious and repressivePeter himself 2.

This same exercise is visible in the aforementioned Miraculous Draught of Fishes , reinforcing its subver-

sive message.

So, in the Liberation of St. Peter , this Saint is actually presented as a ominous guardian, just put to sleepand chained by an angel, while another rescues the meritorious Andrew from the pope’s palace. In thecentre of the painting there is the suggestion of Andrew’s saltire, which was a major symbol among thebroad-minded painters3.

1 For more on this issue, see for instance the article “The (diabolic) oak of the Rovere Popes”.

2 An expressive example is presented in the article “Leonardo's Last Supper and the three layers”.

3 On this matter see the book Leonardo x Michelangelo (the x represents not only the rivalry between them, but alsothe common denunciatory perspective, symbolized by Andrew's saltire, in contrast to Peter's crossed keys.

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The pretentious and worthless Peter (the

imposing Church)

The humble and helpful Andrew (the liberal Church)



This kind of device indicates the wit of Konrad Witz, whose ingenious and surreptitiously defiant works demonstrate that he belongs to a considerable group of freethinking artists, who worked for theChurch while denouncing it at the same time.

The most audacious to do so will be Michelangelo Buonarroti, who also superimposed layers in orderto address controversial issues.

Example: The Creation of Adam

• Layer 1 (official and superficial): the creation of Adam.• Layer 2 (still official, but superimposed)4: the Father and the Son generating the Holy Spirit, whichshould inspire the cardinals.• Layer 3 (subversive): The indolent Prodigal Son, finally embracing the higher mission given by theFather (implying the human and fallible dimension of Christ, especially before his baptism)5.

By merging Adam and Christ, Michelangelo illustrated the Biblical connections between these twofigures:

1Cor.15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

1Cor.15:45 The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam [Christ], a life-giving spirit.

Rom.5:14 … Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come [Christ; see also all chapter 5] Rev.21:6 [says Christ] I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

Also for this reason, the Gospel of Luke traces the parentage of Jesus back to Adam (Lk.3:23-38), andin each of the four Gospels Christ is presented as being both the “Son of God” and the “Son of Man”.

4 The use of layers of meaning also became commissioned in an institutional perspective, by merging two official

messages. In such cases, artists often added subversive layers to the original combinations (see the example in note 8

of the article “The Sistine Chapel and the new Jeremiah”).

5 The direct precedent of this depiction is Venus and Mars, by Botticelli (artists often created sequences and

complements between each others' pictures). The human and fallible dimension of Christ was consistently and

cleverly symbolized through the Prodigal Son, Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, mythological characters, etc.(see the article “A Benção de Rafael”, and “The Sistine Ceiling and the Holy Spirit).

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In Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam , the superimposed Christ is the decisive upgrade of the original man(in the same way that the New Testament improves and culminates the Old). However, in thesubversive third layer of meaning, Christ himself progresses from a lower to a higher condition, ascovertly defended by several humanist artists and scholars6.

Associable exampleCaravaggio

The Calling of St. Matthew (det.)

The illuminated “cross” represents the divine destiny of the dual Christ, whereas his human dimension is in the shade, replicating Adam’s famous gesture7.

In conclusion, various artworks of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries are actually intellectual master-pieces, and Konrad Witz is one of the important links in this discreet but illustrious chain.

2013

6 See for instance The Praise of Folly, by Erasmus of Rotterdam: “And Christ himself, that he might the better relieve

this folly, being the wisdom of the father, yet in some manner became a fool when taking upon him the nature of

man, he was found in shape as a man”. This text was written in 1509 and published in 1511, when Michelangelo was

painting his ceiling (1508-1512), which helps to illustrate the context.7 This complex painting is decoded in the article “O conceito dinâmico de Caravaggio”.

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Related writings

• Original research (2009-13, independent projects: Escriptos; Akenpapers/Akenvis) • Papers (until July 2013)

• Bosch and the hidden devils of the Garden• Bosch, the surdo canis• Botticelli’s Primavera: the dual wind• Deconstructing Caravaggio and Velázquez• Depicting Michelangelo• Leonardo’s Last Supper and the three layers• Rembrandt and the art of compromise• Reviewing Konrad Witz – an ingenious artist of the 15th century • The (diabolic) oak of the Rovere Popes• The Adoration of the Magi (Botticelli)• The Deceptive Angels

• The Delights of Coudenberg • The Devilish Chapel of Michelangelo• The Dutch Company • The dynamic concept of Sandro Botticelli• The L(eonardo) and the S(alai)• The Leaves of Caravaggio• The nationalist and rational Jheronimus Bosch• The Passion of Caravaggio• The Sistine Ceiling and the Holy Spirit• The Sistine Chapel and the new Jeremiah• The Sistine Chapel of Michelangelo: the Law and the Judge• A Bênção de Rafael (P)• A Última Ceia de Leonardo e as três camadas (P)• As faces de Engelbert (P)• O conceito dinâmico de Caravaggio (P)• O engenho de Matthias Grünewald (P)• O falso paraíso de Tiziano (P)• O mecanismo dos Painéis de Avis (P)• O nacionalista e racional Jheronimus Bosch (P)• Os Demónios de Nuno Gonçalves (P)• Porquê “ Jheronimus” Bosch? (P)

• Books

• Leonardo x Michelangelo• The Devils of Art• Jheronimus Bosch – o relojoeiro dos símbolos• Os Demónios de Arte• Separata 1• Os Painéis de Avis• A Janela de Tomar

• Forthcoming main publications on the symbolic engineering of artworks (15th-17th centuries): Jan van Eyck,Rogier van der Weyden, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Titian, Bruegel, Caravaggio, Velázquez, Vermeer(2013-15).

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(e) reviewing konrad witz - an ingenious artist of the 15th century

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