A New Identification of the Sitter in Jan van Eyck's Tymotheos Portrait

A New Identification of the Sitter in Jan van Eyck's Tymotheos PortraitAuthor(s): Wendy WoodSource: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Dec., 1978), pp. 650-654Published by: College Art AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049843 .

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A New Identification of the Sitter in Jan van Eyck's Tymotheos Portrait

Wendy Wood

The sitter in Jan Van Eyck's so-called Tymotheos portrait (Fig. 1) in the National Gallery in London is depicted half-length behind a parapet, holding a rolled parch- ment in his right hand. The principal inscription in the

painting is the French phrase, "LEAL SOVVENIR," meaning "Loyal Remembrance," which appears to be carved in large letters on the parapet. Beneath it, writ- ten in smaller letters, are the date and signature in La- tin: "Actu ano. dni. 1432. 10. die octobris. a ioh de

Eyck." Above the principal inscription, on a still smaller scale, is the Greek inscription: "TYM. WOEOC," followed by a terminal flourish. Part of the last letter, a square sigma, and part of the flourish are lost, but they can be reconstructed on the basis of Jan's epigraphy in other inscriptions.' Despite misspell- ing-the letter Y should be an iota and the omega should be an omicron-and intentionally broken letter-

ing, the inscription renders the Greek name Timotheos.2

Fierens-Gaevert interpreted the Greek name as an allusion to a sitter whose profession and reputation at the court of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, could be

compared to those of Timotheos of Miletus, a famous musician of ancient Greece.3 Independently, Panofsky formulated the same interpretation.4 He-and presumably Fierens-Gaevert before him-arrived by process of elimination at the conclusion that allusion is made to Timotheos of Miletus. Other candidates from the past named Timothy or Timotheos were eliminated because

they were ecclesiastical or military men, professions that do not correspond to the costume of the sitter.

Curiously, neither author mentioned the ancient Timotheos who might be expected to come first to the mind of the art historian, namely, the Greek sculptor whom Pliny, Natural History xxxvI. Iv. 30-31, mentions as one of the team of sculptors who did the carvings on

the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.s According to Fazio, the Italian humanist who wrote about Jan in 1456, Jan read works by Pliny and other ancient authors.6 Perhaps Fierens-Gaevert and Panofsky thought that the name of the ancient sculptor was not famous enough to be used as a flattering allusion to the sitter of the portrait.

Panofsky identified three composers whose impor- tance for Burgundian music of the early fifteenth century made them likely candidates as subjects of the portrait: Guillaume Dufay, John Dunstable, and Gilles

Binchois.7 Panofsky eliminated Dufay because he was in Italy from 1428 to 1437. Dunstable was set aside as "out of the question because he had nothing to do with the great painter of Bruges."8 The "new Timotheos," concluded Panofsky, was probably Binchois.

Davies described Panofsky's identification as an "at- tractive" but unproved suggestion that "depends largely upon the claim that Timothy as a name does not occur in the Netherlands before the Reformation," and

ignores the possibility that the sitter might have been a

foreigner.9 Fierens-Gaevert and Panofsky correctly in-

terpreted the name as an antique allusion, however, because the break in the lettering suggests an archaiz-

ing intent. The inscription seems, moreover, to be too

inconspicuous to identify the sitter directly. The lettering is the smallest on the parapet and is almost devoid of ornament. It is most unlikely that Jan would have

given his own signature more prominence and embel- lishment than he gave to the name of his sitter.

Panofsky's identification, however, raises several problems. Dunstable, the great English composer whose candidacy was excluded, probably spent many years in Paris at the court of John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford and brother of King Henry V of England, who was Regent of France from 1422 until his death in 1435. 10

I M. Davies, The National Gallery (Les Primitifs flammands, corpus), Antwerp, 1954, II, 133f.

2 G. Munzel, "Zu dem Bilde des Sogenannten Tymotheos von Jan Van Eyck," Zeitschrift fiir Kunstgeschichte, x, 1941-42, 188, transcribed the name as TYMWUEON and interpreted it as a motto, "I fear God." His interpretation is based on an erroneous reconstruction of the epigraphy.

3 H. Fierens-Gaevert, Histoire de la peinture flammande, Paris and Brussels, 1927, I, 90.

4 Panofsky, "Who is Jan Van Eyck's 'Tymotheos'?" Journal of the

Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, xii, 1949, 80-82.

s "Scopas habuit aemulos eadem aetate Bryaxim et Timotheum et Leocharen, de quibus simul decendum est, quoniam pariter caela- vere Mausoleum ... ab oriente caelavit Scopas ... a meridie Timotheus. ."

6 W. Stechow, Northern Renaissance Art 1400-1600: Sources and Docu- ments, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1966, 5.

7 Panofsky, Journal, 1949, 84f. 8 Ibid., 87.

9 M. Davies, Early Netherlandish Sch6ol, 3rd ed., London, 1968, 54f. 10 G. Reese, Music in the Middle Ages, New York, 1940, 412.



THE IDENTITY OF JAN'S TYMOTHEOS 651

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652 THE ART BULLETIN

The English were closely tied to the Burgundians by a political alliance, which began in 1420 with the Treaty of Troyes and was strengthened in 1423 by the marriage of John of Lancaster to Anne of Burgundy, a sister of

Philip the Good. Thus, Dunstable might well have met Jan. If the identification of the sitter as a composer were itself acceptable, the possibility that the sitter was Dunstable rather than Binchois would have to be examined.

Panofsky went on to identify the general source of the composition as the parapet portrait reliefs on "those Gallo-Roman and Germano-Roman tombstones in which France and the Rhineland still abound.""' His assumption that Jan would have known examples of ancient funerary stelae is certainly reasonable.

Panofsky apparently regarded the composition as a classical allusion that would further reinforce the

metonymy of the Greek inscription. He attempted to relate the principal inscription, "LEAL SOVVENIR," to the poetry of Binchois, a link that would also have ac- counted for the scroll in the sitter's hand.12 Panofsky admitted, however, that no direct connection could be established with texts of Binchois's chansons.

The fundamental difficulty in Panofsky's interpretation of the Tymotheos portrait is the inversion of rela-

tionships he created by treating forms of primary visual significance-the composition and the principal inscription-as though they were merely supplements to an inscription that actually has only a minor visual role in the painting. As will be seen, my identification of the sitter in Jan's Tymotheos portrait as a sculptor is based instead on the assumption that the composition and the principal inscription are of primary significance for Jan's protrayal of his sitter. The secondary inscriptions and the scroll would, if the identification is correct, merely elaborate on the primary forms.

The association of the composition with sculpture is even stronger than Panofsky indicated, for it extends to monuments contemporary with Jan. Painted and in- scribed stelae, carved in bas-relief and set into the walls of church interiors, appeared in Northern Europe dur- ing the fourteenth century and continued to be popular as epitaphs and votive offerings throughout the greater part of the fifteenth century. 13 The most common type of stele, often compared to Jan's Madonna with Canon van der Paele of 1436 in the Bruges Museum of Fine Arts, features full-length figures of the deceased and his wife in three-quarter view kneeling and praying before the

Virgin.14 A less common type of relief, more closely related to the Tymotheos portrait, is an image of the deceased alone as "a bust portrait reminiscent of Roman and Gallo-Roman steles except ... that the bust, in anticipation of the deceased's admission to heaven, emerges from a band of clouds. .. ."15i A var- iant depicts an intercessory saint, instead of the deceased, emerging from a band of clouds.16 The stelae have inscriptions, which are usually placed beneath the

figural images, to identify them and to indicate the function of the reliefs. Many stelae also include a prayer for intercession on an open scroll held by the deceased. 17

From the funerary associations of Jan's composition one might suppose that the sitter in Tymotheos was dead or had died while the painter was preparing the portrait. But de Grummond has shown that similar com-

positions were used to portray living sitters in some Roman monuments as well as in four of Diirer's parapet portraits of the early sixteenth century, and probably in all but one of a group of Venetian cinquecento parapet portraits.s8 Furthermore, if the Tymotheos sitter were dead, one would normally expect to see at least one of the direct references to intercession or salvation-the Virgin, patron saints, prayers, and clouds-which

commonly appear in contemporary funerary and votive art, both painting and sculpture. On the basis of the scrolls in contemporary funerary sculpture, as well as in a lost portrait by Jan, the scroll in Tymotheos can be interpreted as an indirect reference to intercession and, by inference, to the piety of the sitter. The inventories of the Archduchess Margaret, Regent of the Nether- lands, made in 1516 and 1524, mention a portrait by Jan of a Portuguese lady holding a scroll adorned with a miniature of Saint Nicholas and, presumably, contain-

ing a prayer addressed to that saint.19 The scroll in

Tymotheos presumably contains a prayer, also, but the reference to intercession is muted by the rendering of the scroll as closed and adorned only by illegible script, which Panofsky identified as Latin.20 The omission of all direct references to intercession and salvation, and the unusual treatment of the scroll as, so to speak, ready but not in use, suggest to me that the sitter was alive when his portrait was painted. The Tymotheos resem- bles the related works, whether Roman or contemporary, only in a general way, which suggests to me further that Jan wanted to allude to funerary and votive art without, however, creating a portrait that would be

11 Panofsky, Journal, 1949, 80 and pl. 29e. 12 Ibid., 90 13 A. Weckworth, "Der Irsprung des Bildepitaphs," Zeitschrift fiir Kunstgeschichte, xx, 1957, 147f. 14 E. Panofsky, Tomb Sculpture, New York, 1964, figs. 230 and 234.

'5 Ibid., 58.

16 Belgische Kunstdenkmdiler, ed. Paul Clemen, Munich, 1923, I, 283, fig. 287 17 Panofsky, Tomb, figs. 228 and 231.

18 N. de Grummond, "VV and Related Inscriptions in Giorgione, Titian, and Diirer," Art Bulletin, LVII, 1975, 346f.

19 W. H. J. Weale, Hubert and John Van Eyck, New York, 1908, 177. 20 Panofsky, Journal, 1949, 82.



THE IDENTITY OF JAN'S TYMOTHEOS 653

classified as an additional example of the genre. The Tymotheos, despite its relationship to religious art, seems to be a secular portrait of a living sitter.

If the sitter were living, as I have proposed, what might be the significance of the association of the composition with funerary and votive sculpture? The composition, the parapet, and the principal inscription might allude to the sitter's profession as a sculptor. Aside from the sitter, the parapet is the most important element in the portrait and might even be described as the sitter's primary attribute. The depiction of stone itself suggests sculpture. Furthermore, the principal inscription, "LEAL SOVVENIR," is painted to simulate an inscription carved in a handsome variation on scrip- tura quadrata, the Roman epigraphy carved by stonecut- ters on the finest Roman monuments.21 This would be particularly apposite if the sitter were a sculptor. The wording of the inscription conveys the notion that the

picture is a true likeness of the sitter. At the same time, however, the text might also refer to the fidelity and commemorative value of portraits carved by the sitter himself. In addition to being appropriate for a composition with Roman ancestry, the lettering could imply the antique lineage and high quality of both the Tymotheos and the sculptor's works. The principal inscription might have had a dual function, as a description of Jan's painting and of the sitter's sculpture.

The placement, appearance, and wording of Jan's signature beneath the principal inscription also sup- port this interpretation. Davies described the form of the signature as "peculiar" and thought it might have "some special meaning."22 Jan's usual practice was to sign the frame, not the panel. The location of the signature within the portrait suggests that, as in the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait of 1434 in the National Gallery in Lon- don, the signature is a significant part of the pictorial idea. The calligraphic script contrasts strongly with the simulated carving of the principal inscription, em-

phasizing the signature's distinct identity as the work of a painter's hand. Furthermore, the wording, Actu[m], which means "done," followed by the date and Jan's name, is a unique form of his signature. It is, however, an abbreviation of the closing protocol used to conclude legal pacts, including artists' contracts, in the fifteenth century. The closing protocol begins with the word ac- tumrn. 23 According to Glasser, the closing protocol of contracts drafted by private individuals, as opposed to notaries, also includes "the names of those present,... the signatures of the parties concerned," an oath, and

the date.24 The closing protocol could be abbreviated by omitting some of the more formal elements.25 In Jan's signature, the closing protocol appears to have been reduced to the essential elements, namely, the opening word, the date, and the signature of a concerned party. The formulaic inscription therefore implies the exis- tence of a work contract which is fulfilled by the com- pletion of the painting. Although only Jan's name fol- lows the date, a legal contract by definition requires the involvement of at least one other party. The reduced scale of the signature in comparison to the principal inscription, and the placement of the signature on the parapet below the simulated carving, suggest that the sitter is the other and more important party to the contract. There is nothing unusual about a work contract between a sitter and a portraitist, of course, and it scarcely warrants the peculiar emphasis it receives from the signature. It therefore seems possible that the con- tractual relationship implied by the signature applies, as might the principal inscription, to both Jan's Tymotheos and the sitter's sculpture. We know that Jan did, in fact, collaborate with sculptors, for he was paid in 1435 for having painted and gilded six statues for the

faqade of the town hall in Bruges.26 Thus the painter's signature might possibly identify Jan as the collaborator who contracted to complete the other artist's sculpture by painting it as well as his portrait.

The third inscription, the Greek name, can be inte- grated, also, into the hypothesis that Jan's sitter was a sculptor. The ancient sculptor Timotheos was a collaborator in the decoration of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The fame of the Mausoleum, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, derived princi- pally from its sculptural decoration, according to Pliny.27 To be called Timotheos would be a high and appropriate compliment to a contemporary sculptor who was himself a collaborator in the carving of a great tomb project.

What living sculptor might have had a special con- tractual relationship with Jan and participated in the creation of a great funerary monument? The principal inscription suggests possible identities both for the project and the sculptor. Jan made liberal use of inscriptions in his paintings, usually in Latin but sometimes in Flemish or even Greek. "LEAL SOVVENIR" is the only French inscription known in his oeuvre. The de- parture from his customary languages suggests that the use of French is significant. The contemporary Burgun- dian monument with the strongest French association

21 J. Egbert, Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscriptions, rev. ed., New York, 1923, 37. 22 Davies, Early, 54. 23 For example, a 15th-century work contract in C. Sterling, Le Cour- onnement de la Vierge par Enguerrand Quarton, Paris, 1939, 26, concludes with the words: "Actum in apotheco speciarie domus habitationis Johannis de Bria, speciateris, civis avinionensis, presentibus, etc .

24 H. Glasser, Artists' Contracts of the Early Renaissance, New York and London, 1977, 21. 25 Ibid., 22. 26 Weale, Hubert, XLIII-XLIV. 27 Natural History xxxvI. iv. 30: "opus is ut esset inter septem miracula, hi maxime fecere artifices."



654 THE ART BULLETIN

is the tomb of Michelle de France, which was originally located in the Abbey of St. Bavo in Ghent.28 The French princess, who was the first wife of Philip the Good, died in 1422. Work on her tomb did not begin, however, until 1433. The commission must have been issued earlier-perhaps in 1432, the year in which the

Tymotheos portrait was painted. The recumbent effigy of Michelle de France, two angels, and four of the

twenty mourning figures on the sides of the tomb were carved by the sculptor Gilles le Blackere of Bruges, and he might have been the sitter in the Tymotheos portrait.29

After transfer to the church of St. John in 1540, which then became the church of St. Bavo, the tomb was almost completely destroyed by iconoclasts. Only a frag- ment of the slab is preserved in the crypt.30 It bears part of a funerary inscription in French, the language of the principal inscription in the Tymotheos.31 No record of the tomb's appearance is known, but it must have been an imposing monument similar to the dynastic tombs in the Chartreuse de Champmol near Dijon, and, like those famous tombs, it would have been embellished with paint. As the ducal painter and resident in Bruges, Jan might have been contracted to color the effigy of the deceased Duchess of Burgundy.

Nothing more is known of Gilles le Blackere. If he was the sitter, the principal inscription of the Tymotheos portrait has become an ironic comment on the fate of art. The sculptor's work in stone has almost completely vanished, whereas Jan's more fragile tribute in paint to the man, his art, and his reputation has survived. The portrait is truly a "LEAL SOVVENIR."

Cleveland State University

28 For information on the tomb of Michelle de France, I am indebted to Dr. E. Dhanens, who kindly furnished me with particulars in a letter of May 3, 1976.

29Dhanens, ibid., suggested, ". it should be examined if the

transcription of the name by de Laborde was correct, and if the

sculptor's name was not de Backere, which sounds much more nor- mal." Sixteen additional mourning figures on the sides of the tomb were carved a decade later by Tydeman Maes.

30 E. Dhanens, Sint Baafs-kathedraal Gent (Inventaris van het Kunstpat- rimonium van Oostvlaanderen, V), Ghent, 1965, 115.

31 Ibid., "... [DEFF] UNCTE TRESNOBLE DAME ET PRINCESSE MADAME MICHELLE, FILLE DE FEU LE ROY CHARLE DE FRANCE. ."



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A New Identification of the Sitter in Jan van Eyck's Tymotheos Portrait