Michael Sittow
Michael Sittow | |
---|---|
Reval (Tallinn), Estonia | |
Died | 1525 Reval (Tallinn), Estonia |
Education | Hans Memling |
Known for | Painting, Portraits |
Movement | Early Netherlandish painting |
Michael Sittow (c. 1469 – 1525), also known as Master Michiel, Michel Sittow, Michiel, Miguel, and several other variants,
Life
Michael Sittow was born in 1468 or 1469 in the
The origins of Sittow's father, Clawes (van der) Sittow, are not clear — his patrilinear ancestors may have arrived in Estonia from the village of Zittow near
At first Michael Sittow studied painting and sculpture in his father's workshop, while attending the city school to learn Latin, arithmetic and singing.[4] After his father's death in 1482, Michel continued his studies in Bruges in modern Belgium from 1484 to 1488. It is thought that he worked as an apprentice in the leading Netherlandish workshop of the German painter Hans Memling.[3][7]
Michael Sittow became an independent master between 1488 – 1491/92, although he did not become a master in the local Bruges guild.[8] Working as a portrait painter, he travelled in southern Europe, as traits of French and Italian art became apparent in his work.[4][5]
From 1492 Sittow worked in
Officially Sittow worked for Isabella until her death in 1504, although he had left Spain two years before and was presumably working in
Suggestions that Sittow may have visited London in about 1503–05 to paint portraits of Henry VII (National Portrait Gallery, London) are no longer accepted.[11]
When Philip died in 1506, Sittow lost his patron again. In the same year, he returned to Reval, where his stepfather, the glass-maker Diderick van Katwijk had seized his parents' houses, as Michael's mother had died in 1501. Van Katwijk had journeyed to the Duchy of Brabant in 1501 and offered a property settlement to Sittow that the latter refused.[3] As the local court did not support Sittow's claim for inheritance, he had to go to the Court of Higher Instance in Lübeck. He won the case in Lübeck, but could not officially register his parents' houses as his property until the death of his stepfather in 1518.[5][6]
In 1507, Michael Sittow joined the
In 1515, Sittow was again in Spain, this time to claim outstanding debts incurred by Isabella of Castile, and it is significant that in the documentation for his claim he is referred to as pintor criado de madama la prinçesa doña Margarita, that is "painter of the princess Margaret (of Austria)". It seems likely that this was the case at least a year earlier. In 1514, Sittow visited
According to some sources, in 1514 Sittow also painted a portrait of Mary Tudor, Queen of France (now in the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum), the daughter of Henry VII, as part of the betrothal negotiations.[13] Previously this portrait has been assumed to be of Catherine of Aragon, painted in 1503-1505. Two other Sittow paintings of
The reidentification of portrait as Mary Rose however does not address other two paintings nor does it go in depth over all the details in the painting itself, which brought criticism over museum's acceptance of the new alleged identity. Author of this reidentification even goes as far as to suggest that Catherine of Aragon had no reason to wear the symbol of scallops as they are not her emblem, the pomegranate is. Not considering the fact that scallops are a symbol of St. James the Great, patron saint of Spain. Notably, pilgrimage to his shrine in Santiago de Compostela was commemorated by wearing scallops, and it is known Catherine of Aragon made this pilgrimage. Credibility of this reidentification is hence questionable.
From the Netherlands, Sittow returned to Spain and worked for
In 1516 (possibly 1517 or 1518) Michael Sittow returned to Estonia.[7] In 1518, he married Dorothie, a daughter of a merchant named Allunsze, in Reval. Their son Michel died shortly after birth. In 1523, Sittow became the guildmaster (Aldermann) of the Guild of Saint Canute.[5] Michael Sittow died of the plague in Reval between 20 December 1525 and 20 January 1526.[8] He is buried in the cemetery of the almshouse of the Church of the Holy Spirit (Estonian: Pühavaimu kirik) in Tallinn (Reval).
Works by Michael Sittow
The name of Michael Sittow was nearly unknown for centuries, until in 1914
Michael Sittow specialized mainly in small devotional works and portraits, which sometimes project a melancholy mood. His style is heavily influenced by his teacher Hans Memling and also show influence of the elegance found in portraits by Jean Perréal.[2] Sittow used translucent layers of paint to achieve highly refined and subdued color harmonies, combined with light effects and sensitivity to texture.[14] E. P. Richardson described Sittow's work "/../an artist somewhat like Anthony van Dyck in a later epoch; a brilliant painter of religious subjects, but of outstanding qualities as a portrait painter. His portraits are among the finest of their time, vivid, candid, crisply elegant and reserved."[3]
Few surviving paintings can be attributed to Sittow with certainty, and there are many problems of attribution around his work. Though his biography is well documented, the only works that can be attributed to him with certainty are two rather atypical very small panels from a large series mostly by
Most of Sittow's paintings are not signed and dated – the only painting that can be dated with certainty is the portrait of Christian II of Denmark.[6] There are more than thirty works attributed to Michael Sittow, however, most of them have not been verified by documentation as his.
Many of his paintings (mentioned in various documents) and almost all of his sculptures have not been preserved.[7][18]
A 2020 paper called ' The Apelles’ Line. Narratives and Synergies in the Late Gothic in Castile ' by Olga Pérez Monzón and Matilde Miquel Juan mentions Sittow as one of the artists involved in creating of Retablo de Santiago, ca. 1489-1490, in Capilla de Álvaro de Luna, Catedral Primada de Toledo.
List of works
- Virgin and Child (left wing of a diptych, possibly Catherine of Aragon), Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, now separated from the other wing, which is the next item
- Portrait of Diego de Guevara (right wing of a diptych), Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art
- Virgin and Child (Budapest, Szépművészeti Múzeum)
- Portrait of Christian II, King of Denmark (Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst)
- Portrait of a noblewoman, possibly Mary Tudor or Catherine of Aragon, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
- Catherine of Aragon as the Magdalene, Detroit Institute of Arts
- Virgin and Child with St. Bernard (Madrid, Museo Lázaro Galdiano)
- Portrait of a Man with a Pearl (Madrid, Royal Collections Gallery)
- Christ Carrying the Cross, Moscow, Pushkin Museum
- Coronation of the Virgin (Paris, Louvre)
- Portrait of a Lady (Paris, Louvre)
- Passion Altarpiece (St. Nicholas' Church, Tallinn)
- Portrait of a Man, The Hague, Mauritshuis
- Nativity, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, a version of a lost work by Hugo van der Goes[19]
- Assumption of the Virgin (panel from the small altarpiece of Queen Isabella of Castile) Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art
- Ascension (panel from the small altarpiece of Queen Isabella of Castile) (Private Collection)
Among works no longer considered to be by Sittow are:
- Portrait of Henry VII, King of England (National Portrait Gallery (London)), possibly a contemporary copy of a Sittow original.[20]
In literature
Michael Sittow (as Michel Sittow) is the main character in Jaan Kross' short story Four Monologues on St. George (Estonian: Neli monoloogi Püha Jüri asjus, 1970). The book is written in the form of a judicial inquiry and explores such issues as nationhood, political exile and cultural assimilation.[21] It was awarded the most prestigious short prose award in Estonia, the Friedebert Tuglas Short Story Award.
Gallery
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Virgin with Child and Apple, c. 1489, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest.
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Nativity, c. 1510, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
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A Young Man in a Red Cap, c. 1512, Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan.
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Portrait of a noblewoman, possibly Mary Tudor or Catherine of Aragon,c. 1514, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
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Portrait of Christian II, King of Denmark, c. 1515,Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.
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Portrait of a woman, c. 1515, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
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Portrait of a Man with a Pearl, c. 1517, Royal Collections Gallery, Madrid.
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Saint James the Great and the Virgin with Child, c. 1520,Eesti Kunstimuuseum(Niguliste), Tallinn.
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Saint Adrian and Saint Anthony, c. 1520,Eesti Kunstimuuseum(Niguliste), Tallinn.
See also
- Artists of the Tudor court
- Early Netherlandish painting
- St. Nicholas' Church, Tallinn
References
- ^ "Union List of Artist Names". Getty Research. 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
- ^ S2CID 186754226.
- ^ a b c d e f g Richardson, E. P. (1958). "Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat by Master Michiel" (PDF). Bulletin of Detroit Institute of Arts. XXXVIII (4): 79–83.
- ^ ISBN 978-9985-78-255-2.
- ^ a b c d e f g Risthein, Helena (2005). "Michel Sittow". Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g Liivrand, Harry (13 May 2004). "Michel Sittow – meie esimene eurooplane". Eesti Ekspress (in Estonian). EkspressMeedia. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
- ^ ISBN 978-9985-9600-2-8.
- ^ a b c d "Michel Sittow – biography". The Collection. National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85566-159-2.
- JSTOR 869890.
- ^ Nairne, Sandy. "Case study 4 – new research on the Gallery's earliest portrait: Henry VII". Making Art in Tudor Britain. National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- ^ Martha Woolf, Michel Sittow, Grove Art Online, accessed 31 January 2008
- ^ Paul G. Matthews, “Henry VIII’s Favourite Sister? Michel Sittow’s Portrait of a Lady in Vienna”, Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien 10 (2008), pp. 140-149.
- ^ "Michael Sittow". Getty Museum. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
- ^ "Portrait of Diego de Guevara (?)". The Collection. National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- ^ Paul, Richard (13 November 2006). "Medieval Meets Modern". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- ISBN 0-521-34016-0.
- ^ "Centre for the Study of fifteenth-century Painting in the Southern Netherlands and the Principality of Liège". Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
- Nativity at Night by Geertgen tot Sint Jansin London (National Gallery).
- ^ National Portrait Gallery, Case study 4 - new research on the Gallery's earliest portrait: Henry VII
- ^ Thomson, Ian (29 December 2007). "Jaan Kross: Writer who through his novels sought to restore the national memory of his native Estonia". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
External links
- 2 artworks by or after Michael Sittow at the Art UK site