The strength of the Flemish female portraits of 1400-1500 has overcome, without difficulties, centuries and continents’ borders.
These white-skinned women fascinated dozens of artists’ and observers’ generations, not losing a minimal part of their charm and ethereal beauty until the present day.
Probably for these reasons many contemporary artists from all over the world, like Katerina Belkina (Russia), Teiji Hayama (Japan), Katinka Lampe (The Netherlands), Natalia Evelyn Bencicova (Slovakia), Romina Ressia (Argentina), Christian Tagliavini (Swiss-Italy) re-employ and re-interpret in their works, consciously or not, some of the fundamental features of the late medieval Flemish painting.
Features like the scene composition, the contrasted background, the veiled head, the elusive gaze, the feelings’ expression through the facial expression, and the physical characteristics like the tapered hands and fingers, the blonde or red hairs, but above all the sweetest white skin reminds us, in a new way, the best works of Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus.
Text © the PhotoPhore
Natalia Evelyn Bencicova, from the serie Icon (Face)
Christian Tagliavini, 1503, Ritratto di signora in verde
Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady, c. 1460
Teiji Hayama, Maria
Teiji Hayama, Vanité
Katerina Belkina, Metro 2010 (Particular)
Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434 (Particular)
Katinka Lampe, 210026 (from the serie “freeze pose”, 2012), 2012
Katinka Lampe, 210027 (from the serie “freeze pose”, 2012), 2012
Petrus Christus, Portrait of a Young Girl, c. 1470
Romina Ressia, Renaissance Woman II
Images courtesy of their own authors and/or rights’ possessors
