Mérode Altarpiece By Robert Campin Analysis

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Recommended: The influence of renaissance art

The Mérode Altarpiece possibly by Robert Campin was created during the Early Renaissance in the 1400s. At this time, the Renaissance brought back the interest in the natural and secular world after many years of Christian church doctrine. Therefore, the Renaissance is a rebirth to represent the material world, portray the human body accurately and use scientific ways to create linear and atmospheric perspective to reproduce the appearance of the natural world. However, the Renaissance not only occurred in Italy, but also in the Low Countries that are located in the north of the Alps such as Belgium and Netherlands, which is where the piece was painted. The Mérode Altarpiece is a triptych because it includes 3 paintings in one or 3 panels with hinges that can be closed together. The painting on the left shows two people praying and on the right a man is working. As can be seen, the painting in the middle is a recreation of the Annunciation scene stated in the Bible where the angel Gabriel descends from heaven to tell Mary that she will have a baby named Jesus who is the son of God. …show more content…

A couple of symbols that can be observed closely in the middle painting are the lily flower which is Mary’s symbolic flower, the vessel in the niche represents Mary’s womb, the star pattern in her dress is the star of Bethlehem that the Magi were looking for and underneath the window is a little guy carrying the cross, a symbol of Jesus’s crucifixion. In the right painting the symbol of the grapes are inferred implicitly because Joseph is making tools to harvest grapes which are needed to make the wine used in the Holy Communion which then becomes the blood of

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