03 works, Today, October 9th, is Saint Denis' day, his story illustrated #281

Henri Bellechose, (1415–1440)

Saint Denis Altarpiece, c. 1416

Tempera, gold and panel on canvas

Height: 162 cm (63.7 in); Width: 211 cm (83 in)

Louvre Museum

Completed by 1416 for the Carthusian monastery of Champol, Burgundy, France.

Henri Bellechose (fl. 1415; died before 28 January 1445) was from the South Netherlands. He was one of the most significant artists at the beginning of panel painting in Northern Europe, and among the earliest artists of Early Netherlandish painting.

Bellechose was an artist who came to Dijon to work for the Dukes of Burgundy. There he was appointed court painter to John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and "valet de chambre", a court appointment, as his predecessor Jean Malouel and successor Jan van Eyck were. Nothing is known of his career before this, and it has been suggested that he had been working as Malouel's assistant for some time, and for some art historians their oeuvres are closely entangled.

His famous Martyrdom of Saint Denis (above) in the Louvre, was commissioned by the Duke for the Chartreuse of Champmol in Dijon, founded by Philip the Bold as a dynastic burial place. The pigments to "parfaire" an image of the "Life of St Denis", but interestingly not any gold for the background, were advanced by the Duchy in May 1415. This has led to the suggestion that the work had been left incomplete by Malouel.

In April 1420, when John the Fearless died, Bellechose was retained by his successor, Philip the Good. The works recorded in the accounts of the Duke were mostly decorative, including commissions such as coats of arms for funerals, as was normal for court artists, but two altarpieces, neither apparently surviving, were commissioned in 1425 and 1429. Bellechose had a large studio which at its peak consisted of eight assistants and two apprentices. More on Henri Bellechose

Saint Denis (a westernization of the the Greek Dionysius), ca. 258, was one of seven bishops sent to Gaul by the Bishop of Rome during the reign of the Emperor Decius. Their mission was to extend the spread of the Gospel in that mostly-pagan land. While most of the bishops were sent to major settlements, St Denis was assigned to the small, remote pagan town of Lutetia — which later grew to become the city of Paris. He and his companions settled outside the town in a house given to him by a convert, where the few Christians could meet in secret. Soon, through the holy bishop's grace-filled preaching and his many miracles, Christianity grew rapidly.

El Greco, (1541–1614)

Where the few Christians could meet in secret

The Pentecost, c. circa 1600

Oil on canvas

Height: 275 cm (108.2 in); Width: 127 cm (50 in)

Museo del Prado

Doménikos Theotokópoulos (1541 – 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco; Spanish for "The Greek", was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. The nickname "El Greco" refers both to his Greek origin and Spanish citizenship. The artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters.

 

El Greco was born in Crete, which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice, and the center of Post-Byzantine art. He trained and became a master within that tradition before traveling at age 26 to Venice, as other Greek artists had done. In 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of Mannerism and of the Venetian Renaissance. In 1577, he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo, El Greco received several major commissions and produced his best-known paintings.

 

El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism, while his personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation, marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western painting. More on El Greco

Soon a fierce persecution of Christians swept through Gaul, and many of the faithful were abused, tortured or put to death. Saint Denis, fearless of danger and heedless of his own old age, travelled among the Christians, visiting the prisoners and exhorting all to remain firm in their confession of Christ. Soon he himself was arrested along with several companions, and was tortured without pity. When was publicly hung on a cross, he preached to the onlookers of the mystery of Christ's Passion. Taken back to prison, he celebrated the holy Eucharist for the last time, enveloped in a heavenly light. 

Jean Bourdichon, (1457–1521)

Saint Denis, c. 1475 and 1500

Miniature painting on parchment

Illuminated manuscript of the "Book of Hours of Charles VIII" King of France (1468 - 1498)

National Library of France

Illuminated manuscript of the Horae ad usum Parisiensem (Book of hours for Parisians), or "Book of Hours of Charles VIII" King of France (1468 - 1498). The folio shows Saint Denis, first bishop and patron of Paris, walking with his head in his hands, after his execution.

Date between 1475 and 1500

Jean Bourdichon (1457 or 1459 – 1521) was a French miniature painter and manuscript illuminator at the court of France between the end of the 15th century and the start of the 16th century, in the reigns of Louis XI of France, Charles VIII of France, Louis XII of France and Francis I of France. He was probably born in Tours, and was a pupil of Jean Fouquet.[2] He died in Tours. 

Two of Bourdichon's most famous works are the Hours of Louis XII (now dispersed, begun 1498) and the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany for Louis's queen. More on Jean Bourdichon 

He and a host of other Martyrs were then beheaded on a hill, now called Montmartre in their memory. There is a tradition that at his beheading he rose up, took his own head in his hands, and walked  for several miles to a place that later became the Basilica of St Denis in the town named after him. Before the French Revolution, the Kings and Queens of France were buried in this church.. More on Saint Denis

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