ST. ANDREW
    Anthony van Dyck    Flemish    1599-1641
SN 227    Oil on Wood Panel    1621

by Robert Anderson

ARTIST
    Apart from Rubens, Anthony van Dyck is considered the greatest Flemish painter of the 17th century. He was active not only in Antwerp, but also in Italy and England. Soon after finishing his apprenticeship in Antwerp he entered Rubens' workshop for a two year period. He entered not as a pupil but as an assistant, for he was already an accomplished painter and was considered Ruben's "best student". These years were decisive and Rubens' influence on his future painting is unmistakable.
    He travelled to Italy, as had Rubens, and it was there that he created the elegant and refined style which remained characteristic of his work through the rest of his life. It was in Italy that he created the 'immortal' type of nobleman, with proud appearance and slender figure enhanced by the famous "van Dyck" hands.
    In England he painted in the service of both James I and Charles I and was knighted by the latter. During his time in the service of Charles he was occupied almost entirely with portrait painting. Van Dyck's fame is derived chiefly from his portraits and his influence on English portraiture has been profound and lasting. Gainsborough, in particular revered him. He also painted religious and mythological subjects and his watercolors of the English countryside have been considered outstanding.

    In addition to Rubens, other artists whose work had an effect on Van Dyck were Veronese, Titian and Raphael and Guido Reni. His work in turn had a profound effect on Peter Lely and John Singer Sargent among others. He is remembered, particularly in England for his dazzling array of portraits and for his sensibility to landscape.
    As a personality he was narcisstic and a highly strung, neurotic individual. His career shows him to be restive by nature and sometimes difficult to employ because his pride and ambition as well as his protective vanity could be bruised easily. He did not enjoy robust health, particularly in the later years of his relatively short life.

SUBJECT
    St. Andrew, one of the twelve Apostles is the subject of this painting. A fisherman, and a follower of John the Baptist, Andrew was the brother of Peter and one of the first of the diciples to follow Jesus. It was through Andrew that Peter first met Jesus. He was one of the inner circle to whom Jesus revealed the secrets of his Passion and final judgement. There is almost universal agreement that Andrew was crucified at Patras on an X shaped cross.
    Andrew was adopted as the patron saint of the Pictish of Scotland and thereafter of the Scottish nation. The Saltire, a flag of Scotland, features an X shaped cross on a blue background.

PAINTING
    In this painting we see a bearded St. Andrew holding a cross on which he was crucified. The painting is part of a powerful series of Christ and the twelve Apostles painted during van Dyk's early maturity when he worked as an assistant tin Rubens' studio. Like other paintings of Apostles by van Dyck, this St. Andrew follows the example of monumentality set by Rubens.
    This St. Andrew is special for the sensitivity and introspection of the charaterization. His rough-hewn face and hands suggest the inner strength of his faith for which he died on the cross he is holding. The painting is also notable for its vigorous brushstrokes. Van Dyck was young at the time (22) and while he reveled in his ability to handle paint, there is some disregard for the finish which results from a lack of discipline.
    There is some repainting in the fingers of the right hand as well as some overpainting below the nose, the pupils of the eyes and the area over the eyelids, below the brows.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
    By limiting himself to bust length figures set against dark backgrounds, powerfully modeled bodies with robes full of movement, simplified attributes (Andrew's X cross) and dramatically accented hands, the youthful van Dyck created a series of deeply moving psychological studies of the Church's founders that rivals the earthy divinity of Rembrandt's Apostles painted in the late 1640's and the early 1950's.
    The Ringling St. Andrew is one of the originals from "The BohlerSeries" discovered by Julius Bohler, Ringling's advisor, in 1914. Since the series was broken up for sale to private collectors shortly thereafter, only seven of the original twelve have again resurfaced.