Full title | Helsinus saved from a Shipwreck and (below) A French Canon drowned by Devils |
---|---|
Artist | Dalmatian/Venetian |
Group | Altarpiece of the Virgin Mary |
Date made | about 1400 |
Medium and support | Tempera on wood |
Dimensions | 64 x 27.5 cm |
Inscription summary | Inscribed |
Acquisition credit | Bequeathed by H.E. Luxmoore, 1927 |
Inventory number | NG4250.4 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
These scenes come from a text written in twelfth century by an English monk called Eadmer, an early supporter of the idea that the Virgin was conceived without sin; they conclude in Helsinus Preaching the Celebration of the Feast of the Conception and (below) The French Canon restored to Life.
The upper scene shows a violent shipwreck. Devils tear at the sails and break the mast. The English abbot Helsinus prays for salvation, while the crew throws excess cargo into the waves. A bishop saint appears; he stands upon the water and holds a scroll bearing words in Latin: ‘You will escape death if you celebrate the Feast of the Conception of the Virgin on the sixth day before the Ides of December.’
In the lower scene, devils drown a French canon in the river Seine as he returns from an adulterous liaison. He lies in the water and two devils remove his soul from his mouth. At this same moment the Virgin, surrounded by angels, intervenes: at her command, an angel swoops down.
This panel comes from an altarpiece of the Virgin and Child surrounded by narrative scenes depicting the life of Saints Joachim and Anne and miracles of the Virgin. The two scenes on this panel show stories from the life of the so-called saint Helsinus, an English abbot who introduced the Feast of the Immaculate Conception to England. The miracles shown were recorded in a twelfth-century sermon by an English monk called Eadmer, who supported the idea that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin. They promote the idea of celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, showing that the Virgin is herself in favour of it.
Helsinus had been sent to Denmark by William the Conqueror, who invaded England in the eleventh century, to investigate rumours of a potential attack. On the way back Helsinus and his crew were caught in a violent storm. The boat is shown almost capsized, surrounded by enormous swirling waves. A swarm of devil-like creatures – with webbed feet, horns and dragon’s wings – tear at the sails, suggesting the storm has a demonic element. White swirls against the edge of the boat look like sea spray, and were created by flicking a brush loaded with paint against the surface of the picture. In desperation to keep the boat afloat, sailors throw cargo overboard.
All they can do is pray to be saved – we can see Helsinus wearing a black hood, clasping his palms together. Upon praying, they see a vision of a bishop saint, shown here with a large gilded halo and wearing a bishop’s mitre as well as a crown. His words are inscribed in Latin on the scroll he holds: ‘You will escape death if you celebrate the Feast of the Conception of the Virgin on the sixth day before the Ides of December.’
The lower part of this panel continues the theme of demonic shipwrecks. The story tells of how a French canon was travelling across the Seine, returning home after an adulterous liaison. All the while, however, he was singing the Office of the Virgin, a series of hymns, psalms and scriptural readings devoted to the Virgin Mary. A pack of devils attacked his boat, smashing it against the rocks. According to Eadmer’s sermon ‘a great horde of demons... capsized his boat and snatched away his soul for torment.’ The artist has shown two devils pulling the canon’s soul – represented as a baby – from his mouth, as he lies dead in the water.
In the sky above, the Virgin Mary has appeared with a group of angels. She points towards another angel, who is swooping down towards the canon. A devil nearby holds his hands to his ears, as though trying to block out the Virgin’s words. According to the sermon the Virgin appeared three days later and asked the devils why they had snatched the canon. They answered that it was because he was doing their work.
Both stories are concluded on Helsinus Preaching the Celebration of the Feast of the Conception and (below) The French Canon restored to Life.
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Helsinus saved from a Shipwreck; A French Canon drowned
Altarpiece of the Virgin Mary
This altarpiece is a unique example in the National Gallery’s collection of a work made by a late medieval artist working on both sides of the Adriatic, the sea between Italy and the Balkan coast. The picture may be one of the earliest painted representations of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (the Virgin being conceived without sin). This was a controversial idea in this period. It was not officially included in Catholic theology until the nineteenth century, but it was celebrated in the fifteenth century, on 8 December.
The central panel showing the Virgin and Child includes celestial bodies – the sun, moon and stars – that became associated with the Immaculate Conception. The left side panels show the story of the Virgin’s miraculous birth to a couple who could not have children; the right side panels shows two miracles of the Virgin.
This altarpiece is one of very few paintings in our collection made by an artist working on both sides of the Adriatic – the sea between Italy’s eastern coast and an area known as Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia). These coastal regions were closely connected in the medieval and Renaissance periods through trade and artistic exchange, particularly through Venice. This is the only work in the National Gallery that reflects this relationship at around the year 1400. It includes motifs found in images created in both Venice and the coastal towns of Dalmatia such as Zadar. Carlo Crivelli would be the most famous artist to maintain these artistic links in the later fifteenth century.
The altarpiece is made up of five vertical panels, and each side panel has two narrative scenes; the stories run from left to right, and top to bottom. The Virgin Mary and Christ Child are shown in the main panel. Scenes of the lives of Saints Joachim and Anne appear on the left side panels, including the birth of Mary, their daughter. The right side panels show two miracles of the Virgin, one involving a so-called English saint Helsinus – who was actually never canonised – and the other a French canon.
The central panel is a very early image of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception was not officially part of Catholic dogma until the mid-nineteenth century, but in 1477 its celebration was sanctioned by the pope. The Feast had long had supporters in England. In the twelfth century an Anglo-Saxon monk called Eadmer wrote about the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary’s conception. His text, De Conceptione Beatae Mariae Virginis (On the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary), sparked controversy that lasted centuries. Some believed that the Virgin was sanctified – or made sinless – in the womb after her conception, while others maintained the conception itself was sinless. In his text Eadmer included the miracles of the Virgin shown on the right-hand panels of this altarpiece; the artist obviously knew the text and used it as a source for his images. In the early fourteenth century the Franciscan theologian Duns Scotus promoted the argument for the Virgin’s Immaculate Conception and Franciscan religious groups began to celebrate the Feast at around this time.
We don‘t know if this altarpiece was intended to celebrate the Immaculate Conception or just the conception of the Virgin. The miracles of the Virgin don’t explicitly refer to her sinless conception. The altarpiece was made almost a century before celebration of the Feast received official sanction, and though it was observed during the fifteenth century it remained the least celebrated of all Christian festivals. There were many Franciscans on the Dalmatian coast where this picture may have been made, and there is evidence that many altars in the Dalmatian town of Zadar were dedicated to the Virgin’s conception. But the date of these dedications is either later than this picture or unknown, so we can't connect this altarpiece to a particular church.
The imagery used in the central panel – the moon, the stars and the sun – became associated with image of the Immaculate Conception later in the fifteenth century. Their use here, as well as the reference to Eadmer’s text, suggests that the panel may be a very early image of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception.
We can only speculate about the identity of the artist, but we do know he had a unique style. His storytelling in the narrative scenes is clear and simple, focusing on a few figures but setting them against varied, generally landscape settings. He enjoys playful details such as a shepherd playing the bagpipes and men throwing cargo overboard. He uses the same few colours – red, green, pink, blue and some yellow – to unite the various images. His figures have exaggeratedly almond-shaped eyes with well-defined lids and long, dainty fingers.








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