Justus van Gent
Joos van Wassenhove (also Justus van Gent), Justus or Jodocus of Ghent, or Giusto da Guanto (* 1410, † 1480 ) was a Flemish painter who later worked in Italy.
The City Archives of Ghent - has been searched for a reference to the story of the painter, which the biographer Vasari and Guicciardini called Giusto da Guanto ( Justus of Ghent) - inconclusive. Flemish historian of the 16th century, the poor and blank expressions Vasari extended by declaring him the pupil of Hubert van Eyck. The register of the Guild of St. Luke Gents contain six master named Joos or Jodokus who worked in Ghent in the 15th century. It, however, no work of these masters has been preserved, and it is impossible to match their style with the Giusto.
Between 1465 and 1474 the painter described by Vasari created the Communion of the Apostles, which today is located in Urbino in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in the Palazzo Ducale. It was commissioned on behalf of Federico da Montefeltro for the Brotherhood Corpus Christi. Montefeltro is shown therein as a companion of Caterino Zeno, the Persian envoy was in a mission at the court of Urbino at the time. Due to this singular representation, one can assume that Giusto was far from being a student of Hubert Van Eyck's alleged, but must have studied at a later master, perhaps Dieric Bouts.
In the image design and as a draftsman Giusto falls behind the more famous painters from Flanders; although his portraits are good, its type representation is not characterized by refinement of character or expression. Technically, he is dead to compare Geertgen Sint Jans, whose most famous images are collected in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The Florentine bookseller Vespasian for flavor formation of Federico da Montefeltro did much, reports that the Duke from the Netherlands requested a capable master in order to create a series of pictures of ancient personalities who should be customized for a newly built library in the palace of Urbino. It has been suggested that Joos van Wassenhove was the author of these 28 portraits of famous men, which are preserved in the Louvre and the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche.
However, there are significant differences between these images and the Supper of the Apostles. It is still possible that Giusto da Forlì had mitigated his Flemish style after a certain period of study of the masterpieces of Raphael and Melozzo, and so these mixed Flemish painting style as Italian influences gained expressing these portraits of dignitaries. If such an adjustment should really have taken place, this would confirm a certain admiration for the Flemish style, considering that Raphael these portraits are not only appreciated, but she held even in his sketchbook, which is today a jewel of the Venetian Accademia.
There is no reason to assume that Giusto da Guanto is identical with the painter Justus d' Allamagna who created the Annunciation ( 1451 ) in the cloister of Santa Maria di Castello in Genoa. Drawing and coloring of this wall painting clearly indicate that Justus d' Allamagna came from Southern Germany, while his namesake from Urbino was born in the Netherlands.
Works
- Adoration of the Magi
- Calvary
- Communion of the Apostles ( currently in the Galleria Nazionale, Urbino)