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Jan Boeckhorst: Adoration of the Magi

Flemish painter Jan Boeckhorst studied with the famous Peter Paul Rubens and was considered one of his most successful students.

Living Gallery 2024: Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

Join Greenville’s leading Easter tradition–attend the annual Living Gallery!

Be challenged and inspired by the drama, uplifting music, and life-size re-creations of masterpieces (with live models) that make up the Living Gallery, an annual Upstate tradition since 1998.

The program varies from year to year, and 2024’s presentation co-directed by Donnalynn Hess and Erin Jones features a new script revealing a gallery of witnesses from both the Old and New Testaments.

Since the creation and fall of man, God has persistently and lovingly pursued His own from generation to generation. At the center of His story stands the cross, the necessary and brutal work of redemption through the suffering Messiah. The inevitable culmination of God’s plan is yet to come in His final return, but until then we need not fear for God has consistently shown Himself faithful and strong. And, it is His faithfulness that strengthens our own to be steadfast to the end. View visually powerful stage reproductions of works like Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret’s The Last Supper, a new sculpture by local artist Doug Young, and M&G’s Adoration of the Magi by Flemish painter, Jan Boeckhorst.

 

Location: Rodeheaver Auditorium, campus of Bob Jones University

Parking: Parking is available on the campus of Bob Jones University.

Performance Times: 

Thursday, March 28 at 4:30 and 7:30 PM

Friday, March 29 at 4:30 and 7:30 PM

Saturday, March 30 at 2:00, 4:30, and 7:30 PM

 

Living Gallery Tickets:

Teens & Adults: $19.79 and Children (Ages 6-12): $17.70

  • Tickets are on sale at Programs & Productions, in the lobby of Rodeheaver Auditorium, campus of Bob Jones University
  • Box Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 12PM to 5PM
  • Purchase tickets online here.
  • Call (864) 770-1372, Monday-Friday, 12PM to 5PM
  • Learn more about the program here.

 

Related Offerings:

Bringing a church group? Schedule a tour to see selections of M&G’s collection here.

For a FREE family Easter adventure, follow an M&G Easter Scavenger Hunt.

Want to see works from M&G’s Collection? See the campus locations displaying selections here.

To view a selection of videos featuring Easter-themed works in the Collection, visit here.

 

Object of the Month: March 2022

Esther Accusing Haman

Oil on canvas, signed and dated on lower left: J. Victoors, fc, 1651

Jan Victors

Dutch, 1619–after 1676

Click on the links throughout the article to further your learning.

One of life’s more pleasurable experiences is eating a good meal. Although, food shared with a friend or a group has the additional benefit of fellowship besides nourishment. There are a few food-related paintings in the M&G collection; however, this Dutch work includes a meal, and it is considered a favorite of many patrons. Added to the collection in 1968, it arrived from Europe unframed and in a shared crate with M&G’s Adoration of the Magi by Jan Boeckhorst.

Jan Victors was born in Amsterdam. His birthdate was deduced from a marriage license in 1642, which he signed at 22 years old. He was predeceased by his wife in 1661 with whom he fathered seven children. In his family there are two other painters, a brother and a son. He was raised in a strict Calvinist environment and painted only biblical scenes that did not include representations of God or Christ—most often themes from the Old Testament. In 1673, he left painting and a comfortable life in Amsterdam to minister to sailors of the East India company. He continued in this missionary endeavor until 1676 when he apparently succumbed to a fever while in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia.

Victors studied under Rembrandt and was part of his studio from 1632 to 1635. M&G’s work represents the pinnacle of his artistic skill. The precision and opulence of the table settings and garments reflect the wealth of the upper classes or royalty. Note the variety in the scene’s rich textiles: the heavy and lush curtains, the ermine-trimmed robe and brocade garment on King Ahasuerus, Queen Esther’s pearls and jewels as well as her silk dress embroidered with gold, and Haman’s silk-lined velvet garb featuring the 17th-century’s highly fashionable paned sleeves. The silver tableware is linked to well-known silversmiths of the day, the Van Vianens. The pineapple-shaped goblet resembles a design that was created by none other than Albrecht Durer.

Victors painted this same subject at least two other times prior to M&G’s work. Both are in Germany, one in Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne (1645-1639) and the other in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister  in Kassel (c.1640).

Like many of his Dutch contemporaries, he painted biblical subjects representing Israel’s history. The Dutch identified with the captivity and persecution of the Jewish people having fought for their own independence from Roman Catholic Spain in the Eighty Years’ War.

Esther is a wonderful example of the providence of God, revealing His care for His chosen people—a quality of God’s character that believers can still trust today. The story for this painting is found in chapter 7 of the book of Esther, and the Jews’ victory over the evil Haman is still observed annually in March as the Feast of Purim.      

John Good, Security Manager

Published 2022

 

 

 

 

Object of the Month: December 2017

The Adoration of the Magi

Oil on canvas, Initialed and dated, lower right: JB 1652

Jan Boeckhorst, called Lange Jan

Flemish, c. 1604–1668

Click on the link for additional reference information.

Among the Museum & Gallery’s collection, there are both famous and unknown artists.  But what about those who fall right in the middle?  What about the artists who have active careers and equal skill to the “greats,” but never achieve the fame of their contemporaries?  One of these artists is the Flemish master, Jan Boeckhorst.

Jan Boeckhorst, nicknamed Lange Jan (“Tall John”) was born in Münster, Germany in 1604.  At seventeen, he became a canon in the Jesuit church, but at the advanced age of twenty-two (long past the standard age for training) decided to become a painter.

In the 1620s, he moved to the coastal city of Antwerp—home to some of the greatest artists of his time.  Some historians claim he studied with Jacob Jordaens while others say it was Peter Paul Rubens.  More than likely, Boeckhorst studied with Jordaens because Rubens was in Spain and England in the late 1620s. Around 1634, Boeckhorst achieved the title of Master in Antwerp’s Guild of St. Luke and worked alongside the other Flemish masters including Rubens and Anthony van Dyck.  Boeckhorst visited Italy twice to study the sixteenth-century Venetian masters such as Titian and Tintoretto and returned to Antwerp by 1640.

Throughout his later life, he painted a variety of subject matter including religious and mythological for church altarpieces and private collectors.  His artistic work ranged from paintings, designing tapestries, and illustrating for religious books.  He also contributed to the founding of the Antwerp Academy.  After a full life, he died on April 21, 1668.

Despite his active career, much of Boeckhorst’s work is unknown, unsigned or wrongly attributed, so it has been difficult to compile a comprehensive list of his art.  One of the reasons his work might be misattributed is his close work relationship with Rubens. There are many evidences of their collaboration based on the standard studio practice of the time. Boeckhorst would help touch up paintings under Rubens’ instructions and even assisted the master in large commissions. After Rubens’ death in 1640, Boeckhorst finished or even restored Rubens’ remaining works. An example of their collaboration is King David Playing the Harp at the Städel Museum.

In M&G’s collection, there are three paintings by Boeckhorst; of these The Adoration of the Magi is considered his greatest work in America.  In the lower right corner, his initials and date are painted on a rock face: JB 1652.

Boeckhorst displays a heightened attention to texture with the wafting incense, richness of the garments, and different animals.  Because of his saturated colors, graceful composition and dramatic movement, scholars consider this painting to be a masterpiece of the High Baroque style.

KC Christmas, M&G graduate assistant

 

 

Published in 2017

Flemish Baroque

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Hapsburgs ruled present-day Belgium, then known as the Spanish Netherlands or Flanders (after its most prosperous province). Philip II reigned in an alliance with the Catholic Church that determined the religious tenor of his northern lands. The Catholic influence and doctrines oppressed many in the United Provinces (present day Netherlands) since they were predominantly Protestant. However, the Dutch Protestants soon gained their independence (beginning in 1609) from their southern counterpart in Flanders and became an independent Republic.

As a distinctly Catholic region, the Spanish Netherlands provided a wealth of opportunities for artists to find work through church commissions; therefore, the coastal city of Antwerp emerged as the leading cultural force in the first decades of the 17th century.

Although some of the greatest artists of the period made Antwerp their home, by mid-century the city had fallen into financial and political difficulty. Two major factors contributed to the economic decline of the Spanish Netherlands in the 17th century: the end of the 12-year truce with the Dutch Protestants in 1621 and the closing of Antwerp’s harbor in 1648 after the Peace of Westphalia. In spite of this decline, artistic patronage in the city continued to flourish, and Flemish painters received important commissions both at home and abroad.