aintings don ’ t have to be large to be impressive . Many artists have spent their entire careers working small . Only a few of Johannes Vermeer ’ s masterpieces are more than two feet high or wide ; “ The Milkmaid ” is less than 18 inches high , and “ The Lacemaker ” is almost exactly eight by ten . Ernest Meissonier became the wealthiest French painter of his day with popular pictures that could fit in a briefcase . Critics mocked him as “ the painter of Lilliput ,” which spurred him to create massive history paintings like those of his idols , Ingres and David . Still , his largest painting , “ Friedland ,” was only eight feet wide — tiny compared to some of their behemoths .
SMALLWonders
tiny paintings with BIG impact
BY TOM QUINN
aintings don ’ t have to be large to be impressive . Many artists have spent their entire careers working small . Only a few of Johannes Vermeer ’ s masterpieces are more than two feet high or wide ; “ The Milkmaid ” is less than 18 inches high , and “ The Lacemaker ” is almost exactly eight by ten . Ernest Meissonier became the wealthiest French painter of his day with popular pictures that could fit in a briefcase . Critics mocked him as “ the painter of Lilliput ,” which spurred him to create massive history paintings like those of his idols , Ingres and David . Still , his largest painting , “ Friedland ,” was only eight feet wide — tiny compared to some of their behemoths .
The pictures of the Northern Renaissance , by such masters as Jan van Eyck , Hans Memling , and Rogier van der Weyden , tend to be more modest in size than those of their Italian contemporaries . The great churches of sunny Italy called for huge frescoes , and the bankers and merchants who paid for them wanted large pictures to fill their palazzi . Netherlandish painters , on the other hand , met their patrons ’ wishes for intimate pictures more suited to their cozy , dimly lit interiors .
One intricately detailed picture ( 5 ⅝ by 4 ⅛ inches ), “ St . George and the Dragon ,” was the object of controversy when it first appeared on the open market in the early 20th century . At first it was attributed to Jan van Eyck ’ s brother Hubert , then to Robert Campin , and finally to Rogier van der Weyden ( 1399-1464 ). In 1940 , an art historian noticed that the style was similar to an undisputed Rogier , “ The Virgin and Child Enthroned ,” in the Thyssen- Bornemisza museum in Madrid . The paintings are the same size , which suggested that they are pendants . It turned out that both panels had a crack in the same place . Rogier had painted them on two sides of the same wood panel , and someone must have cut them in two along the edge , undoubtedly with the intention of selling one painting for the price of two .
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