This Insanely Detailed Painting Uncovered His Tragic Illness

This piece is called Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele by Jan van Eyck. Joris van der Paele was a wealthy canon of St Donatian Church in Bruges and the man who commissioned this painting. He was very rich but very unwell and thought he was going to die and so he hoped that in creating this painting he could keep his soul alive forever in heaven.

We’re placed in a church with Mary, baby Jesus, St. Donatian, St. George and Joris van der Paele (and a parakeet). Van der Paele appears to have been praying just moments ago. Perhaps the scene before us depicts a vision that came to the Canon during one of his prayer sessions. He likely created this painting also as a sort of medical certificate to excuse him from his duties at church that he was unable to carry out due to his ill health.

Jan van Eyck has injected so much detail in this painting that doctors today have been able to diagnose the canons exact ailments: polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. I hope you all love looking at all of the amazing detail in this painting like I do. Thanks for watching!

Credits:

Investigations by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

African Drums (Sting) by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org/

Arcadia - Wonders by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

smoke effect from Vecteezy

Have you ever looked at a painting
and thought how is this even real

like how did someone create this
centuries ago

but it continues to resonate
so strongly with us today.

If we could only fully understand
what it's trying to tell us.

This piece is called
"Madonna with Canon Joris Van der Paele"

by Jan van Eyck.

And this is Joris Van der Paele,

a wealthy canon
of St. Donatians Church in Brugge

and the man who commissioned
this painting, Joris Van der Paele,

was very rich but very unwell

and thought he was going to die

and so he did what anyone would have done

in the 15th century

with limited time and a lot of cash:

he reached out
to the top artist of his time

to get a portrait made,

hoping it would keep his soul alive
in heaven forever.

But what happened since then
would have brought him to his knees.

if he wasn't already there.

Thanks to Jan van Eyck's
obsession with detail,

doctors today can diagnose
his medicalcondition

just by looking at this painting.

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

We we're placed
in the interior of a church.

Our eyes are immediately drawn
to a woman

holding a baby, holding a parrot (?)

a parakeet, what?
It's actually a parakeet.

Oh! right!

This is the Virgin Mary
and the baby Jesus

sitting on a throne.

On the left, you see Saint Donatian,

a painting was destined to hang
in Saint Donatian's Church

which was dedicated to him.

He's got a miter on his head.

Can we just take a second to appreciate
how detailed this painting is?

All right, back to what I was saying.

He's got a miter on his head,

a jerweled cross in his left hand

and a wheel with five lit candles
in his right hand.

He wears a long blue cloak

embroidered with images
of St Paul and St Peter.

Does this guy look a little
like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo

or, I don't know,
I see a resemblance.

I love all of the intricate detail
Jan van Eyck injects into this painting

but I especially love
these fun little carvings

to the right and left of the throne

that represent stories
from the Old Testament

We can see Adam and Eve

carved into the left and right arms
of the throne, respectively.

Above the carving of Eve.

we see Samson opening the lion's jaw.

Above the carving of Adam

there is Cain beating Abel
to death with a club.

OK, maybe that last one
is slightly less fun.

Since this is set inside of a church

Mary and Jesus are placed right where
the altar piece would go.

Mary's red robe spills
onto the ornate carpet

on the steps leading up to the throne.

The two hold a mini bouquet
of redn white and blue flowers

and there's a bird below it

believed to be a rose ringed parakeet.

We don't know exactly why Jan van Eyck
included the bird

but it could be a nod to the Announciation,

since the bird's chirp sounds a lot
like the word

The artist probably used
a real bird as a model,

considering how detailed the bird is.

Given how rare parakeets
were in 15th century Europe,

it shows just how well connected
Jan van Eyck was, to get one as model.

Mary gazes calmly and fondly
down at the Canon,

who's kneeling on theground.

He's wearing a white surplus and
holding an open prayer book in his hands.

You can tell how much he values the book

because he's placed a cloth
between his hands and the book

to keep it protected.

He looks up from the book marking
his place with a pair of spectacles

suggesting he was praying
just moments ago.

He might have been praying
to the Virgin Mary

as the inscription
on the top of the frame

translates to

"For she is more beautiful than the Sun

"and excels every
constellation of the stars,"

"Compared with the light,
she is found to be superior,

"for she is a reflection of eternal light,

"a spotless mirror of the working of God

"and an image of his goodness.

These words come from the Book of Wisdom,

found in some versions
of the Christian Bible.

It could be that Joris van der Paele
is praising Mary

and hopes she'll help him
secure a spot in heaven.

Just above van der Paele is St George,

Hhs name Saint.

Since Joris
is the Dutch form of George.

the younger man raises his
helmet and lifts his right hand

to introduce Joris to Mary and Jesus.

We can see the word Adonai
inscribed on his breastplate

which means Lord in Hebrew.

For some reason I really like

Jan van Eyck's depiction of St George

as he comes across
a bit awkward and unsure of himself

and he seems to have accidentally
stepped on the Canon surplus.

Saint George's fancy armor really
showcases Jan van Eyck's talent

for capturing various textures in paint.

he chain mail, the leather
and the metals reflection

Speaking of reflection, does this look
like anything to you?

This is a self-portrait of the artist
standing at his easel

reflected in the armor of Saint George.

Yan van Eyck has basically
painted himself,

painting this painting
into the painting,

something he also did in his
famous piece the arnolfini portrait.

Yan van Eyck didn't exactly
flatter his patron in the looks department

He's got this far off look
in his eye bulging veins

in his forehead swollen hands
and stubble on his chin.

His right eye even trails off slightly
from his left.

Joris van der Paele was in his mid-60s

when Jan van Eyck painted this piece,

So, it might not be a surprise
that the artist depicts him in this way.

But this isn't the whole story,
not even the half of it.

Joris van der Paele had a lengthy
and successful career in the church

eventually becoming Canon at the church
of Saint donatian in Brugge

by the early 1430s he was quite wealthy

but his health started to decline quickly.

Around that time he got the perk
of still receiving income from the church

even though he couldn't do his job.

Over the years some have questioned
whether van der Paele

was actually as sick as he said

since he lived around another decade
after the painting was completed.

Sounds like he was faking it, right?

Wrong!

And here's how we know.

This painting is insanely detailed

to the point that physicians
have dissected Jan van Eick's portrayal

of the Canon to diagnose
his exact ailments:

polymyalgia rheumatica
and giant cell arthritis,

hair loss, bulging veins in the forehead

and scarring near the ear
are all signs of giant cell arthritis.

Meanwhile swollen hands are often linked
to stiffness and shoulder pain

from polymyalgia rheumatica.

So, it turns out Joris van der Paele

wasn't bluffing
about being sick, after all

but these conditions weren't
what ultimately killed him.

Records from 1431 show that Joris
was initially excused from morning duties

which later extended to all day absences
by 1434.

The rheumatologist Jan Dequeker explains
that this progression aligns

with the natural course of polymyalgia
rheumatica

starting with morning stiffness
and worsening over months or even years.

By 1434 Joris likely felt so unwell
that he thought the end was near

and this painting probably
served as a sort of medical certificate

to justify his church absence.

This might explain why the Canon
allowed van Eyck

to include spectacles
n the painting.

At the time,glasses were a luxury
only the rich could afford

but strangely enough
they were also perceived

as a sign of weakness.

For instance, the Duke of Milan,
Ludovico Sforza

needed glasses as he got older

But he was so ashamed
to admit it,

that, when he requested 36 pairs
from his Ambassador,in 1462

he attached a note saying:

"We inform you that we do not
want them for our use

"because thank God, we don't need them."

Another theory is that Joris' refusal
to wear the glasses in the painting

signifies a denial of his physical senses,

suggesting he's transcended
into a different state.

a meditative one perhaps.

This makes sense,

considering this painting
doesn't depict a real life scene

but maybe more like a vision
Joris van der Paele experiences

during prayer.

At the bottom of the frame
is an inscription that reads:

"MasterJoris van der Paele,
Canon of the church

"commissioned the painter
Johannes van Eick

"to produce this work and he founded

two chaplaincies as part
of the choir in 1434.

He completed it, however,
in 1436,

This tells us that Jan van Eyick
finished this painting in 1436.

Iit also reveals Joris van der Paele's
motive for requesting the painting.

He endowed two chaplaincies
to Saint Donatian Church

These chaplaincies were established
to ensure masses would be held

for his salvation and prayers
for his soul and his family soul

after his death.

we can even got Joris van der Paele
maternal and paternal coat of arms

in each of the frames four corners.

What's interesting about the text
on the frame

is that, even though, it appears
to be an actual inscription

it's just painted to look that way.

It's an illusion,

Similarly the frame
may seem like it's brass

but it's just painted on.

It's all just an illusion.

This painting looks and feels
so real, but it isn't.

This isn't a window, this isn't a parrot,
it's a parakeet,

this is not Joris van der Paele. Why?

Because he's dead and also because
this is a painting

that in a way keeps him,
— or I guess I should say —

the idea of him alive forever-