Triptych of Jan Des Trompes (rear of wings) 1505

Editor: Here we have the rear of the wings from Gerard David's Triptych of Jan Des Trompes, painted around 1505. These oil paintings have a quiet, contemplative atmosphere to me. What immediately catches your eye, and how do you interpret it? Curator: For me, the gray-green stone facades—architectural stage sets!—narrate absence, what's unseen yet implied. David paints *backs*, potential yet deferred, like unopened letters holding unsent emotions, almost a meditative anti-narrative. Note how meticulously he renders not the faces of saints but *traces* of their devotional aura! What could it mean? What do *you* make of their positioning, as *images* of portraits, not portraits of humans, but portraits of devotional images themselves? Editor: So, a step removed from reality. The Trompes family weren't commissioning a painting of themselves directly in the divine presence, but more the idea of their devotion, represented indirectly. Curator: Precisely. It's a quiet hum of *maybe*, painted on a surface usually hidden, now sung as an anthem of whispered hope. Look at Mary, in a doorway or is she inside already? It's not even in a divine place; she is at the entrance... maybe suggesting hope is always an invitation? Editor: So much symbolism hidden in plain sight! I was focusing on the figures, but now the architecture whispers secrets. Curator: Art is a constant negotiation, a conversation across centuries and consciousness. You start with faces. Then David makes us see doors. The best art never gives you all the answers!