Lucas van Leyden (1494?-1533) was a remarkably versatile artist. His art, noted for its realism, dramatic power, and careful execution, ranges from the small half-length narratives of his youth to the carefully constructed, multifigured representations of his later years. Until quite recently Lucas's oeuvre was inflated with inferior copies or stylistically unrelated works, leading one scholar to describe his painting career as inconsistent and illogical. Within the last fifteen years, however, his production and development as a painter have been redefined. Despite this renewed interest, The Paintings of Lucas van Leyden is the first comprehensive appraisal of Lucas's paintings. Smith's survey of the biographical data focuses on Lucas's disputed birth date, his artistic training, and his travels to the southern Netherlands, which brought him into contact with two of the most significant northern artists of the early sixteenth century, Albrecht Durer and Jan Gossaert.
Smith reveals the influence of their work, along with the prints of Marcantonio Raimondi, on Lucas's stylistic development. His paintings are also examined with reference to recurring thematic motifs. The early allegorical genre panels - with depictions of gaming, fortune-telling, and betrothal scenes - constitute an important transition in the movement of Netherlandish art away from its roots in the medieval church, providing Lucas with themes that reappeared in his later years. Most significant, the underlying topos of the Power of Women, with its corollary warning against the temptations of the flesh, was repeated in certain of his Old Testament paintings. The catalogue raisonne contains entries on the extant originals as well as the numerous sixteenth- and seventeenth-century copies after lost works. These inclusions double the number of compositions firmly in Lucas's oeuvre, providing us with a richer understanding of his accomplishments as a painter.
This book will be an important addition to the history of Netherlandish art, as well as an aid to students of Flemish, German, and Italian art. In addition, it should appeal to cultural historians who are concerned with issues such as the representation of women, allegories of gaming, and artistic responses to the Reformation.
