La Cène, ca. 1652 Born this day in 1602, Champaigne came from a poor family from Brussels—in contrast to Van Dyck who came from Antwerp from a well-to-do family—and his work is characterized by both portraiture and religious scenes, which he excelled at equally brilliantly. Champaigne embodies the French Baroque, and although he may have lacked some of the compositional genius of Rubens, he made up for it with drama, color, and always attention to anatomy without exaggeration. In the above example, his take on The Last Supper reveals the very French contrast of warm and cool colours that is immediately pleasing to the eye. Despite the horizontal composition, it is the facial features of the apostles, especially against the dark background, with faint light coming in from the far right window in a small room that makes this rendition more intimate, more real. Placement of the hands seems to have been a Flemish fascination, and Champaigne had a definite gift for arm gestu...
Thoughts and inspirations on art from the Old Masters to my own art