The Burning Bush

1476 · Cathedrale Saint Sauveur, Aix-en-Provence

religious

This work of Froment's maturity, which is indeed an epitome of his whole oeuvre, was commissioned by King René of Provence. This central panel of the triptych represents Moses before the Burning Bush; the figures kneeling in prayer on the wing are the donor and his wife, Jeanne de Laval, accompanied by saints (not reproduced here). In this work the painter has abandoned the occasional crudities of The Raising of Lazarus; only in the countenance of Moses are there reminiscences of the more rigid portraiture of the earlier altarpiece.

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About the Artist

Nicolas Froment

1435 – 1486

French painter who shared the responsibility (with Enguerrand Charonton) for introducing Flemish naturalism into French art. During the 15th century, Italian art was so admired in France that the works of French artists were ignored or disdained. In response, Froment and Charonton around 1450 set up their own school in Avignon, where they formed the core of the realists of the school of primitive artists of Provence. Although many of their works were in demand at the time, they were neglected afterward. Froment stands out among his colleagues for his rather crude and unpolished style, marked by awkward design and lack of sensitivity to colour. Nonetheless, many appreciated his revolutionary art, which introduced the often macabre Flemish style into French painting, as can be seen in his Resurrection of Lazarus (1461; Uffizi, Florence). The Burning Bush (1475-76), which illustrates his application of the Flemish style to the legends and landscape of Provence, is perhaps Froment's most illustrious work. The painting was done for King René of Anjou and depicts the King and his wife with several saints.

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