Bramante's Architecture in Jan Gossart's Painting

Résumé En

In 1509, Jan Gossart, a Flemish painter active in the early sixteenth century, sojourned in Rome with his patron, the admiral Philip of Burgundy, a great humanist who took the artist with him in Italy to make graphic reproductions of ancient monuments. Although he is busy to copy ruins of Ancient Rome for the prince of Burgundy, the painter is also receptive to the architecture of his contemporaries, and particularly to the buildings of Donato Bramante who works actively for the pope Julius II in the project for rebuilding the St. Peter's Basilica. By studying various architectural elements present in his famous painting Danae and in his others works executed some years after his return in the Netherlands, my purpose is to evaluate Gossart's real knowledge and comprehension of Bramante's architectural language. In this paper, I wish to determine the reasons that explain why Jan Gossart, contrary to his patron, was so impressed by the Renaissance architectural style introduced by the Italian architect. This research, which studies the impact of the journey in Rome in his perception of architecture, is an interesting illustration of the exchange and adaptation of ideas between Italy and the Netherlands in the early sixteenth century.