The Picture Motet

Also the picture motets from the 16th and 17th centuries combine image with music, but the concept is clearly different from illuminated manuscripts. The music of the image motet is very small but precisely printed. The image itself is much larger and attracts the greatest attention. Yet, the music is equally important, because music and image form one unity: the image is linked to the  motet and vice versa. Picture motets are a typical phenomenon of the Low Countries at the time of the counter-Reformation. The most important center is Antwerp. Picture motets were officially recognized in 2012 as masterpieces of Flemish heritage.

This picture motet, known as The Hymns of Mary, represents Our Lady with music-making angels. Johan Sadeler engraved this work after a design by Maarten De Vos. The motet Magnificat was composed by Cornelis Verdonck (1563-1625). The engraving is made in Antwerp in 1585. B-Bc ICO-I-019.     This picture motet, known as The Hymns of Mary, represents Our Lady with music-making angels. Johan Sadeler engraved this work after a design by Maarten De Vos. The motet Magnificat was composed by Cornelis Verdonck (1563-1625). The engraving is made in Antwerp in 1585. B-Bc ICO-I-019.

 

The Liège composer Daniel Raymundi (c. 1558-1634) composed Fiat cor meum. The first version dates from 1586. This is a later, mirrored reprint of the cartographer Pieter Goos (1610-1675), probably around 1645. B-Bc P-2-1501-1.     The Liège composer Daniel Raymundi (c. 1558-1634) composed Fiat cor meum. The first version dates from 1586. This is a later, mirrored reprint of the cartographer Pieter Goos (1610-1675), probably around 1645. B-Bc P-2-1501-1.

 

Cornelis Verdonk's Ave gratia plena is the composition on this engraving with the title Saint-Anne, the Virgin and Infant Jesus. The first version dates from 1584, engraved by Johan Sadeler after Maarten De Vos, but this is a slightly modified reprint by Bailly from the beginning of the 17th century. The fact that reprints came on the market indicates the success of this genre. B-Bc 91151.