The Money Changer and His Wife
The Moneychanger and his Wife is a Flemish painting from the early 16th century, widely used to illustrate economic activity. There are two different versions: one by Quentin Massys, 1514, and another by Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1539. The one that will be used for this writing is the one by Quentin Massys.
The Moneychanger and his Wife depicts a man counting his money (coins) while his wife is looking on. In this painting, Massys shows rich and reflective colors and light and well-balanced shadowing to model his figures. He is working the colors and shadows with great dexterity. His figures are individualized in detail; slender and long fingers and noses, wide set eyes, rather youthful faces. The costumes are contemporary and understated and the fabric folds are expertly rendered. While the room and its decorative objects reflect the status of the subjects. The husband and wife in the painting are showing now emotions whatsoever to what they are doing. The husband is counting his coins with not expression while the wife is simply observing, with no emotion and no expression, her husband’s activities. Both are dressed neatly and modestly, with no ostentatious flair; other than the use of grey fabric and fur on the husband’s clothes and the red fabric on the wife’s clothes (only wealthy Dutch could afford such colors). Massys has used light to gently illuminate the daylight scene. No one person or object is under the spotlight. This painting is considered a commentary on Dutch values and mores as they reflect the secular; in this case, financial means, which often times distracted Christians from their religious duties. Here we see his wife by his side, with an open bible before her, but, she seems more interested in the money counting and changing than in reading and devoting herself to her bible; thusly her religious studies. Massys further represents the North’s apparent departure from extreme piety by including in the background, seen through an door ajar, several people are either in a conversation, maybe making a trade of some sort, or it could be one robbing the other of his or her money. The circular mirror on the money counting table at the bottom of the painting, we can see the tiny figure of a man wearing a turban reading a book while looking out the window. This could show that despite having, what could seem like, a bible in his hands, he is more intrigued by what this world has to offer than what God has to offer. There are many allusions to the need for piety and religiosity and despite the paintings more secular composition, religious symbols are present all over the painting.
During the era in which this painting was made, the Netherlands was considered the Florence of Europe. It had become a major commercial center and was amongst the most advanced and prosperous European countries. It was also close to the center of the Reformation movement. Those Dutch citizens who converted to Protestantism affected the arts resulting in a corresponding decrease in large-scale altarpieces and religious works. Much of the work completed during this era reflected the everyday lives of the various members of society, from the rich to the poor, capturing their daily activities, environments, and values. In the Money Changer, we see a reconciliation of daily life with a hint of religion.
This painting is the perfect painting to depict the concerns that is facing money today. In the 1500s, Netherland got greedy and choose money over God. The same thing is happening now, people are getting greedy and do not care what the outcome will be. We already saw what happened during the subprime mortgage crisis and that was the outcome of greed. People are not looking to God for help, but are focusing on making as much money as they could. We see the same thing happen during the National Football League, NFL, lockout where you had two successful and well-paid sides fighting over more money that they cannot really handle. People call themselves believers yet do not believe that God can get them out of any mess or any situation that they can get themselves into; rather they believe that money can solve those problems. Greed is name of the game in this society and people will never learn from their mistakes.
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