Smart Secrets of Great Paintings — Season 1, Episode 1: The Moneylender and his Wife (1514) by Quentin Massys

Episode synopsis

16th century Antwerp was like 1950s New York. The city of craftsmen and fishermen at the entrance to the North Sea became a leading finance hub, facilitated by European exploration and new trade routes. This work by Quentin Metsys is a subtle criticism of that world and its era, warning about the flow of money when it is detached from all forms of religious and moral considerations. This film examines the influences of Jan Van Eyck and Leonardo Da Vinci on the work; analyzes composition, painting technique, and object symbolism; and outlines events that would lead to the Dutch Revolt.

About Smart Secrets of Great Paintings

The great works of the past portray abundant testimonies, and are imbued with secrets and are teeming with mysteries. Beneath the surface of the painting, details awaken, to recount the spirit of the times and the vagaries of History, such as wars, revolutions, economic transformation, scientific discovery, beliefs and schools of thought.

More episodes from Season 1

• E2The Artist's Studio (1855) by Gustave Courbet
• E3Bathers at Asniers (1884) by Georges Seurat
• E4Las Meninas (1665) by Diego Velazquez
• E5The Wedding at Cana (1563) by Paolo Veronese
• E6The Martyrdom of Saint Appolonia (1461) by Jean Fouquet
• E7A Lady in Her Bath (1571) by Francois Clouet
• E8Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine-Habsbourg, Queen of France and Her Children (1787) by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun
• E9Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834) by Eugène Delacroix
• E10Colorful Life (1907) by Wassily Kandinsky
• E11Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? 1897, Paul Gauguin
• E12Temptations of St. Anthony, 1501, Hieronymus Bosch
• E13Western Port in Frankfurt am Main, 1916, Ludwig Kirchner