The National Gallery in Prague conserves an important masterpiece of the Fle- mish mannerist Jan Gossaert. The panel painting Saint Luke painting the Virgin was originally determined for the cathedral of Saint Roumboult in Mechelen in Belgium. The artwork represents one of the first applications of Renaissance style behind the Alps. Gossaert was educated in this new style during a visit to Italy several years earlier and combined it with traditional Flemish art. The artist worked for the court of Margaret of Austria in Mechelen around the year 1513, the year the painting originates. His traditional style became influenced by the techniques used in Mechelen by foreign artists. The theme is painted the tradi- tional manner of work on an oak panel. Renaissance and Gothic architecture is decorated by " en grisaille" sculptures. A seemingly simple theme is given deeper meaning thanks to these objects containing hidden meanings. There are also some prints from the time the panel was in the Saint Vitus Cathedral in Prague due to which we can contemplate the progress in presentation of the painting during centuries. 1

Le concept d’un « dispositif d’objets » présent dans le Portrait d’un marchand (v. 1530) de Jan Gossart et le Portrait du marchand Georg Gisze (1532) d’Hans Holbein le Jeune a pour objectif de porter un regard nouveau sur des œuvres trop souvent réduites à des notions d’esthétisme et de symbolisme. En utilisant une approche pluridisciplinaire à notre analyse, nous voulons promouvoir les objets comme acteur dominant dans la mise en scène de l’identité sociale du marchand au 16e siècle. L’association entre histoire de l’art et anthropologie des techniques permet la validation d’une scénographie de la culture matérielle marchande, ainsi que le dégagement d’un commentaire social inhérent à la proposition artistique de Gossart et Holbein. L’intérêt d’une étude orientée sur les objets promet également l’ouverture d’une réflexion sur la manière de concevoir le portrait d’occupation indépendamment de la valeur anagogique qui lui est généralement associée à la Renaissance. Le Portrait d’un marchand et le Portrait du marchand Georg Gisze attestent d’un moment ponctuel dans la production spatio-temporelle des portraits de marchands en Europe du Nord au 16e siècle. L’analogie confondante qui unit les deux œuvres prend son essence dans la thématique visuelle engendrée par le « dispositif d’objets ». / The concept of an object system, as found in Jan Gossart’s Portrait of a Merchant (ca. 1530) and Hans Holbein the Younger’s Georg Gisze (1532) aims to reevaluate works which are too often reduced to aesthetics and symbolism. By means of a multidisciplinary approach, the study aims to promote the objects represented in the paintings as the dominant actors in the staging of the social identity of the sixteenth-century merchant. The association between art history and anthropology of techniques allows the validation of a scenography of the material merchant culture, as well as the emergence of a social commentary inherent to Gossart’s and Holbein’s artistic work. Attention to an object-oriented study also allows for new insights into how to understand the occupational portrait independently of an anagogical value, which is generally attributed to the Renaissance period. The Portrait of a Merchant and portrait of Georg Gisze attest to a specific moment in the production of merchant portraits in northern Europe during the sixteenth century. The apparently disparate works are united by the object system represented in the paintings.