MEDIEVAL IMAGES OF SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX - PA006.jpg


Category	Painting
Origin: artist/workshop	Dirk Bouts (c 1410-75)
Date	15C/3
Reference No
Size	81.9x34.2 (right wing)
Provenance	Louvain, St Pieterskerk
Present Location	Louvain, St Pieterskerk
Bibliography	Blum 1969, 71-6; Comblen-Sonkes 1996, 85-117; Paecht 1994, 100; Friedlaender 1967-76, 3; Leuven 1998, 345-6
	Paecht 1997, 99-100; Les Primitifs flamands 1994, 389; Smeyers 1998, 60-6; Aurenhammer 1959-67, 335
Illustration From	photo - IRPA/KIK
Other illustrations	Blum 1969, pl 8; Paecht 1997, ill 82; Les Primitifs flamands 1994, 389; Smeyers 1998, 61; Friedlaender 1967-76, 3:ill 14 & 16
	Comblen-Sonkes 1996, pl 201 (details in ills 211-9 and 225-7); Leuven 1998, 346
Country	Belgium

Description:
The Erasmus Altarpiece by Dirk Bouts from before 1466 was the major painting for the smaller of the two adjacent chapels belonging to the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. It was begun shortly after the altarpiece of the Blessed Sacrament itself. It was probably commissioned by Ghert de Smet, a member of the Confraternity, who is known to have requested that Mass be said for his soul on the feasts of Sts Jerome, Erasmus, and Bernard. Bouts was a native of Haarlem and worked there until c 1457. He later moved to Louvain and was appointed painter to the city there at a time when the major architectural monuments were approaching completion. The centre of the altarpiece shows St Erasmus being subjected to torture in which his intestines are being wound round a rod. St Jerome on the left is identified by the red cardinal's hat. On the right Bernard is depicted facing left in a three-quarter view in a rocky landscape wearing a black cowl over his white tunic and black scapular, which are showing, and a red cap. In his right hand he holds a beautifully crafted golden crozier with a white plaited sudarium with fringes attached, while he holds a book with two clasps in his left hand. A tiny hairy demon with pointed ears and four horns lurks at his feet behind him, signifying his conquest over the devil. He wears a red cap similar to that in Jean Fouquet's 'Heures d'Etienne Chevalier' (see MA93). The Bernard motif was copied in a later small glass panel (see GL94).

Description:

The Erasmus Altarpiece by Dirk Bouts from before 1466 was the major painting for the smaller of the two adjacent chapels belonging to the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. It was begun shortly after the altarpiece of the Blessed Sacrament itself. It was probably commissioned by Ghert de Smet, a member of the Confraternity, who is known to have requested that Mass be said for his soul on the feasts of Sts Jerome, Erasmus, and Bernard. Bouts was a native of Haarlem and worked there until c 1457. He later moved to Louvain and was appointed painter to the city there at a time when the major architectural monuments were approaching completion. The centre of the altarpiece shows St Erasmus being subjected to torture in which his intestines are being wound round a rod. St Jerome on the left is identified by the red cardinal's hat. On the right Bernard is depicted facing left in a three-quarter view in a rocky landscape wearing a black cowl over his white tunic and black scapular, which are showing, and a red cap. In his right hand he holds a beautifully crafted golden crozier with a white plaited sudarium with fringes attached, while he holds a book with two clasps in his left hand. A tiny hairy demon with pointed ears and four horns lurks at his feet behind him, signifying his conquest over the devil. He wears a red cap similar to that in Jean Fouquet's 'Heures d'Etienne Chevalier' (see MA93). The Bernard motif was copied in a later small glass panel (see GL94).