High Road to Culture in Flanders and the Netherlands

Publications

High Road to Culture in Flanders and the Netherlands

Triptych of the Last Supper by Dieric Bouts
0 Comments
© M Leuven, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
© M Leuven, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons © M Leuven, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
video Masterpieces From the CODART Canon
arts

Triptych of the Last Supper by Dieric Bouts

To mark the 25th anniversary of CODART, each month we introduce you to one of the hundred exceptional masterpieces of early modern Dutch and Flemish art (1350-1750) selected by museum curators from around the world for the CODART Canon. This time, all eyes are on the Triptych of the Last Supper by Dieric Bouts in the St Peter’s Church in Leuven.

The Triptych of the Last Supper is an exceptional work for many reasons. The contract, dated 15 March 1464, and the receipt of payment have both survived. The triptych was commissioned by members of the Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament for their chapel in St Peter´s Church in Leuven. Two theology professors at the University of Leuven assisted the painter with the iconographic details of the altarpiece.

Dieric Bouts created a sophisticated work in which scenes from the Old Testament culminate in the New Testament story of the Last Supper. Remarkably, Bouts situated this event in a contemporary dining room of a patrician house. Gothic windows on the left overlook a market square with a building reminiscent of the town hall in Leuven. Christ and his twelve disciples are assisted by four other figures, undoubtedly Bouts’ contemporaries.

The significance of the altar is further enhanced by another fact: to this day, it has been preserved in St Peter´s Church in Leuven, where we too can view it, just as did Bouts’ contemporaries.

Olga Kotková, Senior Curator of Netherlandish, German and Flemish Paintings and Sculpture, The National Gallery in Pargue

website CODART Canon

Sign in

Register or sign in to read or purchase an article.

Sorry

You are visiting this website through a public account.
This allows you to read all articles, but not buy any products.

Important to know


When you subscribe, you give permission for an automatic re-subscription. You can stop this at any time by contacting emma.reynaert@onserfdeel.be.