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Circle of Dierick Bouts (c. 1410-1475)
Flanders, c. 1465
Tempera and oil (?) on wood, transposed onto canvas
27.3 x 34.4 cm
Inv. no. 628
The spatial organisation of this work, based on an innovative trapezoidal construction, allows a close relationship to be established between all the components. Thus, the painting’s full meaning can be said to derive from the interpretation of the relationships that emerge from its symbolic content.
The visible world leads the observer into the spiritual world – the light heralds the Saviour, the dove signals the presence of the Holy Spirit and the “cross” in the window prefigures the Passion – achieving the ultimate goal of all religious painting. Equally, although the landscape is full of realistic Flemish details, it also follows an aesthetic rooted in the sacred: several vanishing points converge on the tree of life and the peacock, a symbol of eternal life, is depicted against the garden wall, itself an allusion to Paradise.
The absolute serenity of the elegant figures, depicted in a fifteenth-century interior, is a defining characteristic of Bouts’ style.
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