The Bladelin Altarpiece, or Middelburg Altarpiece, is a triptych painting created around 1450 by the Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden, towards the end of his artistic career. It depicts scenes relating to the birth of Jesus; and as the only nativity scene definitively attributed to van der Weyden is sometimes known as the Nativity Triptych (although the Saint Columba Altarpiece shows the Adoration of the Magi). [1]
The triptych was donated to the new church of Middelburg in 1460, possibly by the town's founder Pieter Bladelin. It has been in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, since 1834. [2]
The large central panel depicts the birth of Jesus, with Virgin and Child in the stable at Bethlehem, accompanied by beasts and angels. The composition draws much from the 1420 Nativity of van der Weyden's master, Robert Campin, in Dijon. The stable is a half-ruined thatched Romanesque building, rather than the traditional wooden hut, with stone walls and arched windows, and one prominent classical pillar, uniquely in van der Weyden's work shown in an oblique perspective view. Three adult figures are kneeling, worshiping the Christ Child. Mary is wearing a light blue gown, with a deep blue cloak; to the left, Joseph in a red gown holds a lighted candle, balanced by a donor portrait of man in black clothes, kneeling outside the stable to the right. Below Joseph is a large metal grate, possibly covering the mouth of an underground cistern. In the background, to the left, is a tiny scene of an angel announcing the birth of Jesus to shepherds, while to the right is a city scene with a road, walls and towers.
The two smaller side panels show related scenes. The left panel draws from the Speculum Humanae Salvationis and depicts the legendary occasion when the Roman Emperor Augustus consulted the Tiburtine Sibyl to ask if he was the greatest man on earth and if he should consent to being worshiped as a god; the Sybil revealed to him a vision of the Virgin and Child, and Augustus then reputedly founded an altar in Rome to the "firstborn of god" (Ara primogeniti Dei) at the location now occupied by the Ara Coeli. The emperor is kneeling next to the Sybil, looking towards the central panel to observe the vision through a window symbolically marked with the double-headed eagle of the Habsburgs; to his right stand three attendants, possible based on courtiers of the Philip the Good; all are wearing 15th century Flemish dress. The right panel shows the arrival of the three Magi in Bethlehem, bearing gifts; they kneel facing towards the central panel to observe a vision of an infant Christ Child.
The side panels of the altarpiece would only be opened to reveal the brightly coloured images inside for church services at the weekend and on other special occasions. Most of the time the doors were closed, concealing the main images within. The outside surfaces of the side panels were decorated by an unknown artist with a grisaille of the Annunciation, with the Virgin Mary to the left, with a red curtain and a vase with a symbolic lily, and the Angel Gabriel to the right with a speech scroll bearing the words "AVE GRAZIA PLENA" (Latin: "Hail [Mary] full of grace"). As a result, the triptych has four Annunciation scenes: one to Mary on the outside, and three inside: one to Augustus, one to the Magi, and one to the shepherds.
The middle panel measures 93.5 by 92 centimetres (36.8 in × 36.2 in). The left panel measures 93.5 by 41.8 centimetres (36.8 in × 16.5 in), and the right panel is fractionally smaller, measuring 93.5 by 41.5 centimetres (36.8 in × 16.3 in).
The work may have been donated by Pieter Bladelin (c. 1410-72), treasurer of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, as the altarpiece for the new town church of Saints Peter and Paul in Middelburg in Flanders. Bladelin founded the town in 1450 and devoted much effort to its construction as a personal project. The church was consecrated by the French bishop Jean Chevrot shortly before the bishop's death in 1460. However, there is only a single donor portrait, a man dressed in black with a fur-trimmed cloak and pointed wooden sandals, and it would have been more usual for Bladelin to be accompanied by his wife, Margerite van de Vageviere, leading to some doubt about the identity of the donor. The castle depicted in the middle panel is thought to that in Middelburg.
It has been in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, since 1834.
Robert Campin, now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle, was a master painter who, along with Jan van Eyck, initiated the development of Early Netherlandish painting, a key development in the early Northern Renaissance.
Hugo van der Goes was one of the most significant and original Early Netherlandish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduced important innovations in painting through his monumental style, use of a specific colour range and individualistic manner of portraiture. From 1483 onwards, the presence of his masterpiece, the Portinari Triptych, in Florence played a role in the development of realism and the use of colour in Italian Renaissance art.
The Mérode Altarpiece is an oil on oak panel triptych, now in The Cloisters, in New York City. It is unsigned and undated, but attributed to Early Netherlandish painter Robert Campin and an assistant. The three panels represent, from left to right, the donors kneeling in prayer in a garden, the moment of the Annunciation to Mary, which is set in a contemporary, domestic setting, and Saint Joseph, a carpenter with the tools of his trade. The many elements of religious symbolism include the lily and fountain, and the Holy Spirit represented by the rays of light coming through from the central panel's left hand window.
The Portinari Altarpiece or Portinari Triptych is an oil-on-wood triptych painting by the Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes, commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, representing the Adoration of the Shepherds. It measures 253 x 304 cm, and is now in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy. This altarpiece is filled with figures and religious symbols. Of all the late-fifteenth-century Flemish artworks, this painting is said to be the most studied.
Jacques Daret was an Early Netherlandish painter born in Tournai, where he would spend much of his life. Daret spent 15 years as a pupil in the studio of Robert Campin, alongside Rogier or Rogelet de le Pasture, and afterwards became a master in his own right. He became a favorite of the Burgundian court, and his patron for 20 years was the abbot of St. Vaast in Arras, Jean de Clercq.
The Beaune Altarpiece is a large polyptych c. 1443–1451 altarpiece by the Early Netherlandish artist Rogier van der Weyden, painted in oil on oak panels with parts later transferred to canvas. It consists of fifteen paintings on nine panels, of which six are painted on both sides. Unusually for the period, it retains some of its original frames.
The Werl Triptych is a triptych altarpiece completed in Cologne in 1438, of which the centre panel has been lost. The two remaining wings are now in the Prado in Madrid. It was long attributed to the Master of Flémalle, now generally believed to have been Robert Campin, although this identity is not universally accepted. Some art historians believe it may have been painted as a pastiche by either the workshop or a follower of Campin or the Master of Flémalle.
The Miraflores Altarpiece is a c. 1442-5 oil-on-oak wood panel altarpiece by the Early Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden, in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin since 1850.
The Master of the Prado Adoration of the Magi was a Netherlandish painter active between c. 1475 and 1500 whose identity is now lost. He is thought to have originated from the southern Netherlands and is known for his vibrant colourisation in panels depicting scenes from the infancy of Christ, he is thought to have been a pupil of Rogier van der Weyden, and is named after a copy of the "Adoration of the Magi" panel from that painter's St Columba Altarpiece. Although the Magi became a popular topic for northern painters in the second half of the 15th century and the Columba altarpiece was widely copied, the master is associated with van der Weyden's workshop because the copy is so close, it is believed he must have had access to a reproduction of the underdrawing.
The Monforte Altarpiece is an oil-on-oak-panel painting of the Adoration of the Magi by the Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes, now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany. The altarpiece was originally the central panel of a triptych with movable wings that are now lost; these were probably painted on both sides. This is shown by the hinges remaining in the original frame. Old copies of the work show the Nativity and Circumcision of Jesus on the wing panels. The central panel has been reduced in size at the top. In 2023, a detailed reconstruction of the missing top portion was completed for an exhibition on van der Goes' work at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. A detailed description of the process and a photograph of the result are included in an article by museum curator Dr. Stephan Kemperdick.
The Triptych with Scenes from the Life of the Virgin is an oil painting on panel by the Early Netherlandish painter Dieric Bouts. It was executed c. 1445 and is in the collection of the Museo del Prado, in Madrid.
The St John Altarpiece is a large oil-on-oak hinged-triptych altarpiece completed around 1479 by the Early Netherlandish master painter Hans Memling. It was commissioned in the mid-1470s in Bruges for the Old St. John's Hospital (Sint-Janshospitaal) during the building of a new apse. It is signed and dated 1479 on the original frame – its date of installation – and is today still at the hospital in the Memling museum.
The Master of the Legend of Saint Catherine is the notname for an unknown late 15th century Early Netherlandish painter. He was named after a painting with Scenes from the Legend of Saint Catherine, now kept in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. He was active between c. 1470 and c. 1500, probably around Brussels.
The Saint John Altarpiece is triptych of c. 1455 in oils on oak panel by the Early Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden, now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. The triptych is linked to the artist's earlier Miraflores Altarpiece in its symbolic motifs, format and intention.
The Saint Columba Altarpiece is a large c. 1450–1455 oil-on-oak wood panel altarpiece by Early Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden painted during his late period. It was commissioned for the church of St. Columba in Cologne, and is now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. It depict scenes from the early life of Jesus. They show, from left to right, the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi and the Presentation, when she presents the infant at the Temple in Jerusalem. In each panel, Mary is distinguished by her blue clothes. The reverse of the exterior panels are covered with plain paint and lack indication that they ever contained donor portraits as were typical for the time.
Adoration of the Magi is an oil on panel painting from the early 1520s by the Dutch Renaissance artist Jan Mostaert in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, where in 2020 it was on display in room 0.1. The panel measures 51 cm × 36.5 cm, and the painted surface a little less at 48.5 cm × 34 cm. It is often called the Mostaert Amsterdam Adoration in art history, to distinguish it from the multitude of other paintings of the Adoration of the Magi.
The Seilern Triptych, variously dated c. 1410-15 or c. 1420–25, is a large oil and gold leaf on panel, fixed winged triptych altarpiece generally attributed to the Early Netherlandish painter Robert Campin. It is the earliest of two known triptychs attributed to him, although the outer wing panels paintings are lost. The work details the events of Christ's passion; with iconography associated with the liturgy of Holy Week. The panels, which should be read from left to right, detail three stations of the cycle of the Passion of Jesus; the crucifixion, the burial and the resurrection.
The Adoration of the Kings by the Early Netherlandish painter Gerard David is a painting in oil on panel, probably from after 1515, now in the National Gallery in London. The painted surface measures some 60 by 59.2 centimetres, and the panel is about 2 centimetres (0.79 in) larger in both dimensions. The panel comes from a dismantled altarpiece from which one other panel appears to survive, the Lamentation that is also in the National Gallery.
The Crucifixion Triptych is an altarpiece of c. 1443–1445 by Rogier van der Weyden, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The central scene shows the Crucifixion of Christ, with the Virgin Mary clinging to the foot of the cross, John the Evangelist comforting her and the painting's two donors kneeling to the right. On the left-hand side panel is Mary Magdalene, while on the right side panel is Saint Veronica. A unified landscape background across all three panels shows Jerusalem in the distance.