Seven Sacraments Altarpiece

Seven Sacraments Altarpiece
Artist	Rogier van der Weyden
Year	1445-1450
Medium	oil on panel
Dimensions	200 cm × 223 cm (79 in × 88 in)
Location	Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece is a fixed-wing triptych by the Early Netherlandish artist Rogier van der Weyden and his workshop. It was painted from 1445 to 1450, probably for a church in Poligny (Max J. Friedländer claimed that it was commissioned by the Bishop Jean Chevrot),[1] and is now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp. It depicts the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. On the left panel are baptism, confirmation and confession and on the right hand panel the ordination of a priest, marriage and the last rites.

The central panel (possibly the only autograph part of the work) is dominated by a crucifixion in the foreground, with the sacrament of the Eucharist in the background. Angels hover over each sacrament with scrolls, with clothes colour-matched to the sacraments, from white for baptism to black for the last rites. The side panels also depict the altarpiece's commissioners, along with some portrait heads only added shortly before the work was completed. Two coats of arms (probably that of the commissioners) (left: "sable" chevron on "or" field; right: "argent" tower on "sable" field) are painted in the spandrels of the painting's inner frame.

References

Friedländer, Max J. From Van Eyck to Bruegel. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1981 (reprint), 23.

Bibliography

Felix Thürlemann: Rogier van der Weyden: Leben und Werk, C.H. Beck Wissen 2006, ISBN 3-406-53592-5. (in German)
Flügelaltäre : Caterina Limentani Virdis, Mari Pietrogiovanna, München, Hirmer, 2002, ISBN 3-7774-9520-4. (in German)

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[1] Friedländer, Max J. From Van Eyck to Bruegel. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1981 (reprint), 23.

Rogier van der Weyden
List of works
Single religious works	Virgin and Child Enthroned (c. 1430–1432) The Madonna Standing (c. 1430–1432) The Magdalen Reading (fragment, c. 1435–1438) Durán Madonna (c. 1435–1438) The Descent from the Cross (c. 1435–1438) Virgin and Child with Saints (c. 1435–1438) Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin (c. 1435–1440) St Hubert Altarpiece (c. late 1430s) Christ on the Cross with Mary and St John (c. 1440) Pietà (c. 1441) Visitation (c. 1445) St Jerome and the Lion (c. 1450–1465) Virgin and Child (c. 1460) Lamentation of Christ (c. 1460–1463) Medici Madonna (c. 1460–1464)
Portraits	Portrait of a Woman (c. 1435) Portrait of a Young Woman (c. 1440–1445) Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (c. 1445–1450) Portrait of Antoine, 'Grand Bâtard' of Burgundy (c. 1460) Portrait of Francesco d'Este (c. 1460) Portrait of a Lady (c. 1460) Portrait of Jean Gros (c. 1460–1464) Portrait of John I, Duke of Cleves
Diptychs	Diptych of Jeanne of France (c. 1452–1470) Crucifixion Diptych (c. 1464–1465) Diptych of Philip de Croÿ with The Virgin and Child (c. 1460)
Triptychs	Annunciation Triptych (c. 1434) Miraflores Altarpiece (c. 1442–1445) Seven Sacraments Altarpiece (c. 1448) Beaune Altarpiece (c. 1445–1450) Bladelin Altarpiece (c. 1450) The Braque Triptych (c. 1452) Saint Columba Altarpiece (c. 1455) Altar of Saint John (c. 1455)
Civic	The Justice of Trajan and Herkinbald (c. 1450)
Miniature	Jean Wauquelin presenting his 'Chroniques de Hainaut' to Philip the Good (1447–1448)
Embroidery	Fragments of a Cope with the Seven Sacraments
Workshop	Portrait of Philip the Good (after 1450) Portrait of Charles the Bold (1460)