Seven Sacraments Altarpiece

Seven Sacraments Altarpiece

Artist	Rogier van der Weyden
Year	1445-1450
Type	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, 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.

Bibliography

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

Rogier van der Weyden Single religious works Virgin and Child Enthroned (c. 1430–32) The Madonna Standing (c. 1430–32) The Magdalen Reading (fragment, c. 1435–38) Durán Madonna (c. 1435–38) The Descent from the Cross (c. 1435–38) Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin (c. 1435–40) The Dream of Pope Sergius (c. late 1430s) Christ on the Cross with Mary and St John (c. 1440) Pietà (c. 1441) Head of the Virgin (c. 1460) Virgin and Child (c. 1460) Lamentation of Christ (c. 1460–63) Medici Madonna (c. 1460–64) Portraits Portrait of a Woman (c. 1435) Portrait of a Young Woman (c. 1440–45) Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (c. 1445–50) Portrait of Philipp the Good (after 1450) Portrait of Charles the Bold (1460) Portrait of Antoine, 'Grand Bâtard' of Burgundy (c. 1460) Portrait of Francesco d'Este (c. 1460) Portrait of a Lady (c. 1460) Portrait of John I, Duke of Cleves (14??) Diptychs Crucifixion Diptych (c. 1464–65) Diptych of Philip de Croÿ with The Virgin and Child (c. 1460) Triptychs Annunciation Triptych (c. 1434) Miraflores Altarpiece (c. 1442–45) Seven Sacraments Altarpiece (c. 1448) Beaune Altarpiece (c. 1445–50) The Braque Triptych (c. 1452) Saint Columba altarpiece (c. 1455) Altar of Saint John (c. 1455) Nativity Triptych (1460s) 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