The heritage of Rogier van der Weyden Painting in Brussels in the late 15th and early 16th century

2010 > 2013

Promotor(s) : Dr Véronique Bücken

Researcher(s) : Dr. Griet Steyaert

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The project sets out to study pictorial production in Brussels from the last quarter of the fifteenth century to the early sixteenth century. At the time of Van der Weyden's death in 1464 there were a dozen highly productive painters or active workshops in Brussels. With few exceptions - here we must cite M. Friedlander - this production has attracted researchers' attention only in terms of the question of attributions, with these artists, the so-called "little masters', often viewed as of minor importance.  Their dependence on the art of Van der Weyden is constantly emphasized without showing what their own contributions were and how they innovated.

The project aims to address this often negative view. The research focuses on the study of four workshops (the Master of the Prado Redemption, the Master of the Legend of St. Barbara, the Master of the View of St. Gudula, and the Master of the Life of Joseph) and the main works of the other painters active in Brussels during this period.  The historical, iconographic, stylistic and technical and economic aspects will be considered in order to better understand the specificity of these painters and highlight the innovative solutions they contributed.