In fifteenth-century Europe, devotional triptychs made for churches, chapels, or private patrons became increasingly personalized, often reflecting the cityscape in which they were painted or portraying the donor who financed the artwork in a side panel. In the left panel of this triptych, for instance, the patron kneels beneath Saint Peter, a Dominican friar or preacher of the Catholic church who lived in thirteenth-century Verona. The central panel features the Madonna and Child, while the right panel presents Saint Jerome accompanied by his lion. Given the convention that donors often shared their first name with the saint presenting them, it is plausible that the donor was named Peter. Furthermore, the fact that his body shares space with the religious figures throughout the triptych elevates the commissioner’s piety. If the triptych was gifted to a chapel in a cathedral, as was likely, the display of the donor’s portrait constituted an expression of social status in a public place. The triptych thus memorialized the donor and helped solicit prayers for him in perpetuity after death.
As the patron knelt before this altarpiece in pious devotion, he would have recognized and felt a deep connection with the background cityscape, which is identifiable as Bruges. The triptych was painted by the Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy—an anonymous artist named after an altarpiece in a Bruges church. The Master skillfully incorporated the cityscape, featuring two distinct and prominent towers: Notre-Dame on the left and the Belfry on the right. The meticulous depiction of the Belfry indicates that the triptych was created before 1483, as the tower underwent alterations in that year.
2024
