Two of his most famous works are still in the Church of St. Peter in
that city--an altar panel representing the martyrdom of St. Erasmus, and
the central panel of a polyptych, of which the subject is the Last
Supper. This picture has been broken up, and the side shutters are now
in the Berlin Gallery. There is a contemporary copy of the entire
painting, perhaps a replica by Dierick himself, in the seminary at
Bruges. The Church of St. Jacques in the same city contains another of
his works, or rather a work attributed, probably correctly, to him, a
retable in three compartments, wherein is depicted the legend of St.
Lucy. The soft, mellow colouring of this picture is perfect, and all the
details, the rich brocades and velvets, the embroidery and precious
stones, the flowers and fruit in the foreground, are quite admirable,
but the figures are stiff and ill-proportioned. In the background is a
view of the city of Bruges with the Belfry as it appeared before the
lantern was added, and the Church of Notre Dame. This picture is dated
1480.[48]
There is a triptych in Bruges Cathedral, in the first chapel on the
northern side of the chevet, which is attributed to Memlinc. The
painting on the left shutter is quite in his style and is in all
probability his work. Here are shown portraits of the donors, Hippolytus
de Berthoz and Elizabeth van Keverwick, his affianced bride. This panel
has been much spoiled by restoration, and the removal of the _glacis_
has chilled the tone of the colouring. The other panels are evidently
the work of another painter, and there is little doubt that that painter
was Dierick Boudts. The ill-proportioned figures, the finely-drawn
heads, and the rich, mellow colouring are all his. The scene depicted on
the central panel is the martyrdom of St. Hippolytus, who is being torn
to pieces by four horses; in the further panel he confesses himself a
Christian and is condemned to death.
There is a fourth picture in Bruges, which perhaps may have been painted
by Dierick Boudts. It is in the Chapel of the Soeurs Noires in the
_Place Memlinc_, and represents eight episodes in the legend of St.
Ursula. It probably dates from an earlier period than the famous shrine
of St. Ursula in the Hospital of St. John, and it is not unlikely that
we have here the prototype of that marvellous production.
The picture attributed to Gerhard van der Meire hangs in the southern
aisle of the Cathedral. Therein are depicted three Passion scenes--the
Carrying of the Cross, the Crucifixion and the Deposition. The treatment
is coarse and realistic in the extreme. The picture is not a pleasing
one. Alike in colour, in sentiment, in design it is far inferior to any
of Gerhard's authentic works.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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