Bouts was probably born in Haarlem in the northern Netherlands. He was strongly influenced by Rogier van der Weyden and was chiefly active in Louvain, not far from Brussels; his two sons Dirk the Younger and Aelbrecht also worked there.
The earliest dated work by the artist is the National Gallery's 'Portrait of a Man', of 1462. Two large-scale works are documented as by Bouts, the triptych of the Last Supper (Cathedral, Louvain), of 1465 to about 1468, and two secular panels of the Justice of Otto at Brussels (Musées Royaux), one of them left unfinished at his death.
His earlier style is illustrated by 'The Entombment' in the Collection, and the paintings to which it is related. 'The Entombment' is one of the very rare surviving examples of paintings on linen.
Dirk Bouts
1400? - 1475
Paintings by Dirk Bouts
(Showing 6 of 8 works)
Christ wears the rich cloak and the crown of thorns in which, according to the Gospels, he was dressed before he was crucified. But the wounds of the Passion (his torture and crucifixion) indicate that he has already died and been resurrected.Bouts brings Jesus’s torments vividly to life, showing...
Not on display
A fair-haired man stands in an interior, gazing past us. Through the window behind him we can see a landscape with a church in the distance. The date on the back wall makes this the earliest datable – and in fact the only dated painting – by Bouts, and the earliest dated portrait to include an op...
Christ’s body, wrapped in a white shroud, is being placed in a tomb by his grief-stricken family and followers. His mother Mary, clasping his wrist, seems on the edge of collapse; John the Evangelist holds her up. Behind them are Mary’s sisters, one wiping tears from her eyes, the other holding h...
The Virgin and Christ Child are seen as if at an open window, with the infant perched on the sill. Mary gazes lovingly at her son and offers him her breast; images of the Virgin breastfeeding emphasised Christ’s humanity and vulnerability.Small religious panels like this were used as an aid to pr...
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
This small picture once made up a diptych (a folding painting in two parts) with another in our collection, the Mater Dolorosa. It was probably intended for private devotion: Christ’s pain was meant to inspire empathy in the viewer, who was encouraged to meditate upon his suffering as a means of...
Not on display
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
This small painting of the sorrowing Virgin once went with another painting in our collection, Christ Crowned with Thorns. They originally made up a diptych, a folding painting in two parts. It was probably intended for private prayer: the Virgin’s grief was intended to inspire empathy in the vie...
Not on display
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
The Virgin and Child are shown as an affectionate mother and laughing infant. Christ holds an apple, alluding to the fruit with which Eve tempted Adam in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, leading to the Fall of Man.Devotion to Mary was an important part of a great flowering of private rel...
Not on display
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
The Virgin, holding the infant Christ, sits on a marble throne with a luxurious material stretched across it – a cloth of honour, something often hung behind medieval royalty. Two saints stand with them, and particular symbols tell us who they are. On the Virgin’s right is Saint Peter, a key peep...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 8 paintings