The Master of the View of Saint Gudule: an altarpiece for the Carmelites.
Since 1921, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium has owned a Presentation of the Virgin to the Temple, given to the Master of the View of Saint Gudule (inv. 4348). It is a fragment of a larger ensemble of which the Museums were recently able to acquire three other elements. The paintings on the reverse of these fragments are typical of the shutters of altarpieces produced in the Southern Netherlands.
The Périer-D’Ieteren Foundation is supporting the publication of a book, directed by Véronique Bücken, which aims to situate this ensemble in the production of the Master of the View of Saint Gudule in particular and, more generally, in Brussels painting at the end of the 15th century. This publication will provide the results of the scientific imaging and research carried out during the restoration of the various fragments, as well as the elements that will make it possible to support a proposal for the reconstruction of the original altarpiece.
Illustration: Master with the View of Saint Gudula, Saint Simon Stock, detail before restoration, Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. © Périer-D’Ieteren Foundation.