GUEST WORK
ALBRECHT BOUTS

Ecce Homo and Mater Dolorosa

Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen

The increasing importance of individual practices of piety in the late Middle Ages led to the appearance of a new type of small-sized images to be used for private worship, centred on the essential mysteries of Christ’s Passion. These “devotional images” were intended to help worshippers thoroughly immerse themselves in their contemplation of the representation that they were observing, facilitating their interior journey of meditation. Dieric Bouts (c. 1420-1474) was one of the great creators of images of this type, transforming the traditional representations of Christ’s bust into images of suffering related with the themes of the Passion: the “Man of Sorrows”, associated with the “Mater Dolorosa”. When Dieric died, in January 1474, his sons, Dieric the Younger and Albert, inherited his workshop. Dieric the Younger died before 1490, but Albert Bouts had a very long life (c. 1451/55-1549) and continued to produce versions of the famous models created by his father, which were in great demand all over Europe.


©Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen



Exhibition booklet