In a church, the seven sacraments are represented on the altar painted at the request of Jean Chevrot, bishop of Tournai and hand man of Phillip le Bon. The panel on the right of the tryptic shows the ordination of the priest, marriage and sacrament of sick people. The thin silhouettes of magnificent angels wear dresses assorted to the colour of the sacrament. The banner indicates which sacrament it is.
Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400 – 1464) Rogier van der Weyden is considered as the co-founder of the pictorial tradition of the Burgundy Netherlands with his contemporary Jan Van Eyck. The effects of depths and shadow were introduced in a resolutely realist style. This style also fostered the expression of passion and tenderness using strong colours. The worship of the Virgin and the Redemption were the main topics of Rogier as a gothic artist fully aware of his sinfulness. Respecting the tradition, neither did he sign nor date his works. He was already famous in his lifetime and in 1432, he became Master of the Tournai League and three years later Official Painter of Brussels.
In 1450, he made a trip to Rome, maybe in order to get the absolution of his sins as many others before him, but probably also to admire the paintings of the Renaissance. The motivations of this progressive movement seemed to interest him but innovations such as the mathematic accuracy of perspective did not interest at all this Northern-European gothic painter.