In the chapel they had a painting representing the Deposition from the Cross. It was the best painting in the whole castle, and as I believe in the whole world, for I have seen many good paintings in those regions, but none was its equal in piety and truth to nature, and all who saw it were of the same opinion.

Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400-1464) is one of the central figures of early Netherlandish painting.He was described by his contemporaries as the most important of all painters, and his pictures were treasured and much sought after not only north of the Alps, but also in Italy and Spain. Members of the brilliant court of Burgundy, including Duke Philip the Good himself,and the de’Medici family of Florence were among the patrons who commissioned works from him. His sophisticated painting combined naturalistic detail with expressive composition, and his works frequently represented a new approach to the great themes of Christian art. Rogier demonstrated exceptional skill in the creation of striking figures and groups of figures that embodied the emotional content of a scene, and he was an example to countless painters both in and beyond the Netherlands.

Forgotten and Rediscovered: Early Netherlandish Painting

Inset: Burgundy: From Duchy to State

An Early Masterpiece: The Great Deposition

Inset: Painter and Workshop

Town Painter of Brussels

Inset: The Creation of an Early Netherlandish Painting, and the Technical Aids Used in Research

Inset: Flemish Illumination

The Middle Period: Major Commissions and a Visit to Italy

Drawings: Study or Copy?

Inset: Luxurious Pictorial Worlds: Tapestries

Portraits: The Mirror of an Individual and of a Society

The "Noblest of all Painters"

Rogier’s Heirs

Chronology

Glossary

Selected Bibliography, Photographic Credits