The Seven Sacraments

van eyck and the seven sacraments

I made mention elsewhere of the Van Eyck link to the Seven Sacraments painting by Rogier van der Weyden, connecting the Sacrament of Marriage to the Arnolfini Portrait. But there are other links. In fact, in a remarkable tribute to his reputation and stature, Van Eyck features in all seven sacraments.

Van der Weyden has also picked up on the “Great Seal” theme in the Arnolfini Portrait. All seven sacraments are “sealed” in some way. Holy oil is applied in four of the sacraments and applied with a brush (another reference to Van Eyck). Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders and Extreme Unction. The gift of Confirmation is further sealed by applying a headband; the sacrament of Penance (or Confession) is sealed by secrecy and the laying of hands; the sacrament of the Eucharist is sealed by the blood Christ shed on the Cross; and the sacrament of marriage is sealed or tied by binding a stole around the couple’s hands.

Jan van Eyck died July 9, 1441, at Bruges, and was buried in the graveyard of the Church of St Donatian. In 1442 his body was exhumed and reinterred inside the church. Twenty years later the church was elevated to cathedral status when the first bishop of Bruges was installed. Occupying forces of the French Revolution destroyed the building in 1799. It would not be unreasonable to assume that the church interior in Van der Weyden’s painting represents the Bruge church of St Donatian.

The sacraments are depicted in order and in a processional or amulatory manner, three on the left wing of the tryptich, one on the centre panel, and three on the right wing.

1. Sacrament of Baptism

Sometime in the first half of 1434, Van Eyck and his wife Margaret had a child baptised, probably their first-born and a son. Philip the Good was the godfather but did not attend the ceremony. Instead he sent Peter de Beaufremont, lord of Chargny, as his proxy. He is pictured left in red. Van Eyck stands next to him in a black hat, the angel’s scroll pointing to him. The black-brimmed hat is a pointer to Van Eyck’s proxy role in the Arnolfini Portrait. To the left of the artist is the godmother and possibly the Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella. On her left is the mother of the child and Van Eyck’s wife Margaret, gazing wistfully at her husband. She is depicted wearing the same dress as in her portrait painted by Van Eyck (right).

Jan van Eyck’s wife, Margaret, painted by the artist in 1439.

Groeningemuseum, Bruges

There is a reference by the art historian James Weale in his book on the life and works of Hubert and John van Eyck that in March 1442, at the request of Lambert van Eyck, the Chapter of St Donatian, Bruges, “grants permission for the body of his brother John, buried in the precincts, to be, with the bishop’s licence, translated into the church and buried near the font, on condition of the foundation of an anniversary and of compliance with the rights of fabric.”

Van der Weyden depicts this in his painting as the raised stone covering the grave and supporting the baptisimal font. In baptism the child is raised to new life in Christ. And so in death Van Eyck is resurrected to new life through the Sacrament.

UPDATE: August 1, 2023

I have revised the earlier identification to the five figures standing at the baptismal font.

The man in red is Jan Van Eyck standing on the place of his own tomb. The minister conducting the baptism is Jan’s brother, Hubert Van Eyck. The man wearing the black hat represents the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. The two women are as previously named.

The scene shows Jan wearing pattens, a reminder of the corner feature in the Arnolfini Portrait depicting a pair of pattens. In this case the pattens are directed towards one of the lion feet of the baptismal font and to the gold hem of the purple garment spread on the ground at Hubert’s feet. The hem is folded to shape as a lamb’s head. This, with the lion feet of the fount, points to the biblical paraphrase from Isaiah – the Lamb with the Lion – an expression related to being at peace.

Note also the lion head representation of Jan’s green bourrelet. This feature is adapted from the mirror reflection in the Arnolfini Portrait depicted on the woman’s green dress.

Jan’s brother Hubert was a deacon of the Church and is depicted applying holy oil with a brush on the child’s forehead. Notice he is much taller than Jan even though his brother is raised at a level above the ground.

2. Sacrament of Confirmation

Of the seven sacraments this is not the easiest to assign to Van Eyck. It depicts the bishop of Tournai, Jean Chevrot, and an assistant applying chrism oil to the forehead and symbolically sealing in the sacrament with headbands. As three of the children walk away after receiving the sacrament, two turn their heads in the direction of the baptisimal font, perhaps in recognition of their father, Jan, in a similar fashion that Margaret turns her head towards her husband at the font. The smaller child, dressed in a green gown stares straight ahead. Was she born after Jan’s death? Or is she a child of Margaret from a possible second marriage?

It is known that Van Eyck had at least one daughter, named Livina, who entered the St Agnes’ convent at Maaseyck in 1450, helped with a dowry given by Philip the Good. Could the child in green be looking across to the other side of the church and to the seated woman wearing a green gown located at the seventh sacrament? Is Van der Weyden suggesting that the child and the woman are one and the same person? And is the woman’s black mantilla the style of headwear adopted by St Agnes’ convent?

3. Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation

The third sacrament, sometimes referred to as ‘Confession’ shows a man seated on a mercy or judgment chair and absolving the kneeling penitent. The hooded ‘minister’ is

depicted as one of the ‘Just Judges’ from the Ghent Altarpiece painted by Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubert. There is divided opinion on who this particular ‘Just Judge’ is – Philip the Good or Jan van Eyck. The black garments would suggest Philip, as he dressed in black after the assassination of his father John the Fearless .

Most likely the third sacrament scene refers to the aftermath of the Ghent war in which the city rebelled against the taxes imposed by Philip in 1447. The Duke declared war on Ghent in 1452 which lasted a year and resulted in the death of thousands. The city eventually surrendered and its officials were forced to plea for forgiveness before the ‘Just Judge’.

Philip the Good depicted as a ‘Just Judge’ in Rogier van der Weyden’s Seven Sacraments painting.

Are these the three children of Jan Van Eyck, sealed with the Sacrament of Confirmation?

third sacrament

Confirmation

4. Sacrament of the Eucharist

While the observer’s focus is drawn to the stunning Crucifixion scene, Van der Weyden also encompasses in the same frame the full meaning of Christ’s death on the Cross, that of the Resurrection, with the elevation of the Sacred Host after its consecration. The celebration is a Requiem Mass, indicated by the black chasuble of the celebrant, a Eucharistic service to remember someone who has died. This is the connection to Van Eyck. When the artist’s body was reinterred inside the church the bishop stipulated that it was “on condition of the foundation of an anniversary” – meaning a memorial or requiem Mass.

The Holy Eucharist is elevated during a Requiem Mass, signified by by the black vestments of the celebrant. Saints Peter and Paul are the two statues either side of the altar.

Another telling reference to Van Eyck is the tonsured head of the priest, echoing the mirror tabernacle in the Arnolfini Portrait. The elevated Eucharist is also a reference to the the theme of the Real Presence in the same work. The green coloured drape around the altar and the white cloth both point to the woman in her green dress and white mantilla as being a type of Virgin Mary and the altar on which her Son is offered. The blue-coloured backdrop, depicting the heavenly home also reflects the blue undergarment worn by the woman in Van Eyck’s painting.

The tearful apostle John is shown as a likeness of Jan van Eyck. Just as the disciple took Mary into his home, so too did Van Eyck take the mother of Jesus into his heart, typified by the number of his paintings in which she features.

5. Sacrament of Holy Orders

Here a young man is ordained as a priest, and his hands annointed with sacred chrism oil. The bishop is St Donatian, after whom the church is named. He is also the patron saint of Bruge. The Van Eyck connection is made via a painting he completed in 1436, Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele. It shows the clergyman kneeling alongside St Michael and St Donatian standing opposite. A more youthful depiction of Joris Van der Paele is placed standing behind St Donatian in Van der Weyden’s fifth sacrament. In the image below St Donatian is seen holding a wheel with five lit candles, an attribute given to the saint that records the time he was saved from drowning by clinging to a carriage wheel. In Van der Weyden’s depiction St Donatian is encircled by five men representing acolytes who assist with ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles.

St Donatian depicted in the Seven Sacraments and (left) in Jan van Eyck’s Virgin and Child painting.

6. Sacrament of Marriage updated September 8, 2019

The scene illustrating the sixth sacrament, shows the marriage of Charles the Bold to the French princess Isabella of Bourbon, in October 1454. It was an arranged marriage to fulfill the conditions of the Treaty of Arras between France and Burgundy made earlier in 1435. The two witnesses are the parents of Charles, Philip the Good duke of Burgundy and his third wife Isabella of Portugal. The priest is Nicholas Rolin, Chancellor to the duke and a central figure in negotiating the Treaty of Arras. His stole is used to bind the couple in matrimony, and so reflect the binding agreement of the Arras Treaty and also the covenant themes presented in the Arnolfini Portrait. The marriage produced one child, Mary of Burgundy, before Isabella of Bourbon died at the early age of 29.

The scene also represents another marriage, that of Pierre de Bauffremont and Marie de Bourgogne, the legitimised daughter of Philip the Good. It was contracted in September 1447 and was also the third marriage of Pierre de Bauffremont, a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece who served as a seneschal for the duke.

7. Sacrament of Exteme Unction (Last Rites)

The seventh sacrament shows Van Eyck receiving the Last Rites in a scene that typifies him being supported by the Church, (the bed he lies on), and his family (wife Margaret) The Sacrament is administered by Rogier Van der Weyden in the guise of St Luke, patron saint of artists, and Jean Wauquelin, the French writer and translator of the Chronicles of Hainaut.

Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy from 1467 until 1477, and his second wife Isabella of Bourbon whom he married in 1454. Nicholas Rolin blesses and seals the covenant.

A section of the painting ‘St Luke drawing the Virgin’, supposedly a self-portrait of the artist Rogier van der Weyden. Housed in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Van der Weyden also repeats elements from the Arnolfini Portrait: a woman wearing a green dress with blue sleeves... a lit candle... Van Eyck’s left arm placed across his body, right hand extended and supported by Philip’s raised hand... the water basin Van Eyck looks into as a mirror... the red bed... its headboard, a replica of the back of the chair... the straw under the pillow, the brush...

Van Eyck’s hand is anointed by St Luke with sacramental Oil of the Sick (Oleum Infirmorum) – applied with a brush – reverencing Van Eyck’s gift as an oil painter.

St Luke is recognisable from another of Van der Weyden’s painting, St Luke Drawing the Virgin. It is said to be a self-portrait. The gamma cross motif on St Luke’s stole verifies his Greek identity. It also refers to the Four Evangelists, imitating the tetramorph figure Van Eyck placed on the high-back chair above the brush in the Arnolfini Portrait.

The figure of Van Eyck’s wife Margaret dressed in a green garment with blue sleeves evokes Van Eyck’s portrayal of Isabella as the Virgin Mary. It is thought that Margaret was the model for Van Eyck in this role.

The ‘three in one’ theme is repeated by Van der Weyden. Seen as the Virgin Mary the woman holds a lighted candle. She is a light that leads to her Son, Jesus. Her presence at the deathbed scene is also her response to the Catholic ‘Hail Mary’ prayer that ends with the words “pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death”.

Update (March 3, 2018)... There is another take on this group of three men. The kneeling figure is a representation of Jean Wauquelin, a writer and translator noted for his three-volume work the Chronicles of Hainaut. The frontspiece is a miniature painted by Rogier van der Weyden in 1447. It shows Wauquelin presenting one of the volumes to Philip the Good and the young Charles the Bold looking on. In this sense it can be understood that Van der Weyden (in his role as St Luke and writer of one of the Gospels) has recorded in his painting the sacramental life of Van Eyck, while Wauquein prepares the body for translation. Van Eyck’s body was originally buried in the graveyard of St Donatian’s church before being translated and reinterred near to the baptismal font inside the building.

The main focus of Rogier Van der Weyden’s Seven Sacraments triptych is the Crucifixion scene. It links to the death portrayal of Van Eyck who appears to be staring into the reflective metal bowl that represents the mirror and tabernacle door in his own painting. Is Van Eyck seeing beyond the door, the veil, and experiencing the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist? In the Catholic Church the Eucharist is referred to as the Viaticum (Bread for the Journey) and administered, if possible, to the dying person as part of the last rites. It is seen as Christ accompanying the person in death.

Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known. (1 Corinthians 12 : 12)

• Next page... The Magdalen Reading

Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, mirrored in Rogier van der Weyden’s depiction of the Last Rites in the the Seven Sacraments painting.

Chroniques de Hainaut, volume 1

Brussels, Bibliothèque royale, ms 9242

Christ in death, mirrored by the death of Jan Van Eyck. The white cloth was used to seal the anointing applied to a dying person’s head during the Last Rites.