Lot 1012 Dα

The present work is painted on both sides and would have formed the side panel of a winged altarpiece depicting the life of the Virgin to the interior. In this inner view, the birth of the Virgin is shown in the left section of an interior painted in perspective, whilst the presentation in the temple takes place on the right. The two scenes are divided by a pillar and pediment decorated with renaissance grotesques. The quality and fineness of the painting to the interior is continued on the outer view of the panel. This side shows a donor dressed in a monk's habit with an abbot's crozier kneeling before an architectural niche terminating in a shell form vault. He is accompanied by his patron saint, traditionally identified as Saint Donatian, whose relics are highly venerated in Bruges.