WEYDEN, Rogier van der
(b. 1400, Tournai, d. 1464, Bruxelles)

Seven Sacraments Altarpiece (detail)

1445-50
Oil on oak panel
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp

The detail of the left panel shows the baptism, the confirmation and the confession (penance).

The sacrament of confirmation can be administered only by a bishop and here it is being performed by the donor, Jean Chevrot himself. Several heads, obviously also portraits, were executed on small pieces of metallic foil or parchment, then stuck to the picture; they are, however, original. Possibly these portraits were done somewhere else, then sent to the Brussels workshop to be added to the altarpiece.