Seilern Triptych (by Robert Campin) Postcard

The Seilern Triptych (also known as Entombment ), variously dated c. 1410-15 or c. 1420–25, is a large oil and gold leaf on panel, fixed winged triptych altarpiece generally attributed to the Early Netherlandish painter Robert Campin. It is the earliest of two known triptychs attributed to him, although the outer wing panels paintings are lost. The work details the events of Christ's passion; with iconography associated with the liturgy of Holy Week. The panels, which should be read from left to right, detail three stations of the cycle of the Passion of Jesus; the crucifixion, the burial and the resurrection. Campin was one of the very early founders of the Northern Renaissance, and famed and successful in his lifetime for his breakthrough use of oil paints, but was largely forgotten during the early and early-modern period. He was rediscovered during the late nineteenth century, and has since been described as one of the most significant religious painters of the 15th century. Although Campin's life is relatively well documented for the time, there are no surviving records of this commission, and at 60 x 48.9 cm it is too small to have functioned as a church altarpiece - possibly it was intended for private devotion. The triptych represents one of the earliest extant Flemish paintings. Its iconography is related to the Depositio and Elevatio liturgical ceremonies. The influence of the Seilern Triptych is discernible in works by major artists including Rogier van der Weyden, Dieric Bouts, Quentin Massys, and Peter Paul Rubens.