Dieric Bouts: Straight outta Haarlem.

Not that Harlem. Haarlem is a city in the Netherlands and considerably different than the New York neighborhood. But, like our Harlem, there was a bit of a Renaissance happening here, too. Just in the 15^th century instead of the 1920s and with a lot more paintings of Jesus.

This is where Dieric excelled. His paintings show great influence from Jan Van Eyck and Rogier Van der Weyden, who may have actually been his mentor. We don’t know much about Bouts’ life, except that his daughters were nuns and his sons were artists. So we have to glean what we can from his art. Bouts was probably a smart fellow, having been the first of the northern painters to use a single vanishing point, a pretty important perspective trick to make paintings look real and 3D. We’re guessing he loved nature, too. He pays particular attention to detailing the trees and mountains. Bob Ross would be so proud.

If I had to guess from his thin, gaunt figures I would say Dieric was also a melancholy man. I know the death of Christ is really sad, but these people look seriously depressed! Then again, maybe he was trying his best to look on the bright side. He was the first Flemish painter to depict the scene of The Last Supper. And unlike a super dramatic Italian version of The Last Supper we know (Da Vinci code, anyone?), Bouts’ version focuses on the blessing of the Eucharist host instead of Judas’ betrayal.

Anorexic figures and a focus on food? Maybe he was just hangry.