Calvary and the Martyrdom of St Denis

religious

A series of scenes make up this picture, all of them painted against a gold background. Although the crucified Christ has been placed in the centre of the composition, the chief subject is St Denis, the first Bishop of Paris and patron saint of France. The court painter of Dijon has painted the scene of his last Communion and his martyrdom in 285, in the company of the deacon Eleutherius and the priest Rusticus.

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About the Artist

Jean Malouel

1365 – 1415

Jean Malouel (Dutch: Johan Maelwael), Netherlandish painter. He worked in Gelderland in 1386; he is documented in Paris in 1396 and from 1397 to 1415 he was court painter to the Dukes of Burgundy. In 1415 he was succeeded by Bellechose. He was the uncle of the Limbourg brothers. No documented works by him survive, but he has been suggested as the painter of several works, including part of the Martyrdom of St Denis (completed by Bellechose) and a tondo of the Trinity, both in the Louvre, Paris. They have all the refinement of French court art combined with a strength of modelling and a realistic naturalism derived from Flanders.

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