Triptych of the Micault Family

religious

This attractive triptych comes from the chapel of the Holy Sacrament in St Michael's Cathedral in Brussels, where Charles V's collector-general, Jean Micault and his wife Livine Cats van Welle were buried. The altarpiece was probably commissioned by their second son Nicholas in their memory. This is why they appear with their children on the wings, he wearing the mantle of the treasurer of the Order of the Golden Fleece, with his armour perhaps alluding to his having been knighted, she dressed in a black robe and a fur.

Loading map…

About the Artist

Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen

1500 – 1559

Netherlandish painter and tapestry designer, probably a pupil of Mabuse. About 1525 he became Court Painter to Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands at Mechelen and in 1535 he accompanied the Emperor Charles V to Tunis. This journey supplied him with scenes for later works, including tapestries designed 1545/48 for the Regent, Mary of Hungary. At present many portraits are ascribed to him on very little evidence, as an alternative to Scorel, Heemskerck or Lucas van Leyden.

View all works →