Following M Leuven’s recent major retrospective dedicated to the Flemish master Dieric Bouts (1415 – 1475), ‘Atelier Bouts’ presents the surprising scientific discoveries resulting from six scientific methods applied to six iconic works: four major triptychs, exceptionally reunited in the same room, and two portraits.
Macro photography delivers staggeringly high-resolution images of the ‘Triptych of the Descent from the Cross’ (c. 1450-1458); dendrochronology – the science of dating wood – leads to the hypothesis that the ‘Mater Dolorosa’ (after 1490) is from his son Albrecht’s studio; macro-XRF (macro X-ray fluorescence spectrometry scanning) reveals the intricate chemical composition of the materials used in the ‘Martyrdom of St Erasmus’ (c. 1460-1464) disclosing its restoration history; infrared reflectography (IRR) shows a signature proving that Hugo van der Goes painted the left-hand panel of ‘The Martyrdom of Saint Hippolytus’ (c. 1479), one of Bouts’ last paintings; new stratigraphic research is applied to the finest paint layers of his magnum opus, ‘The Last Supper’ (c. 1464-1468) while radiography (X-ray) helps to analyse the making of the ‘Christ Crowned with Thorns’ (c. 1470).
