It's Good Friday and Catholics ponder today about the passion and death of Jesus. Yet, due to the Coronavirus emergency, just like last year most rites for the Holy Week were cancelled in different countries all over the world. So, while traditional Catholic processions may not be taking place, we can still get inspired by today's religious moods, rethinking them in connection with art and fashion. Let's move from a painting, "The Last Supper" by Dieric Bouts (ca. 1410-1475), one of the great Flemish Masters together with Rogier Van der Weyden, Hans Memling, and the Van Eyck brothers.
As you may remember from a previous post, the late Alexander McQueen was passionate about Flemish painters. In an interview published in 2003 on Harper's & Queen he stated: "I relate more to that cold, austere asceticism of the Flemish masters." And indeed in his ouvre there are several references and prints inspired by these painters.
McQueen's "It's a Jungle Out There" (A/W 1997-98) collection featured a jacket with a print of Robert Campin's "The Thief to the Left of Christ" (ca. 1430), portraying one of the two criminals crucified with Jesus. Around the same time, McQueen designed a menswear coat with a detail taken from Hans Memling's monumental triptych "The Last Judgment". McQueen's posthumous Autumn/Winter 2010 collection featured instead details from Stephan Lochner's Altarpiece of the Patron Saints of Cologne and Hugo van der Goes's Portinari Triptych).
"The Last Supper" is on display together with another painting by Bouts, "The martyrdom of Saint Erasmus", in Leuven's Saint Peter's Church on the city's Grote Markt. The Gothic church underwent an extensive restoration that took 35 years and that finished last March.
The Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament or Triptych of the Last Supper was commissioned to Bouts by the Leuven Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament in 1464 and it was painted between 1464 and 1468. This is a well known painting as Bouts was the first artist who painted Jesus and his apostles in the iconic composition around the table, 30 years before Leonardo da Vinci.
The figures may appear unemotional, but this is Bouts' style, and he is known for avoiding any dramatism in his works and favouring an atmosphere of restraint, that's why he was often called "the painter of silence".
Which are the elements from this painting that may inspire you in fashion? Well, the perspective is very interesting, look for example at the lines of the room such as the edges of the table or the wooden beams on the ceiling and you will realise they converge on Christ. Look also at the small door in the background and at the way the artist creates depth and think about how you can create depth in a garment by playing with folds, pleats and volumes.
The draped motifs on the robes and capes donned by the disciples or the crumpled tablecloth may also inspire you to develop this theme further.
Since you're looking at the garments worn by the various characters consider also the anachronisms in the painting: the robes of the servants or bystanders witnessing the scene and expressing their devotion to the Eucharist are juxtaposed to the clothes of the disciples, the former are indeed more modern as the servants are actually portraits of the confraternity's members responsible for commissioning the altarpiece.
Another juxtaposition is the dichotomy between the good and the bad, represented by Jesus and Judas, the disciple who will betray him, sitting opposite Christ in this painting, on the left.
Last but not least, look at the architectural details of the room that opens onto the Grote Markt (with the houses visible through the windows on the left) and the tiled floor. The intricate tile pattern is striking and Bouts perfectly recreated also the interplay between the tile pattern, the legs of the stools and the feet of the disciples, experimenting with textures and shades.
The Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament has four additional panels, two on each side, representing the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek and the Passover Feast (left wing) and the Gathering of the Manna and prophet Elijiah and the Angel (right wing), so look also at these panels for further inspirations regarding colours, shades and costumes.
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