This month the ‘Descent from the Cross Triptych’, a celebrated work by the Leuven-based painter Dieric Bouts, returns to its historic home in the Royal Chapel of Granada Cathedral in southern Spain. The painting, dating from 1455–1460, spent three years in Brussels, where experts from the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA ) examined it thoroughly and restored it.
After three years of restoration in Brussels, work by Flemish master Dieric Bouts returns to Granada
Colin Clapson
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The return marks the culmination of an international collaboration between the M Leuven museum in the Flemish Brabant capital, the Capilla Real de Granada and the Belgian Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage. The project received support from the Flemish government.
For the exhibition ‘DIERIC BOUTS. Creator of Images ’, the triptych left its home in Spain for the first time in more than five centuries.
19th-century overpaintings
Since the panels’ arrival in Brussels in June 2023, KIK experts have carried out extensive research using advanced imaging techniques. On the central panel, using macro-X-ray fluorescence they identified 19th-century overpainting. During the restoration, the experts carefully removed yellowed varnish layers and later additions.
‘This revealed numerous hidden details, including refined decorative elements that had been concealed beneath overpainting for centuries. Damaged areas were then conserved and retouched in accordance with the strictest restoration standards,’ the KIK explains.
Exhibition and symposium in Granada
To mark the return of the painting, the Capilla Real is organising an exhibition in Granada Cathedral, featuring academic contributions from M Leuven and the KIK. An international symposium is also being held during which researchers from across Europe will present new insights into Dieric Bouts and his oeuvre.
Bouts belongs to the group of painters identified as the Flemish Primitives and is one of the most important European artists of the 15th century.