The Boulbon Altarpiece
Provence, circa 1450
Oil on panel transferred to canvas
Height 67.7 in. Width 89.7 in. (1,72 x 2,28 m)
The Louvre
The donor, in the habit of an Augustinian canon, is presented to the Trinity by St. Agricolus, a 7th century bishop of Avignon who is the patron saint of that city.
The manner of representing the Trinity is unusual, with the Christ as Man of Sorrows the most prominent figure, the Father represented as if in a painting on the wall, and the Holy Spirit (as a dove) emanating from the mouths of the Father and Son. This visually awkward way of presenting the Holy Spirit is a reference to the Latin form of the Nicene Creed, in which the Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son." The creed did not originally have the phrase "and the Son," and in the eastern churches it still does not.
Read more about images of the Trinity.
Read more about the Man of Sorrows image type.
Photographed at the Louvre by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.