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The event is set in a gothic temple, alluding to the New Law that replaces the old one, represented by the Romanesque tower in the background. The sculptures on the outside of the church and on the tower and Bible passages in the stained-glass windows reinforce this idea, and that of the Redemption. That is the case of Moses and David, or the sacrifice of Isaac´s, which foreshadows that of Christ.
Two scenes are represented in this work. On the left, in a circular, Romanesque interior covered with a dome, is the Miracle of the flowering Rod, which designated Joseph as the man to marry Mary. In the building´s stained-glass windows, capitals and tympana are scenes from the Old Testament that foreshadow or announce others from the New Testament, such as the sacrifice of Isaac, which prefigures
An inscription in gothic letters identifies the sitter and dates the work: "In the year 1438, I painted this effigy of Master Heinrich von Werl, Doctor of Cologne". A Provincial of the Franciscan Order in that German city beginning in 1432, Werl was full Professor of Theology and quite a famous preacher. On a trip to Tournai, he was able to contact the painter and have himself portrayed inside a r
Saint Barbara reads by the light of a fireplace in a richly appointed room. The key to her identity lies outside the window that opens onto a landscape with a tower, her customary attribute. That is where her father, Dioscoro, imprisoned her to avoid her conversion to Christianity. Campin´s painting is one of the finest examples of primitive Flemish artists´ skill at representing indoor scenes and
