Christ and the Virgin Diptych

[2][3] Although devotional diptychs were common in mid-15th century northern art, they typically, following the innovations of the highly commercially successful Rogier van der Weyden – whom Bouts was known to have been influenced by – showed a saint paired with a donor.

"[7] Christ is shown in suffering and in pain, reflecting one of two broad styles of single portrait representation popular in the mid to later 15th century, both of which showed his head in either near close up isolation, in half length.

[8] The representation of Christ in the "Holy Face" format dates back to Byzantine Icons and the motif was popularised again by Robert Campin and the lost van Eyck frontal representation of Christ known through a copy in the Staatliche Preussischer Kulturbesitz Museen, Berlin.

Bouts' earlier right hand panel is similarly typical, showing Christ bleeding at the forehead from incisions made by the Crown of Thorns.

A very similar c 1470 work attributed to Bouts, is comparable in composition, colorisation and tone, and is today in the London National Gallery.