Triptyque de Moulins

Triptyque de Moulins, now installed in Moulins Cathedral where it was created, is the supreme surviving work of the anonymous master known as Jean Hey (the Master of Moulins), painted around 1498 for Pierre II de Bourbon and his wife Anne de France. The triptych's central panel shows the Virgin and Child in Glory, its wings depicting the donors presented by their patron saints. The altarpiece is one of the most important works of late-fifteenth-century European painting, combining Flemish technical precision with a French court elegance that sets it apart from all contemporary works.

The central panel's Virgin and Child are surrounded by a mandorla and angel concert painted with extraordinary precision in oil, each detail—feathers, drapery folds, faces—rendered with a finesse that draws on Flemish panel painting technique while achieving a softer, more lyrical quality. The donors on the wings are individualized portraits of a quality that rivals the great court portraitists of the period.