Last Judgement: Saint John the Baptist with six apostles

Colijn de Coter painted this Saint John the Baptist with Six Apostles from a Last Judgement altarpiece around 1509. The assembly of saints interceding at the Last Judgement was a standard component of the subject's iconography. De Coter's large Brussels workshop produced ambitious multi-panel altarpieces for international patrons. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique. Such devotional panels served both liturgical contexts in churches and chapels and private devotional use in the homes of wealthy families who maintained personal altars and oratories.

Oil on panel with de Coter's Brussels technique and rich coloring. The multiple saint figures are arranged with individual characterization and the decorative richness expected of major altarpiece commissions.