Legend of the Holy Saints Cosmas and Damian

The altarpiece provides us with more knowledge about the functioning of the guilds of surgeons and barbers, of which the Holy Saints Cosmas and Damian were patron saints. It is therefore important for the preservation of the collective memory. With a monogram and date on the central panel in the medallions on the left pillar, the work can be considered as Blondeel’s earliest painting, giving it great historical value. The artwork serves as a starting point for the stylistic evolution of the painter and therefore holds special artistic significance. This oil painting is a busy and complex composition with figures in affected poses. The work still shows influences of Mannerism, but through the architectural construction, Blondeel demonstrates his extensive knowledge and admiration for the Italianization of visual language. The grotesque painting, which he transposes into a three-dimensional architecture in his own unique way, makes him a precursor of the grotesque in the Netherlands. He incorporates fashionable decorative elements, such as medallions, in the central panel. Using motifs from ornament prints by Agostino Musi, Giovanni Antonio de Brescia, and other German or Dutch prints, he creatively transforms them to adorn his frames. Furthermore, the twelve tableaux vivants, which he himself designed for the Joyous Entry of Charles V in Bruges in 1520, inspired him in executing this work, especially in terms of the architectural construction. Despite Blondeel’s style being a distinct phenomenon within Bruges art, the work serves as an important link. The early use of canvas gives this work a rare value