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Dirk (or Dieric) Bouts

Chronology

1420s (?): Probably born in Haarlem (Holland). Early training unknown.

1447/78: Gets married in Louvain (Flanders), site of only university in the Netherlands. Wife = Katherina van der Brugghen ("Katherina with the Money" [metten Gelde]. Two sons, Dirk Jr. and Aelbrecht, both became painters.

1457: First document mentioning Bouts as residing in Louvain. (May have gone back to Haarlem with bride for a few years? Or did he stay in Louvain? We don't know.)

March 16, 1464: Contract for the Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament, signed between Bouts and the Brotherhood of the Holy Sacrament, for their altar in the Church of St. Peter, Louvain (where it still is.) The price is given, and two theology professors from Louvain University are named to oversee the presentation of the subject matter. Bouts was to paint the entire work by his own hand, and was paid in full by 1467.

1468: Bouts is named official painter to the city of Louvain

1472/73: Remarries: Elisabeth van Voshem (widow of a butcher.) "Katherina with the Money" was still living in 1462, but must have died in the meantime.

1475: April 17, makes will. Dies May 6.

For more about Bouts, see: