'Master Joris van der Paele canon of this church had this painting made by Johannes van Eyck painter; and he founded two chantries to be tended by the canons 1434; the painting was however completed in 1436.' So read a latin inscription on the frame.In other words the canon donated a substantial sum of money to the authorities of ST. Donatian's Church in Bruges to dedicate an annual mass to his memory in perpetuity. The painting will have hung alongside or above the altar at which one of the foundations or chantries was located.
Flemish art and heritage collections, in great detail