The Virgin and Child with Canon Joris Van der Paele

"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 reads the Latin inscription on the frame. In other words, the canon donated a substantial sum of money to the authorities of Saint Donation'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.