On 20 September 2009 the new M-Museum Leuven (Belgium) was inaugurated with the opening of the exhibition Rogier van der Weyden 1400-1464 - Master of Passions. The starting point of the exhibition was the work of Rogier van der Weyden himself and the intention was to display and define his individual style and contribution. To demonstrate the significance of his overwhelming influence across artistic media, his own works were brought together with those of his contemporaries and followers: painters, designers, sculptors, tapestry weavers and embroiderers. His significance was reflected in the international Colloquium Rogier van der Weyden in Context, which took place on 22, 23 and 24 October 2009. It was organised by Illuminare - Centre for the Study of Medieval Art (KU Leuven), the Art History Department KU Leuven and Artes.Leuven, in conjunction with the UCL (Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Laboratoire d'etude des oeuvres d'art par les methodes scientifiques) and the KIK-IRPA (Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Belgium).
It was the XVIIth Symposium for the Study of Underdrawing and Technology in Painting, yet its scope was extended beyond the technical examination of paintings so that the work of one great genius, Rogier van der Weyden, could be considered in a variety of contexts. The papers in this volume are grouped around the following themes: (i) Rogier van der Weyden, painter and designer; (ii) Archival sources; (iii) Studies in painting; (iv) Studies in underdrawing; (v) Studies in sculpture; (vi) The legacy of Van der Weyden.