Memling portraits
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Hans Memling
German-Flemish painter (c. 1430–1494)
"Memling" redirects here. For the steamer, see SS Empire Bardolph.
Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a German-Flemish painter who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. Born in the Middle Rhine region, he probably spent his childhood in Mainz. During his apprenticeship as a painter he moved to the Netherlands and spent time in the Brussels workshop of Rogier van der Weyden. In 1465 he was made a citizen of Bruges, where he became one of the leading artists and the master of a large workshop. A tax document from 1480 lists him among the wealthiest citizens. Memling's religious works often incorporated donor portraits of the clergymen, aristocrats, and burghers (bankers, merchants, and politicians) who were his patrons.[1] These portraits built upon the styles which Memling learned in his youth.
He married Anna de Valkenaere sometime between 1470 and 1480, and they had three children. Memling's art was rediscovered in the 19th century, attaining wide popula
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Hans Memling: biography
Introduction
Hans Memling was one of the most important Early Netherlandish painters (also known as 'the Flemish primitives'). In his thirty-year career he introduced several innovations into his art and had many clients both at home and abroad. When he died in 1494, his style was largely followed until the 16th Century. Although we do not know much about Hans Memling, compared to other 15th-century artists, a significant number of his works have been preserved. As a consequence, the reconstruction of his life depends primarily upon his works and on the few extant documents and writings from his time.
The start of Memling's career
Memling was born in Selingstadt (in present-day Germany) in 1440, at the latest. He probably started painting at a young age with an unknown master in Cologne. He was presumably a collaborator of Rogier van der Weyden, as can be deducted from several sources. For example, an inventory describing Margaret of Austria's household goods, written in 1515, includes an altarpiece with a centre panel made by 'Rogiers' and the wings
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Biography
Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc), leading Flemish painter of the Bruges school during the period of the city's political and commercial decline. The number of his imitators and followers testified to his popularity throughout Flanders. His last commission, which has been widely copied, is a Crucifixion panel from the Passion Triptych (1491).
Memling, born in the region of the Middle Rhine, was apparently first schooled in the art of Cologne and then travelled to the Netherlands (c. 1455-60), where he probably trained in the workshop of the painter Rogier van der Weyden. He settled in Bruges (Brugge) in 1465; there he established a large shop and executed numerous altarpieces and portraits. Indeed, he was very successful in Bruges: it is known that he owned a large stone house and by 1480 was listed among the wealthiest citizens on the city tax accounts. Sometime between 1470 and 1480 Memling married Anna de Valkenaere (died 1487), who bore him three children.
A number of Memling's works are signed and dated, and still others allow art historians to place them e
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