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St Ursula Shrine by Hans Memling (1489)
Gilded and painted wood, 87 x 33 x 91 cm
Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges

Hans Memling (Memlinc) (c. 1430 - 11 August 1494) was an Early Netherlandish painter, born in Germany, who was the last major fifteenth century artist in the Netherlands, the successor to Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, whose tradition he continued with little innovation. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 625 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1576 × 1511 pixel, file size: 169 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 625 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1576 × 1511 pixel, file size: 169 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... // Events May 23 - Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne The Ottoman Empire captures Thessalonica from the Venetians First use of optical methods in the creation of Art A map of Europe in 1430. ... is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1494 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, National Gallery, London. ... Portrait of a Man in a Turban (actually a chaperon), probably a self-portrait, painted 1433 Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck (c. ... Deposition by Roger van der Weyden (c. ...

Life and works

Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, Memling probably served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1455-60). He did not come to Bruges until about 1465. A story telling that he was a wounded fugitive from the battle of Nancy is fiction, as is also the report that he was sheltered and cured by the Hospitallers at Bruges, and, to show his gratitude, refused payment for a picture he had painted. Memling did indeed paint for the Hospitallers, but he painted not one but many pictures, and he did so in 1479 and 1480, being probably known to his patrons of St John by many masterpieces even before the battle of Nancy. Seligenstadt Basilica Seligenstadt marketplace Seligenstadt is a town in the district of Offenbach, in Hesse, Germany. ... For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cologne (disambiguation). ... Deposition by Roger van der Weyden (c. ... Despite the disasters of 1476 Charles the Bold, [[Duke of Burgundy]], remained confident that 1477 would bring an upturn in the fortunes of his beloved Burgundy. ... The Knights Hospitaller (the or Knights of Malta or Knights of Rhodes) is a tradition which began as a Benedictine nursing Order founded in the 11th century based in the Holy Land, but soon became a militant Christian Chivalric Order under its own charter, and was charged with the care...

Memling is only connected with military operations in a mediate and distant sense. His name appears on a list of subscribers to the loan which was raised by Maximilian of Austria (Maximilian I), to crush hostilities against France in the year 1480. In 1477, when he is falsely said to have fallen, and when Charles the Bold was killed, he was under contract to furnish an altarpiece for the gild-chapel of the booksellers of Bruges; and this altarpiece, now reserved, under the name of the Seven Griefs of Mary, in the Gallery of Turin, is one of the fine creations of his riper age, and not inferior in any way to those of 1479 in the hospital of St John, which for their part are hardly less interesting as illustrative of the master's power than The Last Judgment in the cathedral of the Hanse city Gdańsk (Danzig), Poland. Critical opinion has been unanimous in assigning the altarpiece of Gdańsk to Memling; and by this it affirms that Memling was a resident and a skilled artist at Bruges in 1473; for the Last Judgment was undoubtedly painted and sold to a merchant at Bruges, who shipped it there on board of a vessel bound to the Mediterranean, which was captured by a Gdańsk privateer, Paúel Benecke, in that very year. But, in order that Memling's repute should be so fair as to make his pictures purchasable, as this had been, by an agent of the Medici at Bruges, it is incumbent on us to acknowledge that he had furnished sufficient proofs before that time of the skill which excited the wonder of such highly cultivated patrons. Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria Maximilian I of Bavaria This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Annunciation Triptych is an altarpiece, ca. ... The whole of Memlings Day of Judgement The Last Judgement found in the National Museum in Gdansk in Poland is a triptych attributed to Hans Memling and was painted between 1467 and 1471. ... The foundations of the Hanseatic League (German: Hanse), an alliance of trading cities that for a time in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period maintained a trade monopoly over most of Northern Europe and the Baltic, can be seen as early as the 12th century, with the... GdaÅ„sk ( ; IPA: ), also known by its German name Danzig ( ) and several other names, is the sixth-largest city in Poland and is Polands principal seaport and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. ... Paúel Benecke (or Pawel or Paul or Pavel) was a 15th century Danzig (GdaÅ„sk) privateer, sometimes referred to as a pirate. ... For the board game, see Medici (board game). ...

The Last Judgment

It is characteristic that the oldest allusions to pictures connected with Memling's name are those which point to relations with the Burgundian court. The inventories of Margaret of Austria, drawn up in 1524, allude to a triptych of the God of Pity by Roger van der Weyden, of which the wings containing angels were by Master Hans. But this entry is less important as affording testimony in favour of the preservation of Memling's work than as showing his connection with an older Flemish craftsman. For ages Roger van der Weyden was acknowledged as an artist of the school of Bruges, until records of undisputed authenticity demonstrated that he was bred at Tournai and settled at Brussels. Nothing seems more natural than the conjunction of his name with that of Memling as the author of an altarpiece, since, though Memling's youth remains obscure, it is clear from the style of his manhood that he was taught in the painting-room of Van der Weyden. Nor is it beyond the limits of probability that it was Van der Weyden who received commissions at a distance from Brussels, and first took his pupil to Bruges, where he afterwards dwelt. The clearest evidence of the connection of the two masters is that afforded by pictures, particularly an altarpiece, which has alternately been assigned to each of them, and which may possibly be due to, their joint labours. In this altarpiece, which is a triptych ordered for a patron of the house of Sforza, we find the style of Van der Weyden in the central panel of the Crucifixion, and that of Memling in the episodes on the wings. Yet the whole piece was assigned to the former in the Zambeccari collection at Bologna, whilst it was attributed to the latter at the Middleton sale in London in 1872. At first, we may think, a closer resemblance might be traced between the two artists than that disclosed in later works of Memling, but the delicate organization of the younger painter, perhaps also a milder appreciation of the duties of a Christian artist, may have led Memling to realise a sweet and perfect ideal, without losing, on that account, the feeling of his master. He certainly exchanged the asceticism of Van der Weyden for a sentiment of less energetic concentration. He softened his teacher's asperities and bitter hardness of expression. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1143x812, 195 KB) attributed to Hans Memling (c. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1143x812, 195 KB) attributed to Hans Memling (c. ... région of Bourgogne, see Bourgogne. ... The Archduchess Margaretha of Austria (10 January 1480 – 1 December 1530) was a Habsburg princess, the daughter of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Mary of Burgundy. ... The Raising of the Cross, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp A triptych (from the Greek tri- three + ptychÄ“ fold) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together. ... Tournai (in Dutch: Doornik in Latin: Tornacum) is a municipality located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt (in French: Escaut, in Dutch: Schelde), in the Belgian province of Hainaut. ... Nickname: Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989 Government  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area  - Region 162 km²  (62. ... Map of Italy in 1494. ... Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution, where the condemned was tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead. ... Bologna (IPA , from Latin Bononia, BulÃ¥ggna in Emiliano-Romagnolo) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Pianura Padana, between the Po River and the Apennines, exactly between the Reno River and the Sàvena River. ...

In the oldest form in which Memling's style is displayed, or rather in that example which represents the Baptist in the gallery of Munich, we are supposed to contemplate an effort of the year 1470. The finish of this piece is scarcely surpassed, though the subject is more important, by that of the Last Judgment in Gdańsk.

But the latter is more interesting than the former, because it tells how Memling, long after Roger's death and his own settlement at Bruges, preserved the traditions of sacred art which had been applied in the first part of the century by Rogier van der Weyden to the Last Judgment of Beaune. All that Memling did was to purge his master's manner of excessive stringency, and add to his other qualities a velvet softness of pigment, a delicate transparence of colours, and yielding grace of slender forms. That such a beautiful work as the Last Judgment of Gdańsk should have been bought for the Italian market is not surprising when we recollect that picture-fanciers in that country were familiar with the beauties of Memling's compositions, as shown in the preference given to them by such purchasers as Cardinal Grimari and Cardinal Bembo at Venice, and the heads of the house of Medici at Florence. Beaune is a commune in eastern France, a sub-prefecture of the Côte dOr département, in the Burgundy région. ... Pietro Bembo (May 20, 1470 - 18 January 1547), Italian cardinal and scholar. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia, Latin: Venetia) is a city in northern Italy, the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,251 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ...

Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation (front) (c.1485)
Oil on oak panel, 22 x 15 cm (each wing) Musée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg.

But Memling's reputation was not confined to Italy or Flanders. The Madonna and Saints which passed out of the Duchatel collection into the gallery of the Louvre, the Virgin and Child painted for Sir John Donne and now at the National Gallery, London, and other noble specimens in English and Continental private houses, show that his work was as widely known and appreciated in the 16th century. Download high resolution version (1333x650, 153 KB)Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation (front) by Hans Memling (c. ... Download high resolution version (1333x650, 153 KB)Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation (front) by Hans Memling (c. ... This article is about the museum. ... John Donne John Donne (pronounced Dun; 1572 - March 31, 1631) was a major English poet and writer, and perhaps the greatest of the metaphysical poets. ... Londons National Gallery, founded in 1824, its elegant dome and graceful colonnades,dominating the north side of Trafalgar Square, houses a rich collection of over 2,300 paintings from 1250 to 1900. ...

It was perhaps not their sole attraction that they gave the most tender and delicate possible impersonations of the Mother of Christ that could suit the taste of that age in any European country. But the portraits of the donors, with which they were mostly combined, were more characteristic, and probably more remarkable as likenesses, than any that Memling s contemporaries could produce. Nor is it unreasonable to think that his success as a portrait painter, which is manifested in isolated busts as well as in altarpieces, was of a kind to react with effect on the Venetian school, which undoubtedly was affected by the partiality of Antonello da Messina for trans-Alpine types studied in Flanders in Memling's time. The portraits of Sir John Donne and his wife and children in the National Gallery, London altarpiece are also remarkable as models of drawing and finish than as refined presentations of persons of distinction; nor is any difference in this respect to be found in the splendid groups of father, mother, and children which fill the noble altarpiece of the Louvre. As single portraits, the busts of Burgomaster Moreel and his wife in the museum of Brussels, and their daughter the Sibyl Zambetha (according to the added description) in the hospital at Bruges, are the finest and most interesting of specimens. The Seven Griefs of Mary in the gallery of Turin, to which we may add the Seven Joys of Mary in the Pinakothek of Munich, are illustrations of the habit which clung to the art of Flanders of representing a cycle of subjects on the different planes of a single picture, where a wide expanse of ground is covered with incidents from the Passion in the form common to the action of sacred plays. Portrait, called the Condottiero, dated 1475 (Louvre). ... John Donne John Donne (pronounced Dun; 1572 - March 31, 1631) was a major English poet and writer, and perhaps the greatest of the metaphysical poets. ... Londons National Gallery, founded in 1824, its elegant dome and graceful colonnades,dominating the north side of Trafalgar Square, houses a rich collection of over 2,300 paintings from 1250 to 1900. ...

The masterpiece of Memling's later years, a shrine containing relics of St Ursula in the museum of the hospital of Bruges, is fairly supposed to have been ordered and finished in 1480. The delicacy of finish in its miniature figures, the variety of its landscapes and costume, the marvellous patience with which its details are given, are all matters of enjoythent to the spectator. There is later work of the master in the St Christopher and Saints of 1484 in the academy, or the Newenhoven Madonna in the hospital of Bruges, or a large Crucifixion, with scenes from the Passion, of 1491 from the Lübeck Cathedral (Dom) of Lübeck, now in Lübeck's St. Annen Museum. But as we near the close of Memling's career we observe that his practice has become larger than he can compass alone; and, as usual in such cases, the labour of a workshop is substituted for his own. The registers of the {[Guild of Saint Luke|painters' guild]] at Bruges give the names of two apprentices who served their time with Memling and paid dues on admission to the guild in 1480 and 1486. These subordinates remained obscure. Ursula (small female bear in Latin) is a Christian saint. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Lübeck ( pronunc. ... St. ... A guild is an association of craftspeople in a particular trade. ...

The trustees of his will appeared before the court of wards at Bruges on December 10, 1495, and we gather from records of that date and place that Memling left behind several children and a considerable property.

Critical opinions

• Erwin Panofsky in his 1953 Early Netherlandish Painting (p.347) says of Memling, rather harshly: "...while the Romantics and the Victorians considered his sweetness the very summit of Medieval art, we feel inclined to compare him to a composer such as Felix Mendelssohn: he occasionally enchants, never offends, and never overwhelms. His works give the impression of derivativeness..."

Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968) was a German art historian and essayist often credited with the founding of the academic iconography. ... Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. ...

See also

• List of Flemish painters
• Early Netherlandish painting
• Art theft
• The Last Judgment (Memling)

This is an incomplete list of Flemish painters, with place and date of birth and death and painting style. ... The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, National Gallery, London. ... Art theft is the stealing of high-profile art. ... The whole of Memlings Day of Judgement The Last Judgement found in the National Museum in Gdansk in Poland is a triptych attributed to Hans Memling and was painted between 1467 and 1471. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hans Memling

• Artcyclopedia: Hans Memling
• Last Judgement at the National Museum, Gdańsk
• Web Gallery of Art: Hans Memling
• Memling at Panopticon Virtual Art Gallery

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... GdaÅ„sk ( ; IPA: ), also known by its German name Danzig ( ) and several other names, is the sixth-largest city in Poland and is Polands principal seaport and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. ...

Further reading

• Borchert, Till-Holger (ed.) (2005). Memling's Portraits. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-09326-1. 
• de Vos, Dirk (1994). Hans Memling: The Complete Works. Harry N Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3649-6. 

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.