Hans Memling
(1430 - 1494) |
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Religious narritaives and altarpieces Art Work
| Name: |
Hans Memling |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Seligenstadt, Germany |
| Nationality: |
German |
| Birth: |
1430 |
| Death: |
1494 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Religious narritaives and altarpieces |
| Medium: |
Oil on panel |
| Method: |
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| Style: |
Northern Renissance |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| One of a generation of southern Netherlandish artists to respond to the innovations of Jan van Eyck, Memling produced religious paintings and portraits of exquisite optic realism for the wealthy citizens of Bruges. Much of his work comprises luxurious, relatively small-scale panels made for easy transport to a private chapel or domestic setting and was readily snapped up by visiting dignitaries from courts across Europe. Memling's work is set apart from that of his predecessors by the grace of his figures and his bold use of color, moving away from a reliance on gold backgrounds. His paintings achieve a sense of unity through his trademark continuous landscapes, running uninterrupted across panels. He is the first known South Netherlandish artist to have included a landscape view in a portrait, an innovation imitated by later artists. His pictures radiate a sense of ordered perfection. Silent gatherings of saints and donors exist in a static, untouchable world of contemplation. They avoid the viewer's gaze, eyes downcast, emotionless. This quality, along with a heightened awareness of surface, invites the viewer to meditate on the beauty of the scene as an aid to religious reflection. Although little is known of Memling's early life, it is possible to say he came from Germany, settling in the Netherlands, perhaps to finish his training in the studio of Rogier van der Weyden in Brussels. Arriving in Bruges by the mid-1460s, his earliest recorded painting is the large triptych of The Last Judgment (1467-1471), now in Gdansk, Poland. During his time in Bruges, Memling enjoyed long-lasting relationships with patrons, including the Hospital of Saint John and the Confraternity of Our Lady in the Snow at Bruges Cathedral, who invited him to become a member in around 1473. Memling had a lasting effect on contemporaries in Bruges. He brought the strength of design of van der Weyden and made it into a very specific vision of the material and heavenly world that appealed to his pious, cultured patrons.Through his eyes, the world is a place of perfection, crisply clear surfaces, golden braided hair, and delicate, extended fingers. |
Samples of Work
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