Memling, Hans (1430–1494)

Flemish painter whose works continued the richly colored and precisely drawn style of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. Memling was born in the town of Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt, Germany, and as a young man moved to the city of Brussels, in Burgundy. He may have worked as an apprentice with van der Weyden, whose work had a strong influence. In 1466 he moved to the city of Bruges, a Flemish town that had grown wealthy from the wool trade and that offered many opportunities for a skilled painter to find patrons and commissions. Memling prospered by painting for churches, guilds, civic organizations, and private citizens, who commissioned the portraits that have become Memling's best-known works in modern times. His major works include an altarpiece known as the Seven Griefs of Mary, painted for the guild of booksellers of Bruges, and The Last Judgment, a work that Memling painted for a Bruges merchant that was stolen at sea by a pirate and brought to the cathedral of Gdansk, Poland. Memling's renown spread to Italy, where his works were in demand from wealthy collectors such as the Sforza rulers of Milan and the Medici of Florence. He painted a Virgin and Child for the English poet John Donne, for whom Memling also did a portrait with the poet's wife and children. Memling is also known for series pictures, including the Seven Griefs of Mary and the Seven Joys of Mary. His last great work was a series of six paintings done for a small shrine of Saint Ursula, commissioned by two nuns for the Hospital of Saint John in Bruges. He died a wealthy man and was regarded by many as one of the best painters in Europe.

See Also: van der Weyden, Rogier; van Eyck, Jan