Netherlandish Northern Renaissance Painter, ca.1435-1494 South Netherlandish painter of German origin. Together with Dieric Bouts I and Hugo van der Goes, he was one of the most important exponents of the new artistic developments that flourished in the southern Netherlands in the 15th century in the wake of Jan van Eyck, the Master of Fl?malle and Rogier van der Weyden. Their principal innovation was to apply optic realism to devotional or mystical subjects. Although Memling lived in the turbulent period of transition from the Burgundian ruling house to that of the Habsburgs, little of this is evident in his work. His commissions were almost exclusively from rich burghers in Bruges (bankers, merchants and politicians) or churchmen and the occasional aristocrat. Often they were foreigners, especially Italians, who had political or financial connections with the town, whose central economic position was to last only a few decades longer. They had Memling paint their portraits, bust or full length, in devotional paintings or on altarpieces for their chapel in Bruges or back home. He seems not to have received official commissions (from the town council or court). An exceptional proportion of this oeuvre has survived. Besides about 20 altarpieces, often in several panels and of considerable size,   Related Paintings of MEMLING, Hans :. | Diptych with the Deposition | Triptych of Jan Crabbe ey | Triptych sg | The Presentation in the Temple (detail sg | The Presentation in the Temple ag |
Related Artists:
VOS, Paul de
Flemish Baroque Era Painter, ca.1591-1678 was a Flemish Baroque painter. De Vos was born in Hulst near Antwerp, now in the Dutch province of Zeeland. Like his older brother Cornelis and younger brother Jan, he studied under the little-known painter David Remeeus (1559?C1626). He specialized in monumental animal scenes, especially hunts for aristocratic patrons, that are heavily influenced by Frans Snyders (to whom his sister Margaretha was married). De Vos became a master and joined the guild of St. Luke in 1620. As was frequent amongst artists in Antwerp, De Vos frequently collaborated with other painters. He painted animals in hunting scenes and armor in mythologies by Peter Paul Rubens and his studio.
WATTEAU, Antoine
(1684?C1721). French painter of Flemish descent, b. Valenciennes. Until 1704 poverty forced him to work in the shops of mediocre artists, where he produced genre and devotional subjects. In 1704?C8 he studied in the studio of Claude Gillot, an adept painter of scenes of theatrical life, which later became the subject of some of Watteau's finest paintings, such as Love in the Italian Theatre and Love in the French Theatre (both: Berlin). In 1708?C9 Watteau worked with the decorator Claude Audran. Watteau attracted the attention of eminent patrons in his last years, including the comte de Caylus, his biographer, and in 1717 he was made a full member of the Acad??mie royale. The Embarkation for Cythera (1717; Louvre) is characteristic of his art; it is a delicate, courtly fantasy, represented in warm and shimmering pastel tones that place him among the great colorists of all time. A lyric, Giorgionesque quality pervades his airy, gay, and sensuous scenes, which have a poignancy that none of his followers attained. Out of the most fleeting aspects of life he created an enduring and individual art. His exquisite paintings influenced fashion and garden design in the 18th cent. Other outstanding works include Gilles (Louvre), Perspective (Mus. of Fine Arts, Boston), Mezzetin (Metropolitan Mus.), and Gersaint's Shop Sign (1719; Berlin).
DELEN, Dirck van
Dutch painter (1604/5-1671) Dutch painter. When he married in 1625 he was a citizen of Middelburg, but he settled in nearby Arnemuiden, where he became master of the toll-house. From 1628 until his death he was almost continually a member of the town council, mostly as burgomaster. He was widowed three times and had at least one son, though no children survived him.