Hans Memling

Hans Memling (b. c. 1440–d. 1494) was a German-born painter active in Bruges, Belgium, from 1465 to his death in 1494. Over the thirty years of his known activity Memling was one of the most successful painters in Bruges, producing works ranging from small devotional panels and individual portraits to large-scale retables for both a local and an international clientele. Memling was especially popular among the communities of foreign merchants and bankers present in Bruges, then among the most important mercantile centers of northern Europe. Memling was respected as one of the best-known northern artists internationally after his death, and ranked alongside such artists as Raphael in the 19th century and considered a paragon of pious medieval Christian artists—appealing to the Romantic tastes of that era—but his critical fortunes turned with 20th-century preferences and he was relegated by some scholars to the second tier of artists. The 500th anniversary of Memling’s death in 1994, however, saw a resurgence of interest in Memling’s work. In the years that have followed a number of high-profile exhibitions and related catalogues and essay collections have contributed greatly to the study of his work and legacy, as have a number of updated catalogues raisonnés. Today Memling is recognized as among the first rank of painters of the last quarter of the 15th century, particularly appreciated as a leading innovator in portraiture—among other contributions developing further the devotional portrait diptych—and credited with the development of novel new compositions (especially ingenious are the narrative panoramas). Memling is also recognized for his place among those northern artists identified as having a strong influence on developments in Italian art in the last quarter of the 15th century through his international clientele and the resulting presence and reception of his work in Florence in particular.