Hans Memling

Unlike his predecessor Van Eyck, Memling, considered a minor artist for a long time, was not a painter of the court, but of the bourgeoisie. Forgotten during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Memling is nowadays regarded as one of the greatest painters of the United Provinces of the fifteenth century, thanks to the perfect balance between realism and idealisation that permeates his portraits. His compositions, most often diptychs and triptychs for altarpieces, show a talent comparable to that of Van Eyck. His taste for detail and precision in drawing, his mastery of technique, and his sense of composition produced such magnificent works as The Last Judg ment (1466-1473), The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine (1479) and Seven Joys of the Virgin (1480). Through its rich collection of reproductions of Memling s major paintings, which highlight the fine faces and modest poses prescribed by the artistic canons of the time, this work examines the complex talent of this major artist.