Born in Selingenstadt, Memling (1430/40-1494) left his native Germany to settle in Bruges in 1465, where the death of his supposed teacher, Rogier van der Weyden, left a near absence of competition.
Unlike one of his predecessors, Van Eyck, Memling, considered a minor artist for a long time, was not a painter of the court, but of the bourgeoisie. A man recognized and respected by the end of his life for his enormous talent, he amassed one of greatest fortunes in the city.
Forgotten during the 17th and the 18th centuries, Memling is nowadays regarded as one of the greatest painters of the United Provinces of the 15th century, thanks to the perfect balance between realism and idealization 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 ime, this work examines the complex talent of this mportant artist.
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