Memling

Hans Memling 1435-1494

Ð'* Relationships: Studied under Rogier van der Weyden.

Memling's students included Gerard David and Michel Sittow.

Although he was known as a master of Flemish disciplines, Hans Memling was born in

Seligenstadt, near what is today Frankfurt, Germany. Memling, whose name is sometimes spelled

Memlinc, first gained a reputation as a painter in Brussels. In many ways his work shows an influence

of painter Rogier van der Weyden. Because of this, Memling is believed to have studied under him.4

Probably having served his apprenticeship at Cologne or Mainz he did not move to Bruges

until 1467 having been involved with military operations against those that resisted the French

occupation. Some historians suggest he ventured to the hospital as a wounded soldier, some believe he

was simply seeking sanctuary there. Either way, Memling's well-known religious works were painted

for the Hospital of St. John in Brugge. Including Adoration of the Magi and six panels depicting a

journey to Rome for the hospital's shrine to St. Ursula through 1479 and 1480. A number of

Memling's works are signed and dated, and others allow historians to place them easily into a timeline

based on the patron depicted in them. Otherwise it is very difficult to place an early, middle, and late

style for the artist. His compositions and types, were repeated again and again with few indications of

any formal development. Over time, his Madonnas become thinner, more ethereal and more selfconscious, and a greater use of Italian motifs such as putti, garlands, and sculptural detail for the

settings marks the later works. His portraits, too, appear to develop from a type with a simple neutral

background to those enhanced with a loggia or window view of a landscape, but these, too, may have

been less a stylistic development than an adaptation of his compositions to suit the tastes of his

patrons.

In about 1466 Memling moved to Brugge, where his career prospered. In the traditional

Flemish style, he painted with rich, radiant colors, while unlike most artists, his style varied very little

throughout his career. Memling's brilliance shown in his portraits. The faces he painted showed his

careful detail and glowed with character. He became so notable, he had commissions

coming in from as

far away as Florence and received visitations. The character of each is subtly suggested. In addition to

the portraits Memling painted for the notables of Brugge, he also received commissions from foreign

visitors such as Tommaso Portinari of the Florentine Medici. Memling died in Brugge on Aug. 11,

1494.

Shrine of St. Ursula -

According to a legend that appeared in the tenth century, Ursula was the daughter of a Christian king in Britain and was granted a three year postponement of a marriage she did not wish, to a pagan prince. With ten ladies in waiting, each attended by a thousand maidens, she embarked on a voyage across the North sea, sailed up the Rhine to Basle, Switzerland, and then went to Rome. On their way back, they were all massacred by pagan Huns at Cologne in about 451 when Ursula refused to marry their chieftain. She was sainted due to her standing by her convictions.

All Scenes take part along he Rhine river apart from the arrival in Rome.

Last Judgement

-Center

Christ appears in evangelical guise seated on a rainbow, his feet resting on a gleaming golden globe, surrounded by the twelve apostles and the intercessors Mary and John the Baptist. They are all pictured on a cloud that continues left to the gates of paradise and right to the mouth of hell. The traditional angels with the instruments of the Passion hover in pairs above this divine assembly, while the four angels blowing their apocalyptic trumpets float somewhat randomly above the earth, one of them even appearing high up in the clouds of the right wing. The lily of mercy and the red-hot sword of justice on either side of Christ's head correspond symbolically with the upward gesture of blessing made by his right hand, and the downward one by his left.

The rainbow separates the two worlds and their different orders; the ethereal golden space of God's Kingdom appears at the top, while the earth, represented as a wide plain bordered in the distance by a chain of mountains, is shown at the bottom. This will be the valley of Josaphat, which, according to the apocryphal authors would be the site of the Last Judgement. The time of day is fixed by the dark blue-green night sky.

The figure of St Michael stands on the