Artist Feature - Hans Memling

Gotta love him. German then Flemish painter of the 15th century, he painted mostly religious and biblical scenes, like many of his peers. He was perhaps a tad bit more creepy though.

From HansMemling.org:

"Hans Memling (Memlinc) (c. 1430 - 11 August 1494) was an Early Netherlandish painter, born in Seligenstadt/Germany, who was the last major fifteenth century artist in the Low Countries, the successor to Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, whose tradition he continued with little innovation.[citation needed]

Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1455-1460). He then went to Bruges around 1465."

Triptych of the Last Judgment

1467-1471

A common subject for painters of this era, which allowed many delightfully creepy

possibilities.

 Triptych of the Last Judgment - Detail (Right Panel)

1467-1471

Triptych of the Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation (Front)
c. 1485

Triptych of the Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation (Back)

c. 1485

Man of Sorrows

c. 1480-1490

Seriously, though; every subject this man painted ended up looking quite creepy, and along with another, more reknowned painter of his era, Hieronymus Bosch, his work has been and still is a great source of inspiration for artists worldwide who want to insert uncanny aspects in their figurative work.

One of my favorite painters, Michael Hussar, once painted an imagined self-portrait of Memling, a picture which can be seen as a strong influence on most of my oils.

Hans Memling by Michael Hussar

Hussar will probably himself be featured in one of these reviews sooner or later.

Until then, HERE is a link to a website featuring most of Memling's surviving works.