Hans Memling was formerly called Memlinc, also Memmlinghe Hans Memling
was formerly called Memlinc, also Memmlinghe
Hans Memling was formerly called
Memlinc, also Memmlinghe ; his name too was usually commenced with an H, a
mistake for the gothic M. Of this master but scanty record has been handed down
to us. One account says that he was born at Constance in 1439. He was a pupil of
Rogier van der Weyden. In 1477-78, he is known to have been living at Bruges; in
1480 he contributed to a loan raised for the Emperor Maximilian, and about the
same time purchased a house in the Rue St. Georges, at Bruges, where he died in
1495.
On entering the Hospital of St. John at Bruges, the visitor will be told that in
1477 a wounded soldier (probably from the battle of Nancy) was brought into the
Hospital of St. John. He was a middle-aged man, thrown into a warlike career
after a fretful youth; before becoming a soldier, however, he had been a
painter; the love of art returned to him during the leisure hours of a long
convalescence, and being grateful for the care bestowed on him, ami satisfied
with the peaceful quiet of the house—where he was also retained by his love for
a young sister—he passed several years, paying for his board by his work. This
is how the fact of his finest works belonging to the Hospital of St. John is
accounted for. There they were painted, and there they have always remained in
spite of wars; conquests, and pillage, which explains their wonderful state of
preservation after nearly four centuries; and they will doubtless remain there
yet for ages, if the poor hospital continue still to defend its treasure proudly
from wealthy amateurs and royal museums, whose brilliant offers would, however,
have enabled its custodians to convert its brick walls into a marble palace.
The legend 'of Memling has now disappeared with so many other traditions.
Authentic documents have proved, as we have already stated, that he was simply a
citizen of Bruges, where he died in 1495. So we shall have to leave the romance
and come to his works. The most celebrated in the Hospital of St. John is the
Reliquary of St. Ursula, a piece of gilt carving ornamented with engravings and
paintings, and intended to contain relics. The reader must imagine a small
oblong Gothic chapel, only two feet in height from its base to the top of its
pointed roof; the two facades, if we may venture to use architectural words, the
side walls, and the roofing, form, by their golden borders, frames for Mending's
paintings, which are the frescoes for this miniature temple. On one of the gable
ends is painted the Madonna, scarcely a foot in height; on the other, St.
Ursula, holding in her hand the arrow, which was to be the instrument of her
death, and covering under her ample robes a number of young girls, which makes
her resemble somewhat the pictures of the "Old Woman who lived in a Shoe," so
famous in nursery rhymes. Ten young girls may be counted under her mantle, and
as the saint herself makes the eleventh, the painter has doubtless intended them
to represent symbolically the eleven thousand virgins. (It is as well to remark
that the legend of the eleven thousand virgins rests on the error of a
chronicler of the Middle Ages. The tomb of St. Ursula and her companions at
Cologne bore this inscription: "Sancta Ursula, xi . M.V." Instead of reading
"Sancta Ursula, xi Martyres Virgines," Siegbert read and reported "xi millia
virginum.") The two sloping parts of the roof each contain three medallions; on
the two centres St . Ursula is painted, in one of them, among her companions,
whom she seems to be leading on to the glory of martyrdom; in the other,
kneeling between the Father and the Son, who are crowning her, whilst the Holy
Spirit hovers over her head. The medallions on each side contain angels, who
form a celestial concert . On the two sides of the reliquary, which are divided
into six compartments in the form of Gothic arcades, the whole legend of the
Virgins of Cologne is represented. On one side, their departure from that city,
their arrival at Bale in large round boats, then their entrance into Rome, and
reception by the Pope at the gates of a temple ; on the other, their departure
from Rome, taking the Pope with them, their return to Cologne, and, lastly,
their martyrdom by arrows, lances, and swords, at the hands of the Hun soldiers.
In the six painted chapters of this
legend there are certainly—without counting the microscopic personages in the
background—two hundred figures introduced, of which the largest, in the
foreground, are not more than four inches in length. It is needless to say that
the painter has transported the history of St. Ursula from the fourth to the
fifteenth century; the buildings, landscapes, costumes, and armour all belong to
his ov/n time. We may easily recognise a number of portraits. Ursula and her
band are beautiful Flemish girls, fair, graceful, and elegantly dressed; and
Memling certainly could not have had much difficulty in finding so many charming
models in a town at that time richly populated, and which counted the beauty of
its women amongst its chief titles to glory—"formosis Brtiga puellis." In
reading this short description, one might well believe that the painting of
Memling on this reliquary of St. Ursula is nothing but a ckcf-d'a-itvre of
patience and minute perfection in the details; but this is far from being the
case. As a whole, it is a great and noble work, full of grandeur, vigour, and
religious sentiment . To form an idea of this wonderful work, the reader should
imagine pictures of sacred history conceived in the highest style of Fra
Angelico, and painted in the finest execution of Gerard Dow. But Memling has not
merely left miniature paintings, and this reliquary (dated 1480) is not the only
treasure of the Hospital of St. John.
In the preceding year, Memling completed a work which is no less celebrated, and
is in the largest proportions then used, half-life size. This is a triptych
closed by shutters. On the central panel is represented the Mystical Marriage of
St. Catherine. As in the glorified Virgins of Francia or Perugino, the Madonna
is seated under a magnificent dais, with her feet resting on a rich Flemish
carpet, which produces a wonderful effect through its colouring and perspective.
Two angels are at her side, to wait on her; one holds a book, of which she is
turning over the leaves, whilst the other is playing on a small organ. The
Virgin of Sienna, richly dressed, is receiving on her knees the nuptial ring
from the Bamlino. The history of the two St. Johns forms the subject of the
paintings on the wings; that on the left is the Beheading of John the Baptist
before Herodias; and that on the right is St. John the Evangelist at Patmos,
beholding the visions of the Apocalypse. Lastly, on the outside of the wings,
there are excellent portraits of two Brothers of the Hospital, with the
symbolical portraits of their patron saints, James and Andrew, and of two
Sisters of the order, with their patron saints, Agnes and Clara.
This large composition is unanimously pronounced to be the masterpiece of its
author. Here, indeed, may be found all his greatest qualities, from a calm
majesty in the arrangement to a wonderful delicacy of touch. However, we must
give it one rival, if not in importance, at all events in perfection. In the
same year, 1479, Memling painted the different compartments of a triptych, much
smaller than the last, as the figures are only from eight to nine inches in
height: on the left is the Nativity; on the right, the Presentation in the
Temple; in the centre, the Adoration of the Magi; below is the following
inscription written in Flemish: "This work was done for brother Jan Floreins,
alias Van der Riist, brother of St. John's Hospital, at Bruges. Anno 1479."
"Opus Johannis Memling." In the left part of the central panel, at a window, is
seen the kneeling figure of Jan Floreins, dressed in black. It is a charming
head of a man in the prime of life: the figures 36, written above him on the
wall, apparently indicate his age. Opposite, the face of a peasant, looking in
at a window, is supposed to be a portrait of Memling; he has a short beard,
thick hair, and his face, though rather weary-looking, is full of gentleness and
intellect .
This is not all that the grateful patient left to the Hospital of St. John. We
may also find in it a Descent from the Cross, where the figures are quite small,
a Sibyl Zambeth, that is to say, the portrait of a Flemish lady in that costume,
and also the portrait of a young man worshipping a Madonna.
Memling is represented in the small museum of Bruges by a Baptism of Christ; in
the museum of Antwerp, by an Annunciation, a Nativity, a Glorified Virgin, etc.;
in London, by several pictures in private galleries; and by four in the National
Gallery, the Virgin and Child Enthroned in a Garden • the Madonna and Infant
Christ • St. John the Baptist and St. Lawrence Deacon, and a Portrait of himself
in the WynnKllis collection.
Unauthorized Site:
This site and its contents are not affiliated, connected,
associated with or authorized by the individual, family,
friends, or trademarked entities utilizing any part or
the subject's entire name. Any official or affiliated
sites that are related to this subject will be hyper
linked below upon submission
and Evisum, Inc. review.
Please join us in our mission to incorporate The Congressional Evolution of the United States of America discovery-based curriculum into the classroom of every primary and secondary school in the United States of America by July 2, 2026, the nation’s 250th birthday. , the United States of America: We The
People. Click Here