Hans Memling. Alfred Michiels

of an Old Man and a Young Boy, c. 1480. Tempera on poplar, 62 × 46 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

      Hans Memling, A Young Man at Prayer, c. 1475. Oil on oak panel, 39 × 25.4 cm. The National Gallery, London.

      Hans Memling, The Donor Benedetto Portinari (right shutter of the Benedetto Portinari Triptych), 1487. Oil on wood, 45 × 34 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

      Hans Memling, Portrait of an Old Man, c. 1470–1472. Oil on wood, 36.1 × 29.4 cm. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin.

      Примечания

      1

      Hitherto known as Memmelinck, Hemling, Van Memmelinghe.

      2

      He names him simply Memmelinck de Bruges, without stating his place of birth.

      3

      The forms Hans and Hansken can be found in the archives of the guild of Saint-Luc, in Antwerp; neither can be found in those of Bruges.

      4

      “Den duytschen Hans.” Nieu Tractaet… van dat edel Graefscap van Vlaenderen (Ghent, 1562). The author uses the s

Примечания

1

Hitherto known as Memmelinck, Hemling, Van Memmelinghe.

2

He names him simply Memmelinck de Bruges, without stating his place of birth.

3

The forms Hans and Hansken can be found in the archives of the guild of Saint-Luc, in Antwerp; neither can be found in those of Bruges.

4

“Den duytschen Hans.” Nieu Tractaet… van dat edel Graefscap van Vlaenderen (Ghent, 1562). The author uses the same expression in his Historie van Belgis.

5

“A ce Rogier succéda en renom son disciple et apprenti Hausse, qui fit un tableau excellent pour les Portionnaires, que du présent tient le duc de Florence.” (“Rogier’s fame surpassed that of his disciple and apprentice Hausse, who did an excellent painting for the Portionnaires, which at present belongs to the Duke of Florence.”) Guichardin, p.150.

6

Ausse, instead of Ansse, must have originally been a printing fault that Guichardin reproduced; the Italian composers went on to write a “u” in the place of an “n”, a mistake frequently made in all other countries.

7

“Ung petit tableau d’ung Dieu de pityé estant ès bras de Nostre-Dame; ayant deux feullets, dans chacun desquels y a un ange, et dessus les dits feuillets y a une Annunciade de blanc et de noir. Fait le tableau de la main de Rogier et les dits feuillets de celle de maître Hans.” (“A small painting of a God of Mercy in the arms of Our Lady; with two leaves, an angel on each, and above the two leaves an Annunciate of white and black. The painting made by the hand of Rogier and the two leaves by that of the master Hans”) (Inventaire de Marguerite d’Autriche, put together 1516). The inventory of 1533 tells us that one of the angels held “une espée en sa main” (“a sword in his hand”).

8

MM. Crowe and Cavalcaselle are sceptical about the anonymous note regarding the portrait of Isabelle, because, they say, Rogier Van der Weyden was then more famous, and the master would have been employed rather than the disciple. The motif contains nothing conclusive. Philippe the Good and Isabelle could easily have taken such an interest in a talented young man with a promising future. And do not whim, favour and curiosity play a part in the work demanded of painters?

9

“Ung aultre tableau de Nostre-Dame, à deux feulletz, esquelx sainct Jehan et saincte Barbe, Adam et Eve sont paincts; fait de la main de maistre Hans.” (“Another painting of Our Lady, with two leaves, on which Saint John and Saint Barbara, Adam and Eve are painted; made by the hand of master Hans”) Inventaire de Marguerite d’Autriche, put together in 1516. In the inventory of 1533 this important phrase has been removed.

10

Kunstreise durch England und Belgien, p. 94.

11

I stated in the first edition of my Histoire de la peinture flamande, on studying this picture: “On a prétendu que c’était là le costume des malades soignés dans l’hôpital Saint-Jean. Mais si Memling n’eut besoin des religieux qu’en l’année 1477, il ne devait pas être vêtu de la sorte quinze ans plus tôt. Il ne peut avoir été infirme toute sa vie et parqué sans cesse entre les murs du charitable asile. Consultez la tradition, rien de mieux, mais n’en abusez pas. Ce vêtement d’ailleurs habillait au XVe siècle une foule de personnes, qui n’étaient ni blessées, ni indigentes: on le retrouve sur un grand nombre de peintures, notamment sur un portrait exécuté par Antonello da Messina, que renferme le musée d’Anvers. Il faut donc bien y reconnaître une mode de l’époque.” (“It has been claimed that this was the garb of the patients tended in the Saint John’s Hospital. But if Memling only had need of the religious carers in the year 1477, he would not have been dressed in that way fifteen years earlier. He could not have been ill his whole life and forever kept within the walls of a charitable asylum. By all means consult the traditions of the time, but don’t go too far. Many people who were neither injured nor impoverished wore this clothing in the fifteenth century; it can be found in a huge number of paintings, notably in a portrait executed by Antonio da Messina, which is held by the Museum of Antwerp. This style of dress is therefore a recognised fashion of the time.”)

12

Piciorum aliquot Germanioe inferior is effigies (1570).

13

The Histoire des peintres de toutes les écoles, which reproduces the engraving of 1570, can be used to draw this parallel.

14

The painting in the National Gallery is just twelve inches high and eight wide.

15

Histoire de la peinture flamande (second edition), third volume, chapter 15.

16

“Il avait l’œil à tout; quiconque ne se serait pas trouvé à l’heure ou à la place prescrite, qui aurait manqué à la chapelle ou à l’audience, l’écuyer qui se serait mis entre les chevaliers, celui qui serait allé à l’offrande avant son tour, étaient bien assurés de quelque sévère leçon. Souvent même, lorsque ses serviteurs et ses nobles barons étaient rangés autour de son fauteuil, il leur faisait, ainsi qu’un orateur, des sermons sur la conduite qu’ils devaient tenir, sur les vertus