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Video: Who is depicted in the famous portrait of Memling "Portrait of a Man with a Roman Coin"
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Hans Memling is called the most brilliant and technically perfect artist in the Netherlands ("Flemish primitives"). Particularly magnificent examples of Memling's portraiture. "Portrait of a Man with a Roman Coin" (until 1480, Antwerp) is considered the first example of the Northern Renaissance. What kind of coin is depicted in the picture, and who is the man in Memling's portrait really like?
Artist biography
Hans Memling (c. 1440-1494) was a German-born artist who worked in Flanders. Was one of the most technically brilliant early masters of the Netherlands. Hans Memling was born in Seligenstadt, a village near Frankfurt. His early training took place in Cologne. By 1465, "Jan van Memmelinge" was registered as a citizen of Bruges. There is an assumption that Memling was a colleague of the famous Rogier van der Weyden. Vasari wrote that Memling was a student or comrade of Van der Weyden. Their collaboration presumably continued until Van der Weyden's death on June 18, 1464.
Memling's paintings are filled with frolicking demons and horrific images of hell in which sinners receive their gifts. His magnificent creations showcase his mastery of storytelling, and his unique painting style is perfect for biblical and legendary themes. The famous portrait "Portrait of a Man with a Roman Coin" (before 1480, Antwerp) is the first northern figure fully depicted in a landscape.
The plot of the picture
Memling's painting depicts a man half-turned. The canvas impresses with the meticulous attention to detail that is characteristic of Flemish painting. The man is wearing a black coat and a dark hat. In his left hand, he demonstratively holds a Roman coin depicting the emperor Nero, a symbol of his commitment to humanism. In the background is a landscape with a lake: Memling was one of the first artists to use natural landscapes for the backdrops of portraits (instead of the traditional black background), influencing artists of the late Renaissance such as Sandro Botticelli and Pietro Perugino.
Details of the portrait
The portrait is special in many ways: 1. First of all, it is the quality and detail characteristic of Memling's portraits. 2. Secondly, the man is depicted against the background of a landscape. As noted above, Memling was one of the first artists to add a background to his portraits. 3. Panoramic view enhances the contrast between close-up and closer, creating a strong spatial impression. 4. In addition, Memling enhanced this effect by drawing a human hand in the lower right corner, giving the impression that there is a free space between the depicted model and the background. Thus, it also gave the impression of depth in the foreground. 5. In addition, Memling painted the skyline in the center of the Antwerp painting. Thus, he divided the surface in half: a detailed head is depicted against a monotonous blue sky, and austere black clothing is placed against a background of an elaborate landscape, creating a balanced composition.
In some other portraits, such as the Diptych of Maarten van Nievenhoven (St. John's Hospital, Bruges), Memling painted parts of the image on the frame, creating a trompe l'oeil effect. Today the frame of the Antwerp portrait is lost, but it is highly probable that the image originally continued on this frame.
Hero personality
1. There are many assumptions about the personality of this person. The coin in hand, combined with laurel leaves and a palm tree in the landscape, has pushed many art critics to speculate that it might be the Florentine Bernardo Bembo. This humanist had an impressive collection of coins, and he used laurel leaves and a palm tree as his emblem. In 1473, Bembo lived for some time in Bruges, so he could well have commissioned a portrait from Memling. This plausible version of the man's personality shows that Memling may have painted portraits of Italians and other foreign guests visiting Bruges. Suffice it to recall the Triptych of Benedetto Portinari (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin) and Portrait of a Man (Folco Portinari?) (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence).
2. There is another version about the personality of the hero of the canvas. Researchers believe that this may be the Florentine artist Niccolò di Forzore Spinelli, who died in Lyon (the painting was kept there at the beginning of the 19th century). A descendant of a family of jewelers (from the same one from which the artist Spinello Aretino came out). Spinelli is famous for his medals, was a print engraver at the court of Burgundy. Of the approximately 150 medals related to his style, only five are signed and are considered some of the finest achievements of the fifteenth century Italian medal.
3. It could also be Giovanni di Candida. Giovanni di Salvatore Filangier of the Candida branch was a member of a noble Neapolitan family. Was born probably before 1450. He served in the House of Anjou in Naples and moved to Burgundy to serve the Duke Charles the Bold. Was recorded as secretary to the duke in 1472. He spent the rest of his career as a diplomat. In the surviving letters, Candida is called "summo et oratori et Historico ac sculptoriae artis atque plastices hac aetate omnium consummatissimo" (the greatest orator and historian and the most skillful of all artists in the art of sculpture and modeling in our time).
Thus, Hans Memling managed to create a truly magnificent masterpiece of portrait painting of the 15th century. According to art historian Richard Muther, Ph. D., "What Botticelli was for Florence, Perugino for Umbria, Borgognone for Milan and Bellini for Venice, Hans Memling was for the Netherlands."
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