Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

After Portinari placed his altarpiece in the family chapel in the

Florentine church of Sant’Egidio, it created a considerable stir among

Italian artists. Although the painting as a whole may have seemed un-

structured to them, Hugo’s masterful technique and what the Floren-

tines regarded as extraordinary realism in representing drapery, flow-

ers, animals, and, above all, human character and emotion made a

deep impression on them. At least one Florentine artist, Domenico

Ghirlandaio (see Chapter 21), paid tribute to the Northern European

master by using Hugo’s most striking motif, the adoring shepherds,

in one of his own Nativity paintings.

HANS MEMLINGA contemporary of Hugo van der Goes was

Hans Memling(ca. 1430–1494), who became a citizen of Bruges in

1465 and received numerous commissions from the city’s wealthy mer-

chants, Flemish and foreign alike. Memling specialized in portraits and

images of the Madonna. The many that survive depict young, slight,

pretty princesses, each holding a doll-like infant Christ. The center

panel of the Saint John Altarpiece depicts the Virgin with Saints and An-

gels (FIG. 20-14). The patrons of this altarpiece—two brothers and

two sisters of the order of the Hospital of Saint John in Bruges—appear

on the exterior side panels (not illustrated). In the central panel, two

20-13Hugo van der Goes,Portinari Altarpiece (open), from Sant’Egidio, Florence, Italy, ca. 1476. Tempera and oil on wood, center panel

8  31 – 2  10 , each wing 8 31 – 2  4  7 –^12 . Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

This altarpiece is a rare instance of the awarding of a major commission in Florence to a Flemish painter. The Italians admired the incredibly realistic

details and Hugo’s brilliant portrayal of human character.

20-14Hans Memling,Virgin with Saints and Angels,center panel of the Saint John Altarpiece,Hospitaal Sint Jan,

Bruges, Belgium, 1479. Oil on wood, 5 73 – 4  5  7 –^34 (center panel), 5 73 – 4  2  7 –^18 (each wing).

Memling specialized in images of the Madonna. His Saint John Altarpieceexudes an opulence that results from the

sparkling and luminous colors and the realistic depiction of rich tapestries and brocades.

Burgundy and Flanders 531

1 ft.

1 ft.

20-14BMEMLING, Diptych of
Portinari and Maria Baroncelli,20-14AMEMLING, Tommaso Martin van Nieuwenhove, 1487.
ca. 1470.