The Renaissance

to the throne as the first of the Bourbon
dynasty.

SEEALSO: Francis I; Henri III; Henri IV

van der Weyden, Rogier ...................

(1399–1464)

A noted Flemish painter of religious sub-
jects and portraits born as Roger de la Pas-
ture in Tournai, northern France. The son
of a knife maker, he apprenticed in the
workshop of Robert Campin, and took his
artistic influence from Campin and Jan
van Eyck. As van der Weyden never signed
his paintings, historians have argued for
centuries between van der Weyden and
Campin as the artists of many important
works. In 1432 van der Weyden earned the
title of painting master of Tournai. In 1435
he moved to Brussels, seat of the wealthy
dukes of Burgundy, where he changed his
name to Rogier van der Weyden and where
he was appointed as the official city
painter. This title brought him commis-
sions to paint portraits of the dukes and
members of the local aristocracy, and he
was soon prospering. Van der Weyden
completed a series of huge wooden panels
for the town hall of Brussels, works that
were famous throughout Europe before
they were destroyed in a bombardment of
the city in 1695. By 1440 he had completed
Descent from the Cross, one of his most fa-
mous works, for the guild crossbowmen of
Louvain. His best-known works include a
Last Judgmentaltarpiece that measures 18
feet (5.5m) in width, as well as theBraque
Triptych, Adoration of the Magi, St. Luke
Painting the Virgin, the Deposition panel
and Crucifixion triptych, as well as aPor-
trait of a Lady.

Van der Weyden may have made a pil-
grimage to Italy in about 1450, a journey
that left important marks on his painting
style. Members of the d’Este and Medici

dynasties commissioned his portraits, and

the duchess of Milan sent one of her fa-

vorite artists back to Brussels to appren-

tice in van der Weyden’s busy studio. By

the time of his death he was renowned

throughout Europe for the way he com-

bined traditional Flemish precision with

strong emotional intensity, a quality that

made his work more accessible to painters

of southern Europe and that made him a

key influence on the painters of northern

Europe for several generations.

SEEALSO: van Eyck, Jan; Brueghel family

van Eyck, Jan ..................................

(ca. 1385–1441)

Flemish artist who pioneered new meth-

ods of painting at the dawn of the Renais-

sance in northern Europe. Born in the

town of Maaseik, he was a court painter

for the Duke of Bavaria, the Count of Hol-

land, and later for Duke Philip III the

Good of Burgundy, then ruler of one of

the wealthiest realms of Europe. Van Eyck

served the duke as a diplomat as well as a

painter, and traveled on several missions

in the duke’s service.

Van Eyck ran a busy workshop in the

city of Bruges, where he remained for most

of his life. His works and his painting tech-

nique were copied by many other north-

ern European artists. He was a well-read

scholar of ancient writers, notably Pliny

the Elder, a Roman naturalist who wrote

on the subjects of art and painting. Many

of his works carry Latin inscriptions, a

sign in his own day of a well-educated

man. Historians have counted ten of his

works that he signed, an unusual practice

in the Middle Ages and evidence that van

Eyck enjoyed a high reputation among pa-

trons and collectors.

Van Eyck had a gift for composition,

rendering his subjects in great detail with

van der Weyden, Rogier