MEMLINC, HANS (c. Flemish painter, whose art gave lustre to Bruges in the period of its political and com mercial decline. Memlinc was a skilled artist before he settled at Bruges. Hans Memlinc probably served his apprenticeship at Cologne, and later worked under Roger van der Weyden. The inventories of Margaret of Austria, made in 1524, describe a triptych of which the central panel was by Roger, the wings by "Master Hans." Another clear proof of the connection of the two masters is afforded by an altarpiece ordered for a patron of the house of Sforza. It is now in the Brussels gallery. The date of it is fixed at about 146o-62 by the apparent ages of Francesco Maria Sforza, Bianca Visconti, and their son Galeazzo, whose portraits appear upon it. The central portion of the tryptych was obviously done in the studio of Roger; the wings appear to be by Memlinc, and were probably done by him in Roger's work shop. Moreover in Memlinc's later work certain figures seem borrowed directly from pictures of Roger. Memlinc, therefore, may have stayed in Brussels working under Roger before going to Bruges. He resided at Bruges from about 1465 until his death on Aug. 11, The earliest work, which can be dated, is the triptych in the collection of the duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. It was painted for Sir John Donne of Kidwelly, whose portrait with that of his wife and daughter appears in the foreground as donors, kneeling before the Virgin Enthroned. On the wings are two saints. Sir John was one of the English courtiers who attended the wedding of Margaret of York with Charles the Bold which took place in Bruges in 1468. The picture was commissioned on that occasion. In the background of the left wing the artist painted himself peering behind a column. He is a man about 35 years of age and we may conclude that he was born about 35. This picture is typical of Memlinc's art. His later works are painted in the same style.
The great "Last Judgment" altarpiece in St. Mary's church at Danzig is generally ascribed to Memlinc. It was ordered by Angelo Tani, the representative of the Medici in Bruges, and was finished in 1472. Destined for Florence, the ship that carried it was made prize of war by Danzig vessels in 1473. It is a
picture measuring some 72 sq.ft. with upwards of 15o figures.
In the same year he painted another triptych on a smaller scale and finely finished. An inscription on the frame informs us that it was painted for John Floreins. The central panel represents the "Adoration of the Magi," that on the right "The Nativity" and the other panel "The Presentation in the Temple." The triptych when. closed shows the figures of St. John the Baptist and St. Veronica. In 1484 he painted the triptych in honour of St. Christopher in the municipal gallery at Bruges.
A beautiful diptych painted in 1487 for Martin van Nieuwen hove is now in the hospital of St. John. The left panel shows "The Virgin and the Child," the right has a portrait of the donor with his hands clasped in prayer and an open breviary bef ore him. This is one of Memlinc's finest portraits. The portraits of the donors on Memlinc's pictures were distinguished and lifelike. So are the groups of the family of James Floreins, father, mother and children, which fill the noble altarpiece of the Louvre. As single portraits the busts of Burgomaster Moreel and his wife in the museum of Brussels, and their daughter the "Sibyl Zam hetha" (according to the added description) (148o) in the hospital at Bruges, are the finest.