The Last Judgment

Hans Memling was a German-born painter usually associated with the Early Netherlandish artists. Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden . He then went to Bruges around 1465. There is a story that he was wounded at the Battle of Nancy, sheltered and cured by the Hospitallers at... Bruges and that to show his gratitude he refused payment for a picture he had painted for them. Memling did indeed paint for the Hospitallers in 1479 and 1480 and it is likely that he was known to the patrons of St John prior to the Battle of Nancy. Memling's name appears on a list of subscribers to the loan raised by Maximilian I of Austria, to defend against hostilities towards France in 1480. In 1477, when he was incorrectly claimed to have been killed, he was under contract to create an altarpiece for the gild-chapel of the booksellers of Bruges. This altarpiece is now in the Galleria Sabauda of Turin. It is one of the fine creations of his more mature period.
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