| |  | Master of Flémalle |  |
| Master of Flémalle. Netherlandish painter named after three paintings in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt that were wrongly supposed to have come from Flémalle, near Liege. There is a strong consensus of scholarly opinion that he is to be identified with Robert Campin (active 1406-44), who was the leading painter of his day in Tournai, but none of whose documented pictures survive. | |
The identification depends on the similarity between the Master of Flémalle's paintings and those of Jacques Daret and Rogier van der Weyden, for Daret was Campin's pupil and Rogier almost certainly was. The hypothesis that the Master of Flémalle's paintings are early works by Rogier now has few adherents. While there is still doubt about the Master of Flémalle's identity, there is no argument about his achievement, for he made a radical break with the elegant International Gothic style and ranks with van Eyck as one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of painting. None of the paintings given to him is dated but it seems likely that his earliest works antedate any surviving picture by van Eyck. The most famous work associated with the Master of Flémalle is the "Mérode Altarpiece" (Metropolitan Museum, New York), and he is indeed sometimes referred to as the 'Master of Mérode'. However, the attribution of this painting has also been questioned. In spite of the many problems that still surround him, he emerges as a very powerful and important artistic personality. |
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|  | | "The Nativity" (1425) Musée des Beaux-Arts at Dijon, France. | | | |
|  | | "Portrait of a man, perhaps of Robert Masmines" (circa 1425) Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain. | | | |
|  | | "The Marriage of the Virgin" (circa 1420) Oil on panel, 78 × 90 cm - 30.7 x 35.4 in. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. | | | |
|  | | "Annunciation" (circa 1420) Tempera on oak, 61 x 63,7 cm - 24 x 25.1 in. Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium. | | | |
|  | | "Portrait of a Woman" (circa 1430) Wood, 41 x 28 cm - 16.1 x 11 in. National Gallery, London, UK.
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|  | | "Portrait of a Man" (1400-10) Wood, 40.7 x 28 cm - 16 x 11 in. National Gallery, London, UK. |
| Text source: 'Webmuseum' (www.ibiblio.org/wm). | |
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