Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove, 1487
Hans Memling
Museum Sint-Janshospitaal,
Musea Brugge (Belgium)
O.SJ0178.I
This diptych shows, on the left, the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. On the right, you see the patron Maarten van Nieuwenhove. The work offers us a unique glimpse of a Flemish interior with a view of (presumably) the Minnewater (Lake of Love) in Bruges. In the window behind the Virgin, you can see the patron’s coat of arms. Maarten van Nieuwenhove himself sits, hands folded, before a window that depicts his patron saint. Before him lies an open book of hours, whose lock features his crest. With his mouth slightly open, he seems to be mumbling a prayer. At first glance, Mary and Child seem to appear in a vision, but a convex mirror behind the Virgin makes it clear that they are all in the same room. Jesus sits on a brocade cushion and grasps an apple that Mary holds out to him. The apple foreshadows his destiny: to die to save humanity. At the bottom of the frame the following inscription is across the full width of both panels: HOC OPVS FIERI FECIT MARTINVS DE NEWENHOVEN ANNO DM 1487 / AN° VERO ETATIS SVE 23.
Curious about the different layers in Memling's works?
Technical examination is used to study Hans Memling’s paintings. This is a method within art history that applies the latest scientific techniques to examine the various layers that make up a painting. KIK-IRPA used four modes of macro photography and infrared reflectography to research and document Hans Memling’s paintings.
DETAILS
| Title | Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove |
| Location | Museum Sint-Janshospitaal, Musea Brugge, Bruges (Belgium) |
| Category | Paintings |
| Subject | Religious, Portraits |
| Inventory number | O.SJ0178.I |
| Inscriptions | Left panel: HOC OPVS FIERI FECIT MARTINVS DE NEWENHOVEN ANNO DM 1487 |
| Right panel: AN° VERO ETATIS SVE 23. |
| Creator | Hans Memling |
| Date | 1487 |
| Materials | Oil paint, oak |
| Technique | Oil paint on panel |
| Dimensions | Left wing, with (original) frame: height 52.4 x width 41.4 cm |
| Left wing, painted surface: height 44.6 x width 33.6 cm | |
| Right wing, with (original) frame: height 52.4 x width 41.4 cm | |
| Right wing, painted surface: height 44.6 x width 33.6 cm |
| Permalink | |
| IIIF manifest | https://dam.museabrugge.be/memling/manifests/manifest-17.json |
| Copyright | Musea Brugge is committed to making data available as usable open data. Images of artworks that are not subject to copyright restrictions are published for this purpose under the Creative Commons Zero license. These may be freely used. |
The images were taken by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA, Brussels) on behalf of Musea Brugge.
The stitching of the images is thanks to VUB spinoff Universum Digitalis BV.