Memling's Portraits [Hardcover]

Till-Holger Borchert (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

A thorough and sumptuously illustrated appraisal of every one of Hans Memling's portraits.

Published to accompany a major international touring exhibition, this catalogue provides a lavish overview of Memling's successful career in portraiture, with a selection of some thirty portraits by the master and his school, including portrait-wings from diptychs and triptychs along with autonomous panels of individual patrons.

Each of the three venues—the Museo Thyssen- Bornemisza, Madrid, the Groeningemuseum, Bruges, and The Frick Collection, New York—has contributed paintings unique to its collection, and all the works are reproduced here. The selection illustrates topics of particular relevance to Memling's work: the exchange of influences with contemporary portraiture from Italy to Germany; issues of patronage relating to donor-portraits; and the role of the workshop in artistic production.

Four essays by Till-Holger Borchert, Lorne Campbell, Paula Nuttal, and Maryan Ainsworth introduce the book's superb reproductions, which are accompanied by detailed captions that shed new light on Memling's techniques and aims. 170 illustrations, 120 in color.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Till-Holger Borchert is the Chief Curator of the Groeningemuseum in Bruges.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500093261
• ISBN-13: 978-0500093269
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,368,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding Monograph on the Art of Hans Memling, November 8, 2005

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Memling's Portraits (Hardcover)

Thought to be a pupil of the more famous Roger van der Weyden, Hans Memling was born in Seligenstadt (now Frankfurt am Main) in 1435 and flourished in his time as one of the great Flemish or Northern Renaissance painters. He died in Bruges in 1494. Though Memling painted in all the usual forms of his day - altarpieces, works for cathedrals and hospitals - he was a master of portraiture, painting faces with meticulous detail, suggesting the character of each sitter, and each glowing with life. His 'Portrait of a Man' is one of his most recognizable works, a young man in black cloak and hat sharing a gold medallion/coin with the viewer. In other portraits of old women we see the human side of the cloistered Renaissance woman.

The truly remarkable aspect of Memling's career is the vast output of works that are familiar images to us all but without the immediate name reference enjoyed by the more famous artists, This fine book, a catalogue for a traveling exhibition among the Museo Thyssen- Bornemisza, Madrid, the Groeningemuseum, Bruges, and The Frick Collection, New York, focuses solely on the portraits and in doing so allows our eyes to grow into the recognizable techniques and repeated forms that mark Memling's art. The commentary by Till-Holger Borchert, Lorne Campbell, Paula Nuttal, and Maryan Ainsworth goes far beyond the usual dry artspeak found too often in catalogues of Renaissance art and draws the reader into a deep appreciation for the extraordinary art of Hans Memling. This is a finely curated exhibition, and a brilliantly produced book from Thames & Hudson. Grady Harp, November 05