Hans Memling
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We continue our special month with the amazing Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza collection. Enjoy!
On the other side of this painting is a portrait of a man—it has been thought that the donor and patron might have been a member of the Italian community living in Bruges. This idea is based on the type of clothes and hairstyle, although other authors have suggested a Spanish client.
The jug of flowers on the reverse is one of the first independent still lifes known in art. This early flower composition, however, has a religious significance as it contains symbols referring to Christ and to the Virgin. The majolica jug has Christ’s monogram on the front while the flowers refer to Mary: the lilies refer to her purity, the irises to her role as Queen of Heaven and to her role as mater dolorosa during the Passion, and the small aquilegias are associated with the Holy Spirit. The rug on which the jug is standing is of an eastern type, as is the one behind the sitter on the front of the panel. Rugs of this type came to be known within the textile world as Memling rugs.
The panel has been dated to Memling’s mature period around the mid-1480s.
- Mar Borobia
P.S. If you want to know more about the rugs hidden in early still lifes, click here!