|
|
Rogier van der Weyden
van der Weyden
South Netherlandish family of painters. Active in both Tournai and Brussels, Rogier van der Weyden was one of the most renowned painters of the 15th century, though his reputation declined after the loss of important works in the 17th century and is only now being reinstated. He was probably trained by the Master of Flemalle and he also clearly knew the work of Jan van Eyck; his interests differed from theirs, however, and he became increasingly concerned with developing the emotional impact of his religious paintings. He was also an innovative and influential portrait painter. Rogier apparently established a large workshop and had many imitators, but none achieved the subtlety and expressive power of his paintings. His son Pieter van der Weyden is usually identified with the anonymous MASTER OF THE LEGEND OF ST CATHERINE, a painter active in Brussels c. 1470–1500. Pieter’s son Goswijn van der Weyden presumably trained with his father and grew up in Brussels in an artistic circle deeply imbued with the stylistic influence of his famous grandfather.
Rogier van der Weyden(b Tournai, c. 1399; d Brussels, 18 June 1464).
Rogier van der Weyden was the son of Henri de le Pasture, a cutler in Tournai, and Agnès de Watreloz. His birthdate is estimated from the facts that he was stated to be 35 in April 1435 and 43 in September 1441. Before or in 1427 he married Elisabeth Goffaert (c. 1405–77), whose father was a prosperous shoemaker in Brussels. Rogier may have lived for a time in Brussels: his eldest child Cornelis (b 1427) was sometimes referred to as ‘de Bruxella’ but was not necessarily a native of Brussels. On 5 March 1427 ‘Rogelet de le Pasture, natif de Tournai’ was apprenticed to the Tournai painter Robert Campin. This Rogelet duly completed his apprenticeship in 1431 and on 1 August 1432 became a master of the Tournai guild. Despite much debate, it would appear that Rogelet was Rogier van der Weyden, though it has also been argued that in 1427 Rogier was a married man well past the normal age of apprenticeship and that Rogelet must have been a second Tournai painter of the same name. JACQUES DARET, however, was in his twenties when in 1428 he was apprenticed to Campin, and other instances can be cited of married apprentices. The political situation at Tournai in 1427–8 was unusual, and the guild system was not functioning normally. Van der Weyden maintained connections with Tournai and the Tournai guild of painters, which in 1464 held a funeral service in his honour. It would seem that Rogier and Rogelet were indeed the same person.
Bladelin Triptych
1445-50
Staatliche Museen, Berlin
