Hans Memling

Hans Memling was born in Seligenstadt near Frankfurt and probably worked in Rogier van der Weyden's Brussels workshop before becoming a citizen of Bruges in 1465. There he ran a large workshop, and a tax list of 1480 places him among the city's wealthiest residents. His calm, finely balanced altarpieces and portraits drew Italian merchants as well as local patrons. His Last Judgment, bound for Florence, was seized at sea by a Danzig privateer in 1473 and is still in Gdańsk.