Rogier van der Weyden

Rogier van der Weyden, born Roger de la Pasture in Tournai, probably trained under Robert Campin before becoming official painter to the city of Brussels in 1436. His Descent from the Cross shows grief with new intensity, the figures pressed into a shallow space like painted sculpture. He worked for Philip the Good and the Burgundian nobility, and his paintings were exported to Italy and Spain. Widely copied, he is often called the most influential Northern painter of the 15th century.