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Quentin Massys

c. 1460-1530 Belgium/Northern Renaissance

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Brief Biography-Quentin Massys was born in Leuven into a blacksmith’s family from Putte in the Campine. He was a farrier until the age of twenty when he took up painting. The Guild of Saint Luke admitted him as a free master in 1491. It is uncertain that he ever travelled to Italy. Many early scholars stated that had he been to Italy to study, he would have been one of the most prominent artists of the Low Countries. His paintings appear to regard the deficiencies of life rather than the virtues. It is, however, evident in his paintings that Leonardo influenced his works. He was known to be an acquaintance of Albrecht Durer. Joachim Patenier inserted a background landscape into one of his paintings. In 1517, Massys painted portraits of Erasmus and Pieter Gillis or Petrus Egidius, both received by Sir Thomas More as a present. His most striking and famous painting has always been The Two Misers, now in the gallery of Windsor Castle. His name is also spelt Matsys, Metsys, Massys and Messys.

 

adoration of
the magi

adoration of the magi

christ on the cross
with donors

christ on the cross with donors#


ecce homo 1526

ecce homo 1526


ecce homo

ecce homo

the misers
black and white

the misers


the misers

the misers

head of
an old man

head of an old man

moneylender
and his wife

moneylender and his wife

the purchase
contract

the purchase contract

the ugly
duchess

the ugly duchess

the virgin
and child

the virgin and child

virgin and child
enthroned

virgin and child enthroned with four angels

saint anne
altarpiece

saint anne altarpiece

saint anne
altarpiece closed

saint anne altarpiece closed


saint christopher

saint christopher


saint john altarpiece

saint john altarpiece


saint mary magdalen

saint mary magdalen


madonna and child

madonna and child


entombment

entombment

john the baptist
and saint agnes

john the baptist and saint agnes

portrait of
a canon

portrait of a canon

man
with glasses

man with glasses

old man
in profile

old man in profile

erasmus
of rotterdam

erasmus of rotterdam


pieter gillis

 pieter gillis


virgin and child

virgin and child

virgin and child in
a landscape

virgin and child in a landscape


virgin enthroned

virgin enthroned

virgin with
the child

virgin with the child