Roger van der Weyden

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Deposition by Roger van der Weyden (c.1435) Oil on oak panel, 220 x 262 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Deposition by Roger van der Weyden (c.1435) Oil on oak panel, 220 x 262 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid

Rog(i)er van der Weyden, also known as Roger de la Pasture or Rogier de Bruxelles, (1399/1400 – June 18, 1464) is, on a par with Jan van Eyck, considered one of the greatest Flemish and Northern European painters of the 15th century.

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[edit] Life

Roger was born at Tournai, where in 1427 he entered the studio of Robert Campin, also known as the Master of Flémalle.

He established himself in Brussels about 1435. He was in Italy in 1440-1450; but his visit shows no result on his style, which owes nothing to Italian models. He then returned to Brussels, where he died.

[edit] Works

Philip the Good, painted c. 1450 by Roger van der Weyden
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Philip the Good, painted c. 1450 by Roger van der Weyden
St Ivo (c.1450) Oil on oak panel, 45 x 35 cm National Gallery, London
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St Ivo (c.1450) Oil on oak panel, 45 x 35 cm National Gallery, London

His vigorous, subtle, expressive painting and popular religious conceptions had considerable influence on the art of Flanders and Germany. His great family portrait in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence had an important influence on the spread of oil painting into Italy in the late 15th century. He did not study with Jan van Eyck, his older colleague, who perfected the art of oil painting during Roger's lifetime. His style differs from van Eyck's in its direct appeal to emotion and the sometimes highly dramatic composition; but his handling of paint is akin to van Eyck in its lucid, gemlike perfection. Unlike other Flemish masters, Roger used little underdrawing for his oil paintings, only blocking out the positions of the major elements in the composition. Hans Memling was his greatest pupil.

His principal paintings were:

Some of these latter works and others are only doubtfully attributed to the master. The Crucifixion in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels, assigned either to him or to Memling, and containing portraits of the Sforzas, probably represents Roger van der Weyden in some of the principal figures at least, though Memling may have completed the picture.

There was a younger Roger van der Weyden (c. 1450-1529), to whom a brilliant Mary Magdalene in the National Gallery is attributed.

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