Hans Memling and the Merchants

Emigratingfrom southern Germany in the late fifteenth-century, painter Hans Memlingsought success in Bruges, which was a vibrant commercial hub at the time.Rather than among the nobility or ecclesiastical institutions, instead hefound his audience in the new urban middle class of merchant bankers,financiers, politicians, affluent clerics and artisans. He also enjoyed areputation among diverse communities of traders and diplomats from acrossEurope, including Castile and England, as well as Italian cities like Genoa,Bologna and Florence, and the Hanseatic League. This book explores the socialand material aspects of Memling’s career and workshop, providing a vibrantentry into Bruges as an early modern commercial capital, highlightinginternational trade, factional politics, artisanal guilds, devotionaltraditions, and the aspirations and identities of his merchant-classclientele.