1. Quentin Matsys was a Flemish painter in the Early Netherlandish tradition.
14 Facts About Quentin Matsys
1. 2.
Quentin Matsys is regarded as the founder of the Antwerp school of painting, which became the leading school of painting in Flanders in the 16th century.
3.
Quentin Matsys introduced new techniques and motifs as well as moralising subjects without completely breaking with tradition.
4.
Legend states that Quentin Matsys abandoned his career as a blacksmith to woo his wife, who found painting to be a more romantic profession, though Karel van Mander claimed this to be false, and the real reason was a sickness during which he was too weak to work at the smithy and instead decorated prints for the carnival celebrations.
5.
When Quentin Matsys settled at Antwerp at the age of twenty-five, his own style contributed importantly to reviving Flemish art along the lines of Van Eyck and Van der Weyden.
6.
Quentin Matsys departed from Leuven in 1491 when he became a master in the guild of painters at Antwerp.
7.
Quentin Matsys painted religious altarpieces and triptych panels, the most famous of which was built for the Church of Saint Peter in Leuven.
8.
Quentin Matsys became the guardian of Joachim Patinir's children after the death of that painter.
9.
Quentin Matsys was a religious devotee, despite several of his relatives dying as a result of their faith.
10.
In 1629 the first centennial of Quentin Matsys' death was marked by a ceremony and erection of a relief plaque with an accompanying inscription on the facade of Antwerp Cathedral.
11.
Quentin Matsys' works include A Portrait of an Elderly Man, Christ presented to the People, and A Grotesque Old Woman, which is perhaps the best-known of his works.
12.
Quentin Matsys painted part of the altarpiece of the Convento da Madre de Deus, in Lisbon.
13.
Jan's son, Quentin Matsys Metsys the Younger, was an artist of the Tudor court, and painted the Sieve Portrait of Elizabeth I of England.
14.
Quentin Matsys was a cult figure during the 17th century in Antwerp in addition to being one of the founders of the local school of painting.