A portrait by Memling

Hans Mem­ling (ca. 1440–1494) was one of the great por­traitists of the 15^th cen­tury. Clearly influ­enced by the pio­neer­ing Nether­lan­dish oil painters from the ear­lier part of the century—Robert Campin, Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyen—Memling con­cen­trated on for­mal ren­der­ing of detail. This one is “Por­trait of a Young Man,” ca. 185–90, oil on panel, 11.5 × 8.7”. Although there is rel­a­tively lit­tle form mod­el­ing of flesh tones, you still get a sense of per­son­al­ity and “aliveness.”