Petrus Christus

Painting information
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Petrus Christus, born1410/1420 in Antwerpen, dead 1472 in Bruges, flemish painter, active in Bruges from 1444.

Petrus Christus was a student of and successor to Jan van Eyck, and all his paintings have have sometimes been confused with his. At the death of Van Eyck in 1441, he took over his master's workshop. For long times only seen in his great master's light, the latest research brings out Christus in his own right as an independent painter. In addition, Christus painting shows clear influencer from, among others, Dirk Bouts, Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden.

It is still not known if Christus visited Italy, and brought the style and technical accomplishments of the greatest northern european painters to Antonello da Messina and other italian artists.

The captivating Portrait of a young girl belongs to the masterworks of flemish painting, marking a new development phase in its portrait art. It does no longer show the young woman in front of an indefinite backgrond, but in a concrete, through the wall panels defined room. The unknown woman radiates of nobility, and the picture has a both fascinating and unattainable effect. The exquisite clothing suggests that she might come from France.