Simon Bening
Simon Bening (c. 1483 – 1561) was a Flemish miniaturist, generally regarded as the last major artist of the Netherlandish tradition.[2]
Bening, born either in Ghent or Antwerp, was probably trained by his father, illuminator Alexander Bening, in the family workshop in Ghent. He travelled between Ghent and Bruges and became a member of the guild of San John and Saint Luke in Bruges as an illuminator in 1508. He made his own name after moving to Bruges in about 1510, where he had lived since. From 1517 to 1555 he is listed regularly in the guild's annual accounts. Bening served as a dean of the calligraphers, booksellers, illuminators and bookbinders in the Guild of Saint John and Saint Luke three separate times (1524, 1536, 1546).[3]
He was married twice and had six daughters. Two of them continued the family artistic tradition:
Works
Bening specialised in
He produced books for German rulers, like
Bening’s usage of illusionism, pictorial narrative and creative adaptation demonstrates his influence from the leading illuminators, printmakers and painters of his near contemporaries such as Jan van Eyck, Mary of Burgundy, Martin Schongauer, Gerard David, and Albrecht Dürer.[5]
Selected works
- Labours of the Months
- Munich-Montserrat Book of Hours
- Codex of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Patrimonio Nacional, Spain.
Gallery
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Benedictional of Robert de Clercq: Crucifixion, f. 4v, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge
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Prayer Book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg: text page with decorated borders, f 124, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
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Prayer Book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg: The Arrest of Christ, f 107v, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
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Four men playing a game that resembles golf. The Golf book, British Library
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February, Breviarium Grimaldi (1515–1520),Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice (Italy)
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Labors of the Months: April, from a book of hours
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Labors of the Months: May
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Labors of the Months: June
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Christ before Caiaphas
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Virgin and Child
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Phillip II as The grand master of the order. Codex of the Golden Fleece Order 1536. Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, Spain.
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Tripthyc of St. Jerome, tempera on parchment adhered to panel. Monastery of El Escorial, Madrid.
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The Annunciation to the Shepherds
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Virgin amongst virgins (Virgo inter virgines)
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Saint Gertrude of Nivelles
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The Annunciation
References
- ^ Hindman (1997), 112
- ^ Morrison and Kren (2006), 68
- ^ "Simon Bening biography". Getty Museum. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- ^ Hindman (1997), 98
- ^ a b "Illuminated: Manuscripts in the making". www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Benedictional of Robert de Clercq". Cambridge Digital Library. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
Sources
- Hindman, Sandra et al. Illuminations in the Robert Lehman Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997.
- Morrison, Elizabeth and Kren, Thomas (eds). Flemish Manuscript Painting in Context. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Trust, 2006. ISBN 978-0-89236-852-5
External links
- Media related to Simon Bening at Wikimedia Commons
- Gerard David: Purity of Vision in an Age of Transition, exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF)
- The Hennessy Book of Hours, c. 1530–1540
- The Golf Book, c. 1540
- Book of Hours, c. 1525, from the collection at Waddesdon Manor
- Grimani Breviary: a Remarkable Artistic Collaboration between Simon Bening and Other Artists