Altarpiece of St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist
During our stay in Bruges (Belgium) we saw an interesting exhibition about the life of Charles the Bold (1433-1477) He was a brave man with (too) great ambitions and died on the battlefield. Years later his grandson emperor Charles V finally realized his pan-European ambitions. Charles the Bold was a wealthy man and stimulated the Flemish art of painting. The exhibition shows beautiful Flemish primitives by van Eyck and Hans Memling. More works of Memling in Bruges can be seen in the Memling Museum situated in the former St John's Hospital. The old mediaeval building accommodates 6 works by Hans Memling among which 2 master pieces. The altarpiece in the hospitalchurch is very well composed and delicately executed. The right panel of the triptych shows the Acopalypse as told by St John the Evangelist. Two beautiful portraits demonstrate that Memling was an great portrait painter .