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Robert Campin BiographyMaster of Flémalle Netherlandish painter named after three paintings in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt that were wrongly supposed to have come from Flémalle, near Liege. There is a strong consensus of scholarly opinion that Robert Campin is to be identified with he (active 1406-44), who was the leading painter of his day in Tournai but none of whose documented pictures survive. |
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The identification depends on the similarity
between the Master of Flémalle's paintings
and those of Jacques Daret and Rogier van
der Weyden, for Daret was Campin's pupil and
Rogier almost certainly was. The hypothesis
that the Master of Flémalle's paintings are
early paintings by Rogier now has few adherents. While there is still doubt about the Master of Flémalle's identity, there is no argument about his achievement, for Robert Campin made a radical break with the elegant International Gothic style and ranks with van Eyck as one of the founders of the Netherlandish paintings school. None of the paintings given to him is dated -- with the exception of the wings of the Werl altarpiece of 1438 in the Prado, a doubtful attribution -- but it seems likely that his earliest paintings antedate any surviving picture by van Eyck. |
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The earliest of all is generally thought to be The Entombment (Courtauld Institute, London) of about 1410/20. This still has the decorative gold background of medieval tradition, but the influence of Claus Sluter is clear in the sculptural solidity and dramatic force of the figures. The most famous work associated with the Master of Flémalle is the Mérode Altarpiece (Metropolitan Museum, New York), and Robert Campin is indeed sometimes referred to as the Master of Mérode. However, the attribution of this painting has also been questioned. Among the other paintings generally accepted as his are The Marriage of the Virgin (Prado, Madrid), The Nativity (Musee des Beaux-Arts, Dijon), and The Virgin and Child before a Firescreen (National Gallery, London), which shows the homely detail and down-to-earth naturalism associated with the artist (the firescreen behind the Virgin's head forms a substitute for a halo). The National Gallery also has three portraits associated with the Master of Flémalle. In spite of the many problems that still surround him, Robert Campin emerges as a very powerful and important artistic personality. |