Simon Bening (c. 1483 – 1561) was a Flemish
miniaturist
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...
, generally regarded as the last major artist of the
Netherlandish
The Low Countries comprise the coastal Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta region in Western Europe, whose definition usually includes the modern countries of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Both Belgium and the Netherlands derived their ...
tradition.
Bening, born either in
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
or
Antwerp, was probably trained by his father,
illuminator Alexander Bening
Alexander Bening (died 1519), also Sanders Bening, was an early 16th-century miniature painter of the Ghent-Bruges school and Netherlandish tradition. His date of birth is unknown.
Bening was part of a South Netherlandish family of illuminators. ...
, in the family workshop in Ghent. He travelled between Ghent and
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.
The area of the whole city a ...
and became a member of the
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
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).
He was married twice and had six daughters. Two of them continued the family artistic tradition:
Levina Teerlinc
Levina Teerlinc (1510s – 23 June 1576) was a Flemish Renaissance miniaturist who served as a painter to the English court of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. She was the most important miniaturist at the English court between ...
became a miniature painter, mostly of
portrait miniatures, and
emigrated to England, and Alexandrine Claeiszuene became a successful art dealer.
Works
Bening specialised in
Books of Hours
The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript ...
, but by his time these were produced only for royal or very rich patrons. He also created genealogical tables and portable altarpieces on
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...
as well as oil paintings on wooden panels. He was known to extend miniature painting into the borders. His usage of illusionistic picture frames serve to function as small devotional panels.
Many of his finest works are
Labours of the Months for Books of Hours which are largely small-scale
landscapes, at that time a nascent genre of painting. In other respects his style is relatively little developed beyond that of the years before his birth, but his landscapes serve as a link between the 15th-century illuminators and
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called gen ...
. His
self-portrait and other portraits equally are early examples of the
portrait miniature.
He produced books for German rulers, like
Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, and royalty like
Emperor Charles V and Don Fernando, the
Infante of Portugal
Infante of Portugal ( Portuguese: ''Infante de Portugal''; f. Infanta), is the royal title of the Kingdom of Portugal, granted to the sons or daughters of the King and Princes of Portugal who were not the heir to the throne. It is also used to den ...
. Robert de Clercq, abbot of the
Cistercian monastery of Ter Duinen ("Les Dunes") at
Koksijde
Koksijde (; french: Coxyde ; vls, Koksyde) is a town and a municipality in Belgium. It is located on the North Sea coast in the southwest of the Flemish province of West Flanders.
The municipality comprises apart from Koksijde, the villages of ...
, near Bruges, commissioned a
Benedictional from him sometime between 1519 and 1529. Bening portrayed the abbot in a colourful
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...
scene.
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
Mary (french: Marie; nl, Maria; 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy who ruled a collection of states that included the duchies of Limburg, Brabant, Luxembourg, the counties of ...
,
Martin Schongauer
Martin Schongauer (c. 1450–53, Colmar – 2 February 1491, Breisach), also known as Martin Schön ("Martin beautiful") or Hübsch Martin ("pretty Martin") by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter. He was the most important ...
,
Gerard David
Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ...
, and
Albrecht Dürer.
Selected works
*
Labours of the Months
*
Munich-Montserrat Book of Hours
*Codex of the Order of the Golden Fleece,
Patrimonio Nacional
Patrimonio Nacional ( en, National Heritage) is a Spanish autonomous agency, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Presidency, that administers the sites owned by the Spanish State and used by the Monarch and the Spanish Royal F ...
, Spain.
Gallery
File:Benedictional of Robert de Clercq.jpg, Benedictional of Robert de Clercq: Crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...
, f. 4v, Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...
, Cambridge
File:Simon Bening Decorated text Page.jpg, Prayer Book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg: text page with decorated borders, f 124, J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...
, Los Angeles
File:Simon Bening (Flemish - The Arrest of Christ - Google Art Project.jpg, Prayer Book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg: The Arrest of Christ, f 107v, J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...
, Los Angeles
File:September- Four men playing a game that resembles golf - The Golf Book (1520-1530), f.27r - BL Add MS 24098.jpg, Four men playing a game that resembles golf. The Golf book, British Library
File:Breviarium Grimani - February.jpg, February, Breviarium Grimaldi (1515–1520), Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana
The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark ( it, italic=no, Biblioteca Marciana, but in historical documents commonly referred to as ) is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositori ...
, Venice (Italy)
File:Simon Bening - April.jpg, Labors of the Months: April, from a book of hours
File:Simon Bening - Mai.jpg, Labors of the Months: May
File:Simon Bening - Juni.jpg, Labors of the Months: June
File:Simon Bening (Flemish - Christ before Caiaphas - Google Art Project.jpg, Christ before Caiaphas
Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD), known simply as Caiaphas (; grc-x-koine, Καϊάφας, Kaïáphas ) in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest who, according to the gospels, organized a plot to kill Jesus. He famous ...
File:Simon Bening Virgin and Child.jpg, Virgin and Child
File:Felipe II con el manto de la Orden del Toisón de Oro (Libro del Toisón de Oro).jpg, Phillip II as The grand master of the order. Codex of the Golden Fleece Order 1536. Patrimonio Nacional
Patrimonio Nacional ( en, National Heritage) is a Spanish autonomous agency, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Presidency, that administers the sites owned by the Spanish State and used by the Monarch and the Spanish Royal F ...
, Madrid, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
File:Tríptico de san Jerónimo Simon Bening.jpg, ''Tripthyc of St. Jerome'', tempera on parchment adhered to panel. Monastery of El Escorial, Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
.
File:Simon Bening The Annunciation to the Shepherds.jpg, The Annunciation to the Shepherds
References
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.
External links
*
''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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bening, Simon
1483 births
1561 deaths
Flemish Renaissance painters
Manuscript illuminators
Painters by city