Virgin and Child

Private collection

religious

Of the generation of Italianicizing artists, Sellaer was, with Michiel Coxcie, the principal artist in Mechelen in the mid-16th century, although his stylistic connections were with artists elsewhere, especially in Bruges, and in particular Pieter Pourbus.

About the Artist

Vincent Sellaer

Flemish painter who lived in Flanders in the 16th century, and specialized in the painting of nude women, such as Cleopatra, Suzanna, Leda and Judith. Van Mander referred to a painter in Mechelen named Vincent Geldersman who painted a half-length figure of Leda, a Susanna, a Cleopatra with the asp and 'other such things of which very many copies are to be seen'. Contemporary inventories confirm the identification of Geldersman with Sellaer. It is probable that two, possibly three, generations of painters bore the name and are traceable in the documentation. Nevertheless, scholars have determined that Sellaer seems to have been the foremost painter in Mechelen, and his patrons probably belonged to the court and the city's Great Council. He occupies a unique place in Netherlandish art of this period, as the monumentality of form which he achieved was almost unprecedented. His ability to seamlessly fuse both northern and Italian sources was the key to the success of him and his workshop.

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