Madonna and Martin van Nieuwenhove

work by Memling

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June 30, 2026

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The Madonna and Martin van Nieuwenhove is a devotional diptych painted by Hans Memling around 1470-1480. This type of painting, popular in 15th-century Flanders, features a portrait of the patron, Martin van Nieuwenhove, in one panel, gazing at the Madonna and Child in the other. Memling, a leading painter of the Bruges school, was known for his compositions that often repeated established types, with Madonnas becoming more slender and ethereal over time. These devotional pieces were intended for the patron's personal use.1

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Hans Memling
…donor’s portrait (as in the Madonna and Martin van Nieuwenhove). Many devotional diptychs (two-panel paintings) such as this were painted in 15th-century Flanders. They consist of a portrait of the “donor”—or patron—in one panel, reverently gazing at the Madonna and Child in the other. Such paintings were for the donor’s…
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…donor’s portrait (as in the Madonna and Martin van Nieuwenhove). Many devotional diptychs (two-panel paintings) such as this were painted in 15th-century Flanders. They consist of a portrait of the “donor”—or patron—in one panel, reverently gazing at the Madonna and Child in the other. Such paintings were for the donor’s…
Read More