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Petrus Christus

Petrus Christus (Dutch: [ˈpeː.trʏs ˈkrɪs.tʏs, ˈxrɪs-]; c. 1410/1420 – 1475/1476) was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges from 1444, where, along with Hans Memling, he became the leading painter after the death of Jan van Eyck. He was influenced by van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden and is noted for his innovations with linear perspective and a meticulous technique which seems derived from miniatures and manuscript illumination. Today, some 30 works are confidently attributed to him.[1] The best known include the Portrait of a Carthusian (1446) and Portrait of a Young Girl (c. 1470); both are highly innovative in the presentation of the figure against detailed, rather than flat, backgrounds.

For the period between the death of Jan van Eyck in 1441 and Hans Memling establishing himself in the city in the mid-1460s, Christus was the leading painter in Bruges, which was then the leading Netherlandish centre of painting.[2]


Christus was an anonymous figure for centuries, his importance not established until the work of modern art historians. Giorgio Vasari barely mentions him in his biographies of painters, written in the Renaissance, and near contemporary records merely list him amongst many others. In the early to mid-nineteenth century, Gustav Waagen (who identified him French-style as "Pierre Christophsen") and Johann David Passavant were important in establishing Christus's biographical details and in attributing works to him.[3]

Edward Grimston, 1446. National Gallery, London. (On loan from the Earl of Verulam)

Edward Grimston, 1446. National Gallery, London. (On loan from the Earl of Verulam)

St. Eligius in His Workshop, 1449. Metropolitan Museum of Art

St. Eligius in His Workshop, 1449. Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nativity, 1452. Gemäldegalerie

Nativity, 1452. Gemäldegalerie

Madonna and Child, 1460–65. Museo del Prado, Madrid

Madonna and Child, 1460–65. Museo del Prado, Madrid

Silverpoint drawing of man with falcon

Silverpoint drawing of man with falcon

The Last Judgement, 1452. Gemäldegalerie

The Last Judgement, 1452. Gemäldegalerie

Portrait of a Young Man, c. 1450-60. National Gallery, London

Portrait of a Young Man, c. 1450-60. National Gallery, London

Nativity, c. 1460s. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Nativity, c. 1460s. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

online collection catalog (PDF), with material on Petrus Christus (cat. no. 12).

Oclc.org: "15th to 18th century European paintings: France, Central Europe, the Netherlands, Spain, and Great Britain"

Review of Ainsworth

at the Art UK site

2 artworks by or after Petrus Christus

Media related to Paintings by Petrus Christus at Wikimedia Commons