Petrus Christus

Petrus Christus (c. 1410–c. 1475) was born in Baarle, near Antwerp and Breda, and bought citizenship of Bruges in 1444, three years after the death of Jan van Eyck. Long regarded as van Eyck's pupil, he may have succeeded him in Bruges without having trained under him, and his work shows as much of Rogier van der Weyden, Dirk Bouts and Robert Campin. He became dean of the city's Guild of Saint Luke in 1471. Between van Eyck's death and Hans Memling's arrival in the mid-1460s he was the leading painter in Bruges. His Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Francis and Jerome, apparently dated 1457, is the first known Northern picture to show accurate linear perspective, and portraits such as the Portrait of a Young Girl set the sitter in a defined space rather than against a flat background. Nearly half his paintings were made for Italian clients or have an Italian or Spanish provenance. Some thirty works are now confidently attributed to him. Here: Annunciation.