The Last Judgment

Hans Memling was a German-Flemish painter who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. Born in the Middle Rhine region, he probably spent his childhood in Mainz. During his apprenticeship as a painter he moved to the Netherlands and spent time in the Brussels workshop of Rogier van der Weyden. In 1465 he was made a citizen of Bruges, where he became one of the leading artists and the master of a large workshop. A tax document from 1480 lists him among the wealthiest citizens. Memling's religious works often incorporated donor portraits of the clergymen, aristocrats, and burghers who were his patrons. These portraits built upon the styles which Memling learned in his youth.

The Last Judgment is a triptych attributed to Flemish painter Hans Memling and was painted between 1467 and 1471, and depicts Last Judgment during the second coming of Jesus Christ. The central panel shows Jesus sitting in judgment on the world, while St Michael the Archangel weighs souls: he sends the damned towards Hell ; the left-hand panel shows the saved being guided into heaven by St Peter and the angels.