MASSYS or METSYS, QUENTIN (Belg.). Also QUINTIJN MESSIJS or QUINTIN MATSYS, a celebrated Smith and Painter of Antwerp, born at Louvain about 1460, is said to have died in the Carthusian convent at Antwerp, during the second half of 1530, between July 13 and September 16. He was brought up by his father as a smith, "a pursuit then often requiring artistic knowledge and manipulative skill. " The early years of his life were spent at Louvain, where he began to distinguish himself, then he settled at Antwerp, and there, falling in love with a painter's daughter, in order to gain her hand, he took to painting, removing for a time to Brussels to learn the art of Roger van der Weyden. In a short time he was able to handle the brush as well as the hammer. In 1491 he was admitted a master into the Antwerp guild of St. Luke, and shortly afterwards he married Adelaide van Tuylt, by whom he had six children; after her death, he married again in 1508-9, and had by his second wife seven children. In the well-known portrait at Florence, Massys is represented with his second wife, Catherine Heyens; it is dated 1520. Quentin Massys was undoubtedly one of the most celebrated painters of his time at Antwerp. His master-piece, the " Taking down from the cross", painted in 1508, for the altar of the chapel of the Joiners' company in the cathedral, is now one of the principal attractions of the Antwerp Museum. It is most carefully and elaborately executed, and is an admirable work, in spite of its Gothic taste. The painter received only three hundred florins for it, about ? 25 ; and the city purchased it of the Joiners' company for fifteen hundred florins in 1577. Queen Elizabeth wished to possess it, and is said to have offered in vain forty thousand florins for it. The careful works of this painter are well-known in this country, from the so-called " Misers " at Windsor, the picture in the National Gallery, and other examples. Quentin enjoyed the friendship of the municipal secretary, Peter Gillis (Egidius), of B. Thomas More, of Dürer, and Holbein. The painter was originally buried in the convent of the Carthusians, and when this convent was suppressed his remains were reburied in front of the cathedral at Antwerp, with the following inscription placed in the wall of the cathedral, to commemorate the circumstance and his history : — " Quintino Matsys, incomparabilis artis pictori, admiratrix grataque Posteritas anno post obitum saeculari CI?. I?C. XXIX. posuit. Connubialis amor de muliebre fecit Apellem " (Diet, of Univ. Biog. , III, p. 333). On Erasmus of Rotterdam's own testimony, we learn that Massys executed a Portrait-medal of himself (...Unde statuarius iste nactus sit effigiem mei demiror, nisi fortasse habet eam quam Quintinus Antverpiae fudit ?re). The medal, reproduced here (p. 605), has been hitherto attributed to Quentin, but recent research has led Dr Simonis (L' Art du Médailleur en Belgique, 1900) to conclude that it is the work of the medallist Jean Second, who probably modelled it from Massys's medallion (Vide, op. cit., pp. 31 and 83). But there are at least two other Portrait-medallions, which are ascribed to the celebrated painter; one with his own portrait (illustrated), and the other with that of his sister Christine Massys (in the possession of M. le Chevalier Van den Bergh, of Antwerp). These medals are absolutely different in style and treatment to that of Erasmus, who probably knew of the work of Jean Second, as he says in a letter to Botteus : " Where did this sculptor procure my portrait ? Perhaps he possesses that which Quentin Metsys cast in bronze at Antwerp ? “ Commenting on Christine Massys's portrait, Dr Simonis observes : " Quentin Metsys a donné au portrait de sa s?ur un fort relief; il la présente de face avec un talent et une s?reté de main que n'ont pas atteints les artistes italiens, qui n'ont en général laissé que des profils, et qu'atteindront vingt-cinq ans plus tard seulement les médailleurs allemands dans leurs magnifiques médailles en bois ou en pierre. La figure de Christine est captivante dans sa modestie, elle se présente avec la m?me gr?ce na?ve que les saintes femmes de l'ensevelissement du Christ du tableau du musée d'Anvers. C'est le grand art de la médaille iconique, sans ornements, sans détails qui déparent la grandeur et la simplicité de l'?uvre. Nous connaissions, jusqu'? ce jour, deux médaillons attribués ? Quentin Metsys; sa médaille ? lui, qui a été reproduite dans Van Mieris, et la médaille d'Erasme, datée de 1519, qui figure ? la fois dans Van Mieris et dans le Trésor de numismatique (Médailles allemandes). Les médailles de Quentin Metsys et de sa s?ur sont comme des bas-reliefs, tenant plutôt de la sculpture; elles ont entre elles les plus grandes analogies et proviennent certainement du m?me artiste; mais la médaille d'Erasme est plutôt, comme le dit M. Picqué, une ?uvre de peintre ? fines dégradations de plans." Bibliography. — Dr Julien Simonis, L'Art du médailleur en Belgique, Bruxelles, 1900. — Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, 1904. — I. B. Supino, Il Medagliere Mediceo. — Bolzenthal, op. cit. — Pinchart, Biographies des Graveurs belges, Revue de la num. belge, I, 2, p. 66. — Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1888, I, 5, 104; II, 197. — A. Pinchart, Histoire de la Gravure des médailles en Belgique, Bruxelles, 1870. — Immerzeel, De Levens en Werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche Kunstschilders, Beeldhouwers, Graveurs en Bouwemesters, Amsterdam, 1843.
Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904
Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904
MANTEGNA, ANDREA
MANTEGNA, ANDREA (ltal). A celebrated Italian Painter and Engraver, born at Padua, 1430-1504. His works were numerous; he did altar-pieces and frescoes, his greatest being "The Triumph of Caesar". He was a man of versatile genius and poet as well as painter. His influence on Italian art was very considerable. At the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, are two bronze Plaques, both representing The Entombment, probably contemporary adaptations from the engraving on the same subject by Ma...
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MANTEGNA, ANDREA (ltal). A celebrated Italian Painter and Engraver, born at Padua, 1430-1504. His works were numerous; he did altar-pieces and frescoes, his greatest being "The Triumph of Caesar". He was a man of versatile genius and poet as well as painter. His influence on Italian art was very considerable. At the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, are two bronze Plaques, both representing The Entombment, probably contemporary adaptations from the engraving on the same subject by Ma...
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MARENDE, JEAN
MARENDE, JEAN (French). Goldsmith of Bourg-en-Bresse, who in 1502 executed the large medal cast in gold (weighing 490 grammes) with portraits of Philibert the Fair and Margaret of Austria (obv. illustrated) which was presented to these Princes by the town of Bourg on their visit there. " La médaille de Philibert le Beau et de Marguerite d'Autriche", says Rondot, " aux bustes affrontés et au champ semé de devises est le produit d'un art savant ; elle a l'originalité, l'harmonie et l'élégance, san...
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MARENDE, JEAN (French). Goldsmith of Bourg-en-Bresse, who in 1502 executed the large medal cast in gold (weighing 490 grammes) with portraits of Philibert the Fair and Margaret of Austria (obv. illustrated) which was presented to these Princes by the town of Bourg on their visit there. " La médaille de Philibert le Beau et de Marguerite d'Autriche", says Rondot, " aux bustes affrontés et au champ semé de devises est le produit d'un art savant ; elle a l'originalité, l'harmonie et l'élégance, san...
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MARESCOTTI, ANTONIO
MARESCOTTI, ANTONIO (Ital.). Medallist of the second and third quarters of the fifteenth century, about whom, unfortunately, very little is known, beyond that he was one of the cleverest of early artists which Italy has produced in that particular branch, and that he resided at Ferrara. The seven medals which bear his signature are dated between 1446 and 1462 : Giovanni da Tossignano, bishop of Ferrara, † 1436; diam. 90 mill.; signed MARE SCOTVS and dated : MCCCC —XLVI ; — Antonio Marescotti, pr...
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MARESCOTTI, ANTONIO (Ital.). Medallist of the second and third quarters of the fifteenth century, about whom, unfortunately, very little is known, beyond that he was one of the cleverest of early artists which Italy has produced in that particular branch, and that he resided at Ferrara. The seven medals which bear his signature are dated between 1446 and 1462 : Giovanni da Tossignano, bishop of Ferrara, † 1436; diam. 90 mill.; signed MARE SCOTVS and dated : MCCCC —XLVI ; — Antonio Marescotti, pr...
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MARCHANT, NATHANIEL
MARCHANT, NATHANIEL (Brit.). Gem-engraver and Medallist, born in Sussex in 1739, died in Somerset Place, London, in April 1816, aged 77. He was a pupil of Edward Burch, R. A., and in 1766 became a Member of the Incorporated Society of Artists. In 1773, he went to Rome, where he studied and worked for sixteen years. He sent impressions from ancient intaglios to the Royal Academy from 1781 to 1785. and continued to exhibit there until 1811. In 1791 he was elected Associate of the Royal Academy, an...
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MARCHANT, NATHANIEL (Brit.). Gem-engraver and Medallist, born in Sussex in 1739, died in Somerset Place, London, in April 1816, aged 77. He was a pupil of Edward Burch, R. A., and in 1766 became a Member of the Incorporated Society of Artists. In 1773, he went to Rome, where he studied and worked for sixteen years. He sent impressions from ancient intaglios to the Royal Academy from 1781 to 1785. and continued to exhibit there until 1811. In 1791 he was elected Associate of the Royal Academy, an...
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