Jan van Eyck was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. According to Vasari and other art historians including Ernst Gombrich, he invented oil painting, though most now regard that claim as an oversimplification.
Louis de Bruges, Lord of Gruuthuse, Prince of Steenhuijs, Earl of Winchester, was a Flemish courtier, bibliophile, soldier and nobleman. He was awarded the title of Earl of Winchester by King Edward IV of England in 1472, and was Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland 1462–77.
Pieter Jansz. Pourbus was a Flemish Renaissance painter, draftsman, engineer and cartographer who was active in Bruges during the 16th century. He is known primarily for his religious and portrait paintings.
Jean-Baptiste Bethune was a Belgian architect, artisan and designer who played a pivotal role in the Belgian and Catholic Gothic Revival movement. He was called by some the "Pugin of Belgium", with reference to the influence on Bethune of the English Gothic Revival architect and designer, Augustus Pugin.
Museum Mayer van den Bergh is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, housing the collection of the art dealer and collector Fritz Mayer van den Bergh (1858-1901). The major works are from the Gothic and Renaissance period in the Netherlands and Belgium, including paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.
The Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele is a large oil-on-oak panel painting completed around 1434–1436 by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. It shows the painting's donor, Joris van der Paele, within an apparition of saints. The Virgin Mary is enthroned at the centre of the semicircular space, which most likely represents a church interior, with the Christ Child on her lap. St. Donatian stands to her right, Saint George—the donor's name saint—to her left. The panel was commissioned by van der Paele as an altarpiece. He was then a wealthy clergyman from Bruges, but elderly and gravely ill, and intended the work as his memorial.
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country. It is the sixth most populous city in the country.
Anselm Adornes, also known as Anselm Adorno, was a merchant, patron, politician and diplomat, who belonged to the fifth generation of the Adornes family to live in Bruges.
The Gruuthusemuseum is a museum of applied arts in Bruges, located in the medieval Gruuthuse, the house of Louis de Gruuthuse. The collection ranges from the 15th to the 19th century.
Jean III d'Aa, lord of Gruuthuse was a Flemish-Burgundian knight of the Bruges noble family of Gruuthuse. He is notable for having fought a great tournament in Bruges on 11 March 1393 against his cousin, Jean (Wulfart) de Ghistelle, lord of Gistel and Harnes. Jean was also the grandfather of Louis de Gruuthuse, himself a "bulwark of Burgundian chivalry" and a notable participant in tournaments in the 1440s.
Ter Doest Abbey was a Cistercian abbey in Belgium, in the present Lissewege, a district of Bruges, West Flanders.
CornilCacheux was a French pipe organ maker.
Ten Duinen Abbey or the Abbey of the Dunes was a Cistercian monastery at Koksijde in what is now Belgium. It was one of the richest and most influential religious institutions in the medieval County of Flanders. It later relocated from Koksijde to the city of Bruges.
Arthur Théodore Verhaegen was a Gothic Revival Belgian architect and a politician of the Catholic Party, one of the founders of Belgian Christian democracy. He was a grandson of the politician and lawyer Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen.
Martin Bauwens of Riethoven or Martinus Rythovius was a Catholic theologian and the first Bishop of Ypres. He was a figure of some spiritual and political significance during the early decades of the Dutch Revolt.
Pierre Simons (1538—1605) was a theologian and the second bishop of Ypres.
Olivier de Wree (1596–1652), pen name Latinized as Olivarius Vredius, was a Neo-Latin poet and historian from the Habsburg Netherlands.
The Master of Margaret of York is the Notname of an illuminator active in Bruges between 1470 and 1480. He owes his name to a devotional book he decorated for Margaret of York, wife of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. A large number of his illuminated books were executed for Louis de Gruuthuse. Several manuscripts have also been attributed to his assistants.
