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Quentin Massys fut un peintre flamand de la Renaissance du Nord et le fondateur de l’École d’Anvers. Son œuvre unit le réalisme de la tradition néerlandaise aux idéaux humanistes de la Renaissance, jetant les fondations de la peinture européenne du XVIᵉ siècle.
We will only share latest what our month on the QUINTEN MASSYS.
BIOGRAPHY
Quinten Massys was born around 1466 in Leuven, Duchy of Brabant (now Belgium). According to later accounts, he was first trained as a blacksmith before entering the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp in 1491. Around 1492 he married the daughter of painter Jos van Cleve and obtained Antwerp citizenship. From that period he worked in Antwerp and became a central figure of the emerging Northern Renaissance. He died in 1530.
CAREER STAGES
The early period (before 1500) shows the influence of Rogier van der Weyden and Dieric Bouts. After 1500, Massys developed an independent style combining precise observation with moral and psychological themes. Between 1510 and 1520 he produced his major works – The Moneylender and His Wife, The Tax Collectors – and several altarpieces for Antwerp churches.
STYLE, TECHNIQUE AND DIRECTION
Massys was one of the first masters to merge the realism and symbolism of the Flemish school with a new humanist vision of the individual. He worked in oil on panel, using transparent glazes and minute detailing. His genre scenes with money-changers and tax collectors inspired Marinus van Reymerswaele and defined the iconography of the Antwerp school.
LEGACY AND MASTERPIECES
Major works by Massys include The Moneylender and His Wife (1514, Louvre, Paris), The Tax Collectors (National Gallery, London), Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child (Prado, Madrid), and Madonna and Child with Cherries (c. 1520, private collection). His paintings form part of the collections of the Louvre, the Prado, the National Gallery in London and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
MARKET ANALYSIS
Interest in Flemish painting of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries remains strong. Authentic works by Quinten Massys are rare and occupy the upper segment of the Old Masters market, showing steady price growth and sustained demand from both private and institutional collectors.
Masterpieces – Original paintings by Massys with confirmed attribution and museum-level quality range from €8 million to €12 million. A notable example is Madonna and Child with Cherries, sold in London in 2022 for approximately €12.48 million.
Workshop / Circle – Works executed under the direction of Massys or by his pupils are valued between €300 000 and €1 million. An example is The Tax Collectors, c. 1520, Vienna, €850 000.
School / Followers – Later variants and copies after Massys’ compositions range from €80 000 to €300 000. An example is The Tax Collectors, Follower of Massys, Paris 2023, €220 000.
