Michiel Coxcie - De vergeten Vlaamse Rafael (M Museum Leuven)

Self portrait as St. George

I had a free ticket for this temporary expo in our local art museum.  Even though I don't have much art history baggage, I have always loved learning more about it and a special expo is a good opportunity.

In this case the artist was one of the most influential Flemish painters of the 16th century but is virtually unknown today.  He was one of the first artists from northern Europe to go to Italy and absorb the art of the ancients and the Italian high renaissance, including Michelangelo, with whom he worked, and later bring these influences back to the Low Countries.

One of the works that impressed me the most was this self portrait.  Coxcie was strong defender of Catholicism in times of religious upheaval, and I think this comes through strongly in the way he portrayed himself.

Coxcie died at the age of 93, from a fall while restoring one of his own paintings in Antwerp.

Here is some more info from Wikipedia.