oil on panel measurements 66 x 50 cm frame measurements 90 x 75 cm Leuven 1466Antwerp 1530 Flemish painter the most important of the first half of the 16th century in Antwerp He was probably born in Leuven where he trained under the influence of Dirk Bouts We barely have any information about the painting of his youth in which only some images of the Virgin have been attributed to him In 14911492 he was enrolled in the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp It seems that he never left the city however the Renaissance influence on his work suggests that he may have made a short trip to France or Italy He married twice and had several children of whom Jan and Cornelys worked with him and other disciples in his workshop His first dated works are the Triptych of Saint Anne 1509 Musees Royaux des BeauxArts de Belgique Brussels and Lamentation of Christ 1511 Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerp In both altarpieces the symbiosis between the language of the primitive Flemish and that of the Italian Renaissance can be seen Throughout his life Massys distanced himself from religious painting to dedicate himself more to moralistic painting and portraits The moralistic and satirical work such as the Banker and his Wife 1514 Musee du Louvre Paris or the Unequal Couple National Gallery of Art Washington can undoubtedly be related to the writings of some humanists such as Erasmus with whom the artist had contact Grotesque figures also appear in his religious painting such as in The Temptations of San Antonio Abad Prado Although some of his characters are related to the work of Leonardo da Vinci the backgrounds whether landscapes or interiors are based on the Flemish tradition of the 15th century Among the portrait painters of his time he occupied an important place with works such as the diptych with the effigies of Erasmus Royal Collection Hampton Court Herefordshire and of Pieter Gillis Longford Castle London painted in 1517 and sent as a gift to Thomas More