Christ Blessing

This Christ Blessing, around 1481, in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, presents a frontal, icon-like image of Christ raising his hand in benediction. The devotional image type derives from Byzantine prototypes but is rendered with Memling's characteristic Netherlandish naturalism Hans Memling brought serene, refined beauty to Flemish devotional painting, becoming the leading artist in Bruges after the death of van der Weyden Oil on canvas, increasingly preferred over panel in the sixteenth century

Christ faces the viewer directly with his right hand raised in blessing, his features rendered with Memling's refined modeling. The translucent quality of the flesh painting and the precise detail of hair and beard demonstrate extraordinary technical skill.