A Young Man at Prayer

This painting of a young man at prayer, around 1475, in the National Gallery London, is the right wing of a devotional diptych. The youthful sitter's prayer posture and devout expression indicate the painting's function as a personal devotional aid 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, offered greater flexibility

The young man's profile is rendered with delicate precision, his hands clasped in prayer. The plain background and focused lighting typical of Memling's devotional portraits create an atmosphere of quiet contemplation.