Benedetto Portinari triptych: Right wing, Portrait of a Praying Man

This portrait of a praying man from the Portinari triptych, around 1487, in the Uffizi, depicts a member of the Portinari banking family that maintained commercial interests in Bruges. The Portinari were also patrons of Hugo van der Goes, and their commissions linked Flemish and Italian artistic traditions. Hans Memling was the most sought-after portraitist in northern Europe in the final decades of the fifteenth century. His portrait manner combines the Flemish tradition of three-quarter bust portraiture, with plain or landscape background, with a personal quality of warmth and psychological approachability that distinguished him from the cooler precision of Jan van Eyck. His Bruges clientele — including merchants from Italy, Spain, and England as well as the local Flemish bourgeoisie — found in his portraits an image of their social aspirations combined with the dignity and specific human presence that made his likenesses memorable.

The donor is shown in devout prayer, his hands clasped and gaze directed toward the companion sacred panel. Memling's precise rendering of the sitter's features creates a convincing portrait within the conventionalized devotional format.