BROEDERLAM, MELCHIOR. — Flemish-Burgundian painter, born in Ypres; documents concerning him exist from 1381 to 1409. He was one of the principal artists at the court of the Dukes of Burgundy, where in 1385 he became “valet de chambre” to Philip the Bold. Developed under the influence of Parisian and Burgundian miniaturists as well as Italian and Flemish painting, he in a certain way prepared the art of the van Eyck (q.v.).
Many works, including some from his portraiture, are lost; however, the famous paintings for the altarpiece of the Charterhouse of Champmol remain (now in the museum of Dijon; the sculptures are by Jacques de Baerze). The altarpiece dates from between 1392 and 1399, and its paintings represent the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Flight into Egypt. They are among the most precious documents of the late Gothic period, already rich in small naturalistic details, and thus fine examples of the “international-courtly style,” which, thanks in part to Broederlam, extended to Italian painting at the beginning of the 15th century. In the Mayer van den Berg collection in Antwerp are two panels (Nativity of Christ and Adoration of the Child) that belong to Broederlam’s circle and were, without sufficient grounds, attributed to the Champmol altarpiece. The attribution of a drawing in the Basel museum is also uncertain. — See Plate IX.