BROEDERLAM, MELCHIOR. - Flemish-Burgundian painter, b. in Ypres; documented 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. Developing under the influence of Parisian and Burgundian miniaturists, as well as Italian and Flemish painting, he in a way paved the way for the brothers (v.).
Many works, including those from his portraiture activity, are lost; however, the famous paintings for the altar of the Charterhouse of Champmol remain (Dijon Museum; the sculptures are by Jacques de Baerze). The altar is datable between 1392 and 1399, and its paintings represent the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Flight into Egypt. These are among the most precious documents of Late Gothic art, already filled with small naturalistic motifs; they are consequently fine examples of the "International-Courtly style", which, partly thanks to B., also extended to Italian painting of the early 15th century. In the Mayer van den Berg collection in Antwerp there are two panels (Birth of Christ and Adoration of the Child) that belong to B.'s circle and were, without sufficient arguments, attributed to the Champmol altar. The attribution of a drawing in the Basel Museum is also uncertain. - See Pl. IX.