_Petrus Cristus_ (Flemish: about 1410-1472).
Cristus was born at Baerle, near Ghent. He purchased the right
of citizenship at Bruges in 1444--that is, four years after the
death of Jan van Eyck. He cannot therefore have been a pupil
of that master, as has often been surmised; but he belongs to
the school of the Van Eycks "by his realistic style, by the
extreme care he bestowed on details, by his bold and powerful
colouring, and by the tasteful arrangement of his draperies
and interiors. But his works can never be mistaken for those
of Van Eyck; his outline is often harsh, his types are wanting
in character; his figures, designed and executed with very
inferior skill, are not painted in the same impressive manner
as those of the great master" (Wauters). The portrait of a
Venetian consul (No. 696) is ascribed to him.
Acquired by Mr. Salting from the Earl of Northbrook's collection;
No. 10 at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1892--remarkable for the
preciseness and microscopic minuteness of hand displayed in it. The
portrait of a devout and studious young man. He holds an open book;
and on the wall of his chamber there is hung a board on which an
illuminated sheet of vellum, edged with a narrow red riband, has been
nailed. The miniature at the top of it represents the _Vernacle_ (our
Lord's head with cruciform nimbus and rays); and below is a rhymed
prayer, headed _Incipit oratio ad sanctam Veronicam_, and continuing
"Salve sancta facies Nostri redemptoris," etc.