The left wing of a triptych: Saint William of Maleval with two kneeling donors

Ambrosius Benson was a South Netherlandish painter of Italian birth who, despite recent strides in scholarship, has remained rather enigmatic. Originally known as ‘Ambrogio Benzone’, he may have been attracted to Bruges by its commercial and artistic reputation, and he acquired citizenship in 1518, being admitted to the guild of painters the following year. He is known to have worked in the studio of Gerard David, and his emerging style showed both Netherlandish and Lombard influences, which proved to be a highly successful formula.

The panel will originally have served as the left wing of a triptych with a Lamentation or Madonna and Child in the centre and the female donors on the right wing. We are grateful to Till-Holger Borchert for proposing the attribution, on the basis of photographs, and dating the panel to the 1530s. He furthermore notes that it was probably a Spanish commission. While the donors have yet to be identified, it is likely that they chose to appear with their patron saint. William of Maleval was a dissolute soldier prior to settling as a hermit near Siena in the mid-12th century. He is also depicted in Hans Memling’s Moreel triptych (circa 1484; Bruges, Groeninge Museum); commissioned by the important Bruges politician Willem Moreel for the church of Saint James’s, Bruges, it would have been accessible to Benson who is known to have been active in the city in the 1530s and 1540s.