Adriaen Isenbrant

Adriaen Isenbrandt or Adriaen Ysenbrandt (between 1480 and 1490 – July 1551) was a Northern Renaissance painter. Documentary evidence suggests he was a significant artist of his period, even though no specific works by his hand are clearly documented. Art historians have conjectured that he operated a large workshop specializing in religious subjects and devotional paintings, which were executed in a conservative style in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was believed by Georges Hulin de Loo to be the same person as the anonymous Master of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin or Pseudo-Mostaert. Other art historians doubt that any works can be reliably attributed to him, and the number of paintings attributed to him by major museums has been in decline for many decades.

There are only a few documentary records of his life, and some mentions in literature from the artist's lifetime or soon after. Even so there are no documents which link him as the creator of any surviving works. It is possible that he was born in Haarlem or Antwerp around 1490. It is not known where or with which painter he served his apprenticeship.

He is named for the first time in 1510, when he came to Bruges and bought his burghership. In November of the same year he became master in the local painters' Guild of St. Luke and the goldsmiths' guild of St. Elooi. He was later elected nine times as a "deacon" (in Old Dutch : vinder) and twice as the governor (in Old Dutch : gouverneur = treasurer) of the guild.

He quickly established an important workshop, probably in the Korte Vlaminckstraat in Bruges. This was close to the workshop of Gerard David, at the Vlamijncbrugghe and the former workshop of Hans Memling. Bruges, at that time, was one of the richest towns in Europe. Rich traders and merchants ordered diptychs and portraits for personal use. Isenbrandt painted mainly for private clients. However, there were some paintings that were created without any particular commission. He had enough work to even put out work to other painters in Bruges, as a legal suit from 1534 by Isenbrandt against Jan van Eyck (not the famous one) for non-delivery of paintings he had ordered, demonstrates. He was also appointed the agent in Bruges of the painter Adriaan Provoost (son of Jan Provoost), who had moved to Antwerp in 1530. Contemporary sources therefore mention Isenbrandt as a famous and well-to-do painter.

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