Moreel-Triptychon

In 1484 a Bruges grocer and city politician named Willem Moreel commissioned this from Hans Memling for the family's burial chapel in a local church. On the wings he and his wife kneel in prayer, each with their children behind them, five sons on his side and a long row of daughters on hers. It is one of the earliest surviving group portraits of an ordinary, if wealthy, family, all of them shown at life size. The central panel holds Saint Christopher, the patron of travellers, wading through water with the Christ child on his shoulder. One odd detail has come out under examination: several of the daughters were painted in later, over the landscape, most likely as more children were born after the picture was first finished.