Although born in Germany, Hans Memling (or Memlinc) spent most of his career working in the Flemish town of Bruges. Last Judgment is a wonderful example of his distinct style, which combines Germanic spirituality and gracefulness with the Flemish obsession for rich, naturalistic detail in oil. During his successful career, Memling painted the portraits of and religious scenes for the wealthy burghers of Bruges as well as the many foreign businessmen linked to the city. This particular triptych was commissioned by Angelo Tani (1415-1492), a Florentine agent of the Medici bank in Bruges, for his new chapel in the church of Badia Fiesolana in Florence. Tani and his new bride, Caterina Tanagli, appear on the outside of the side panels and would have been visible when the triptych was closed, thus indicating their piety. Memling worked on the painting from 1467-71 and in 1473 it was shipped to Porto Pisano, only to be seized by a Polish warship and transported to Danzig (Gdansk), where it still remains today. This triptych, one of the earliest and most remarkable of Memling’s works, depicts Christ’s Last Judgment of humankind, a theme commonly treated in art of the time. Scenes, like this one, depicting an apocalyptic vision of Judgment Day were often intended to warn against sin by illustrating the potential fate of those who turned away from the Christian Church. The influence of the celebrated Rogier van der Weyden, with whom Memling may have studied, is apparent in several compositional components, particularly the traditional Gothic elements of Christ as Judge seated on a rainbow surrounded by angels bearing instruments of the passion, St. Michael weighing the souls of men, the intercessors Mary and John the Baptist flanked by the apostles and various saints, and the nude figures of resurrected humankind. However, Memling’s portrayal is more complex and splendidly detailed. In contrast to Rogier, Memling includes the battle between the angels and demons for the souls of the resurrected, with Michael now clad in ...