Pendant portraits of an unknown elderly couple, once parts of a diptych

Artist	Hans Memling
Year	1470-1472
Medium	Oil on panel
Dimensions	each 35 by 29 centimetres (14 in × 11 in)
Location	Louvre and Gemäldegalerie (separate ownership)

The Diptych of an elderly couple is a pair of bust-length wedding portraits by Hans Memling, which were formerly attached with pegs and were split some time before they were sold separately in 1894. One is in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie and the other is in the collection of the Louvre.^[1] When viewed side by side the landscape background joins up to form a whole.

Nothing is known of the diptych before it was split. The paintings were sold from the collection of F. Meazza of Milan at the sale in April 1894.^[2] The Bode Museum purchased the male half, where it was later seen by William Henry James Weale, who included it in his 1901 Memling catalog: Another early portrait is in the Berlin Gallery, the bust of a man about seventy years of age, turned to the left, his hand resting on a parapet. He is clad in a black cloth robe, trimmed with fur, and wears a black cap which partly covers his ear. In the background are meadows and trees ; on the left, a castle with a crenelated bridge ; a cavalier is watering his horse at the stream, which flows past it into a wide river.^[3]

The female half was purchased by Leo Nardus and eventually sold by F. Kleinberger to the Louvre in 1908.^[1] Before that, the painting was lent to Weale for his 1902 Bruges exhibition, so he must have seen it soon after publishing his Memling catalog, and he mentions in the exhibition catalog that it is the other half of the Berlin portrait.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b RKD. "Portret van een bejaard echtpaar (man), ca. 1470-1472". RKDimages. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
^ Catalogue de tableaux, objets d'art et de curiosité formant la galerie de Mr. le Chevr. F. Meazza de Milan : tableaux de maîtres italiens, flamands, hollandais, français et espagnols, gravures et dessins, faïences, porcelaines, bronzes, verreries, armes et armures, meubles et objets de curiosité., sale catalog by August Riblet, 1884
^ An old man, Berlin Royal Museum, portrait, 529C description in Hans Memlinc catalog pp. 67 and 102, by William Henry James Weale, 1901
^ Cat. nr. 71 in Exposition des primitifs flamands à Bruges

v t e Hans Memling
Individual religious panels	Virgin and Child Enthroned with two Musical Angels, c. 1467 Scenes from the Passion of Christ, c. 1470 Adoration of the Magi, c. 1471 Mater Dolorosa, c. 1475 Madonna and Child with Angels, c. 1479 Allegory with a Virgin, c. 1479–1480 Advent and Triumph of Christ, c. 1480 Mater Dolorosa, c. 1480 Mystic Marriage of St Catherine, c. 1480 Angel Musicians, 1480s Pagagnotti Triptych, c. 1480 Christ Surrounded by Musician Angels, c. 1480s Annunciation, 1480s Adam and Eve, c. 1485 Bathsheba, c. 1485 Madonna and Child with Saint James and Saint Dominic, c. 1485
Polyptychs	Last Judgment, c. 1467–1471 Diptych of an elderly couple, c. 1470–1472 Diptych of Jean de Cellier, c. 1475 Jan Floreins Altarpiece, 1479 St John Altarpiece, 1479 Adoration of the Magi, c. 1479–1480 Adriaan Reins Altarpiece, 1480 Donne Triptych, c. 1480 Moreel Triptych, 1484 Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation, c. 1485 Benedetto Portinari Triptych, 1487 Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove, 1487 St. Ursula Shrine, c. 1489 Christ Surrounded by Singing and Music-making Angels, c. 1483–1494
Portraits	Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat, c. 1465–1470 Portrait of a Man, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of Tommaso Portinari, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of Maria Portinari, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of an Elderly Man, c. 1470–1475 Portrait of an Elderly Woman, c. 1470–1475 Portrait of a Man with a Pink Carnation, 1475 Portrait of Benedetto Portinari, 1478 Portrait of Willem Morell, c. 1480 Portrait of a Man with a Roman Medal, c. 1480 Portrait of Barbara van Vlaendenbergh, c. 1480 Sibylla Sambetha, c. 1480 Portrait of Folco Portinari, c. 1490