Willem Vrelant

Saint George and the Dragon by Vrelant

Willem Vrelant (died c. 1481/1482) was a Dutch book illuminator.

Life

He is first registered in 1449, when an illuminator from Vreeland named Willem Backer obtained citizenship of Utrecht.[1] He may have lived in Utrecht for years, as in 1450 he finished there the Hours of William de Montfort. From 1454 to 1481 he is recorded as a member of the Bruges guild of bookmakers. His large and productive workshop produced (among others) a book of hours which is now in Baltimore (1455–60), the Hours of Isabella of Castille (c.1460), the Chronicles of Hainaut (1468) and individual miniatures in the Hours of Mary of Burgundy (c.1480).

Following Vrelant's death, his widow inherited his workshop. Madame Vrelant ran the studio alongside Elisabeth Scepens, one of his former pupils.[2]

See also

Bibliography

  • (in German) Ingo F. Walther, Norbert Wolf: Meisterwerke der Buchmalerei, S. 480. Köln u.a., Taschen 2005, ISBN 3-8228-4747-X

References

  1. ^ Thomas Kren, Scot McKendrick, Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe, 2003, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, p. 117.
  2. ^ York, Laura (2002). "Scepens, Elizabeth (fl. 1476)". In Commire, Anne (ed.). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Waterford, Connecticut: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4074-3.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Willem Vrelant.