Vrancke van der Stockt

Netherlandish, before 1420–1495

BiographyVrancke van der Stockt became a master in the Brussels guild of St. Luke in 1445, and in the same year inherited the studio of his father, the painter Jan van der Stockt (died ca. 1444-45). Vrancke probably trained with his father, but the most pervasive influence on his art was from Rogier van der Weyden (ca. 1399/1400-1464). Van der Stockt was a friend and possibly a collaborator of van der Weyden, and succeeded him as official painter to the town of Brussels in 1464. Van der Stockt held significant administrative positions in Brussels, and served several times as town councillor between 1465 and 1475. He and his wife, Catherine de Moeyen, had five children, of whom two were painters: Bernaert (before 1469-ca. 1538) and Michiel (b. before 1469).

There are no documented paintings known by van der Stockt, but he is recognized as the most direct follower and popularizer of the art of Rogier van der Weyden. A fairly large, homogeneous group of works--both paintings and drawings--have been attributed to him based on their relationship to the Redemption triptych in the Museo del Prado, Madrid (inv. 1881-1892), first isolated and identified as a work by this follower of van der Weyden in the 1920s.