Simon Bening

Southern Netherlands · 1483–1561

Simon Bening was a Flemish miniaturist, generally regarded as the last major artist of the Netherlandish tradition. Bening, born either in Ghent or Antwerp, was probably trained by his father, illuminator Alexander Bening, in the family workshop in Ghent. He travelled between Ghent and Bruges and became a member of the guild of San John and Saint Luke in Bruges as an illuminator in 1508. He made his own name after moving to Bruges in about 1510, where he had lived since.