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Bernard van ORLEY: signature or monogram

Bernard van Orley is presumed to be the son of Valentin d'Orley, under whom (or under whose son Philipp) he studied and with whom he collaborated over a long period. His engraved work betrays the influence of Raphael and Dürer.

Bernard van Orley graduated in Brussels in 1515 and went on to work for the Vicereine Marguerite of the Low Countries. He was commissioned by the king of Denmark to paint six portraits (of Charles V, Ferdinand I and his four sisters); these were followed by a Last Judgement triptych for the chapel of the Annunciation in Antwerp (1525) and a further triptych for the Brotherhood of the Holy Cross in the church of St-Walburge in Furnes (lost in 1807). In 1518, he was retained as court painter by the Infanta Marguerite for a token honorarium of one sou per day; he duly painted numerous portraits of his patron. In 1527, he and his family were embroiled - as were many of their fellow artists - in the persecution of those citizens of Brussels who had followed the teachings of Jacques van der Elst. Marguerite, alarmed at the prospects of 'her' artists being set upon by the Inquisition, made every effort to save van Orley and continued to retain his services. On her death, van Orley painted a composition for the church at Brou, as the late vicereine had wished; the painting was 'recovered' by Charles V over the protestations of the monks of Brou.

In 1532, Bernard van Orley was retained as court painter to Maria of Hungary (the 'huntress' of his numerous portraits). His acclaimed tapestries known as the Hunts of Maximilian were completed between 1521 and 1530 and are now in the Louvre. They attest to his predilection for grandiose landscapes which, despite a proliferation of innumerable picturesque details, achieve a certain unity by virtue of their broad-based groups of figures. They also demonstrate his particularly 'Flemish' mastery of colour - greens, reds, blue-greys and rust.

Bernard van Orley came into his own as a decorative artist. He completed a series of tapestries under the title Battle of Pavia (now in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples) and, between 1515 and 1519, he supervised the completion of a further series, Acts of the Apostles inspired by the cartoons of Raphael, whose style he clearly admired and emulated (without necessarily having travelled to Italy and/or seen the originals). Towards the end of his life, he created a number of stained glass windows for the collegiate church of Sts-Michel-et-Gudule.

Bernard van Orley married Anna Seghers and, shortly after her death, married Catherina Helluick in 1539. He had nine children, five boys who all became painters, including Michael (c. 1590), Jerome I (1567-1602), and Giles (c. 1535-53); Giles' son, Jerome II, had four sons of his own who perpetuated the van Orley dynasty. Van Orley's roster of pupils included Michiel Coxie, Pieter Cock, van Aelst (or Alost) and Arnoul van der Bruggen.

Examples of van Orley's stained glass include: Charles V and Elizabeth of Portugal and Louis of Hungary and his Wife (church of Ste-Gudule, Brussels); Joris van Egmont, Bishop of Utrecht and his Patron, St Martin (church of Sankt Bavon, Haarlem); Marguerite of Austria and Philip of Savoy and Christ Entering Jerusalem (both now destroyed).