Hugo van der Goes. Hugo van der Goes was one of the most significant and original Flemish painters of the late 15th century.
Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduced important innovations in painting through his monumental style, use of a specific colour range and individualistic manner of portraiture.
The presence of his masterpiece, the Portinari Triptych in Florence, from 1483 onwards played a role in the development of realism and the use of colour in Italian Renaissance art. Hugo van der Goes was likely born in Ghent or in the vicinity of Ghent around the year 1440.
Nothing is known with certainty about the artist's life prior to 1467, the year in which he became a master in the painters' guild of Ghent. The sponsors for his membership of the guild were Joos van Wassenhove, master painter in Ghent from 1464, and Daneel Ruthaert.
It is likely that he had trained elsewhere before he became a master in Ghent. Some historians have suggested that Dieric Bouts was possibly the master of van der Goes but there is no independent evidence for this. In 1468 the artist was commissioned by the city of Ghent to execute some works in connection with the grant of the Great Indulgence of the city. More commissions from the city in the following years required van der Goes to create decorations for events such as papal blazons. In 1468 he was in the town of Bru