Flemish school, 19th century. C Copy of part of the triptych of by Jan Floreins (1479), by HANS MEMLING (Seligenstadt, c.1423/1443- Bruges, 1494). "Saint Baptist and The Veronica. Diptych. Pair of oil paintings on panel. Frames from the 17th century. Measurements: 40 x 20 cm (each panel); 53.5 x 33.5 cm (frames). This pair of panels is a copy of the paintings that Hans Memling painted on the back of the Triptych by Jan Floreins (conserved in the hospital of St. John in Bruges (Belgium), which are shown with the triptych closed. The Nativity, the Adoration and the Presentation to the Temple preside on the obverse, while the two saints under beautiful Gothic arches dominate the reverse: John the Baptist on the left panel and Saint Veronica on the right. The pair of panels shown here are faithful to the original in every detail: the Baptist points to the Lamb at his feet; Veronica holds a cloth with the Holy Face. The lake landscape, composed in a wide panoramic view, depicts the theme of Christ s baptism in the Jordan. It is a representation that continues from one panel to the next, in the same way that the Agnus Dei on the left panel is symbolically linked to the Passion of Christ, which is foreshadowed by the image printed on the saint s cloth. Stylistically, the painter of this pair of copies remains faithful to Memling s soft, delicate style, the stylisation of his figures and his magnificent colouring, with a prevalence of emerald and glaucous tones. The detailed, almost miniaturist attention to detail in the vegetation and in the rendering of the bodies and drapery harmonises with an atmospheric creation based on shades of blue that are subtly densified in the distance. The figures in the background (Christ being baptised, John and the archangel) blend naturally into their surroundings. A trompe l oeil architectural frame, with small statuettes (representing Adam and Eve) that seem to come to life on either side of the pointed arches, frames both scenes. All this is present in the original panels. The painter has succeeded in recreating the harmonious purification of forms and emotions that defined Memling s painting. The Flemish painter had been inspired by Rogier van der Weyden s Triptych of Saint Columba, but Memling softened his master s inheritance. This pair of panels must also have been based on the small diptych of Saint John the Baptist and Veronica painted by Memling around 1483. The two panels are now in separate collections (the Baptist in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the Veronica in the National Gallery of Art, Washington). On that occasion Memling located the saints in a rocky setting, but their attitudes and gestures were very similar to those of the triptych. This is a worthy tribute to the legacy of Flemish painting, from the early heirs of Van Eyck and his unusual sense of light and colour to the dreamlike landscapes of the 17th century.