Justus of Ghent was the best-known Netherlandish painter active in Italy in the 15th century. He was employed at the court of Federico of Montefeltro at Urbino in the early 1470s. His work there was known to the young Raphael.
Justus is recorded as a master in Antwerp in 1460 and from 1464 to 1469 he was active in Ghent. He was in contact there with Hugo van der Goes, who was probably younger than Justus but an important influence on the development of his style.
Justus visited Rome before 1475. At Urbino he apparently headed a studio where he was assisted by other painters, including the Spaniard Pedro Berruguete. The main works he executed there were the altarpiece of the 'Communion of the Apostles', for which Uccello painted the predella (in the Urbino Gallery), and a series of mainly imaginary portraits of famous men for the study of Federico's palace at Urbino.
Justus of Ghent
active about 1460 - 1480
Paintings by Justus of Ghent
Justus of Ghent and workshop
A young man kneels before a richly dressed woman enthroned in a classical alcove, and looks at a portable organ sitting on the step beside him. She is an allegory of Music and, along with Rhetoric (National Gallery, London), was part of a series showing the seven liberal arts that was painted for...
Justus of Ghent and workshop
A lady seated in an alcove points out a passage in a book to a young man kneeling before her. This is Rhetoric, or argument, an allegorical figure who represented one of the seven liberal arts which made up the medieval curriculum. She is one of a series of paintings made in the late 1470s by Jus...