Altarpiece of Saints Thomas and Matthias

Bernard van Orley painted this Altarpiece of Saints Thomas and Matthias around 1515 for the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Van Orley was the leading painter in Brussels and court artist to Margaret of Austria, combining Netherlandish craft with Italian influences from Raphael Bernard van Orley introduced Italian Renaissance elements into Flemish painting, serving as court painter in Brussels and designing celebrated tapestry cycles Altarpieces featuring rows of standing saints served both liturgical

The altarpiece demonstrates van Orley's synthesis of detailed Netherlandish technique with Italian Renaissance compositional principles, presenting the saints with both surface refinement and spatial grandeur.