Flandes, Juan de

(c. 1460-1519)

   Flemish painter who was active in Spain and who may have received his training in Antwerp. In 1495, Juan de Flandes was sent to the Spanish court by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I to render the likenesses of the royal children. Among these is the Portrait of an Infanta (1496; Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza), believed to represent Catherine of Aragon as a child. In 1496, Queen Isabella of Spain appointed Flandes court painter. For the queen, he created the so-called Polyptych of Isabel la Católica, originally composed of 47 miniature panels, of which fewer than 30 survive, these scattered in various museums around the world. Christ Crowned with Thorns (c. 1498; Detroit, Institute of Arts) is one of those panels and presents a delicate rendition with luminous surfaces, typical of the miniaturist tradition. After Isabella's death in 1504, Juan de Flandes created retables for the chapel of the University of Salamanca and the Cathedral of Palencia, where he died in 1519.