The painter is very probably the same man as the one named Rogier, or Rogelet, de la Pasture, a pupil of Robert Campi
n in 1427. The link with the master from Tournai is supported by the stylistic elements of his early works, such as the \i Deposition\i0 (Madrid, Museo del Prado). Later he moved to Brussels, where he is recorded as the City Painter in 1435. The artistÆ
s style was also influenced by the works of Jan van Eyck. The \i Last Judgment\i0 (Beaune, H⌠tel-Dieu), in particular, is strongly reminiscent of the polyptych of the \i Adoration of the Lamb\i0 by the painter from Bruges. In 1450 he went to Rome for t
he celebrations of the Jubilee Year. The journey to Italy gave him an opportunity to see paintings in important centers like Ferrara (where he worked for Leonello dÆEste), Florence, and Milan. The Italian influence on Rogier van der Weyden can be discern
ed in the more subdued drama and refined spatial conception of his works in these years. In the \i Transport of Christ to the Tomb\i0 (Florence, Uffizi), for instance, there are elements that suggest a familiarity with Fra Angelico and Masaccio. In work
s like the polyptych of \i The Seven Sacraments\i0 (Antwerp, MusΘes Royaux des Beaux-Arts) or the St. Columba triptych with the \i Adoration of the Magi\i0 , the artist focuses his attention on the human component, on the monumentality of the figures in
the sacred scenes. He is also famous for his production of portraits û the \i Young Women\i0 (Berlin) and \i Francesco dÆEste\i0 (New York, Metropolitan Museum) display the naturalism of van Eyck, but with a greater psychological intensity. Taken as a
whole, the work of the painter, whose influence extended all over Europe, shows him to have been one of the founders of the great Flemish school of painting of the fifteenth century.
