But the latter is more interesting than the former, because it tells
how Memlinc, long after Rogier’s death and his own settlement
at Bruges, preserved the traditions of sacred art which had been
applied in the first part of the century by Rogier van der Weyden to
the “Last Judgment” of Beaune. All that Memlinc did was to
purge his master’s manner of excessive stringency, and add to his
other qualities a velvet softness of pigment, a delicate transparence
of colours, and yielding grace of slender forms. That such a beautiful
work as the “Last Judgment” of Danzig should have been bought
for the Italian market is not surprising when we recollect that
picture-fanciers in that country were familiar with the beauties of
Memlincs compositions, as shown in the preference given to them
by such purchasers as Cardinal Grimari and Cardinal Bembo at
Venice, and the heads of the house of Medici at Florence. But
Memlinc’s reputation was not confined to Italy or Flanders. The
“Madonna and Saints” which passed out of the Duchatel collection
into the gallery of the Louvre, the “Virgin and Child” painted
for Sir John Donne and now at Chatsworth, and other noble specimens
in English and Continental private houses, show that his work
was as widely known and appreciated as it could be in the state
of civilization of the 16th century. It was perhaps not their sole
attraction that they gave the most tender and delicate possible
impersonations of the “Mother of Christ” that could suit the taste
of that age in any European country. But the portraits of the
donors, with which they were mostly combined, were more characteristic,
and probably more remarkable as likenesses, than any
that Memlinc’s contemporaries could produce. Nor is it unreasonable
to think that his success as a portrait painter, which is manifested
in isolated busts as well as in altarpieces, was of a kind to react with
effect on the Venetian school, which undoubtedly was affected by
the partiality of Antonello da Messina for trans-Alpine types studied
in Flanders in Memlinc’s time. The portraits of Sir John Donne
and his wife and children in the Chatsworth altarpiece are not less
remarkable as models of drawing and finish than as refined presentations
of persons of distinction; nor is any difference in this
respect to be found in the splendid groups of father, mother, and
children which fill the noble altarpiece of the Louvre. As single
portraits, the busts of Burgomaster Moreel and his wife in the
museum of Brussels, and their daughter the “Sibyl Zambetha”
(according to the added description) in the hospital at Bruges, are
the finest and most interesting of specimens. The “Seven Griefs
of Mary” in the gallery of Turin, to which we may add the “Seven
Joys of Mary” in the Pinakothek of Munich, are illustrations of
the habit which clung to the art of Flanders of representing a cycle
of subjects on the different planes of a single picture, where a wide
expanse of ground is covered with incidents from the Passion in
the form common to the action of sacred plays.
The masterpiece of Memlinc’s later years, a shrine containing relics of St Ursula in the museum of the hospital of Bruges, is fairly supposed to have been ordered and finished in 1480. The delicacy of finish in its miniature figures, the variety of its landscapes and costume, the marvellous patience with which its details are given, are all matters of enjoyment to the spectator. There is later work of the master in the “St Christopher and Saints" of 1484 in the academy, or the Newenhoven “Madonna” in the hospital of Bruges, or a large “Crucifixion,” with scenes from the Passion, of 1491 in the cathedral of Lübeck. But as we near the close of Memlinc’s career we observe that his practice has become larger than he can compass alone; and, as usual in such cases, the labour of disciples is substituted for his own. The registers of the painters corporation at Bruges give the names of two apprentices who served their time with Memlinc and paid dues on admission to the gild in 1480 and 1486. These subordinates remained obscure.
The trustees of his will appeared before the court of wards at Bruges on the 10th of December 1495, and we gather from records of that date and place that Memlinc left behind several children and a considerable property.
Authorities.—K. Michiels, Memlinc: sa vie et ses ouvrages (Verviers, 1881); T. Gaedertz, Hans Memling und dessen Altarschrein im Dom zu Lübeck (Leipzig, 1883); Jules du Jardin, L’École de Bruges. Hans Memling, son temps, sa vie et son œuvre (Antwerp, 1897); Ludwig Kämmerer, Memling (Leipzig, 1899); W. H. J. Weale, Hans Memlinc (London, 1901), Hans Memlinc: Biography (Bruges, 1901). (J. A. C.; P. G. K.)
MEMMINGEN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria, on the Ach, a tributary of the Iller, 35 m. S.W. of Augsburg on
the railway to Ulm. Pop. (1905), 11,618. It is partly surrounded
with walls, and has some interesting old gates and houses. It
contains the fine Gothic church of St Martin, which contains 67
beautifully carved choir-stalls, and a town hall dating from about
1580. Its industrial products are yarn, calico, woollen goods,
thread. A considerable trade is carried on in hops, which are
extensively cultivated in the neighbourhood, and in cattle, wool,
leather and grain.
Memmingen, first mentioned in a document of 1010, belonged originally to the Guelf family, and later to the Hohenstaufens. In 1286 it became a free city of the empire, a position which it maintained down to 1802, when it was allotted to Bavaria. In 1331 it was a member of the league of, Swabian towns; in 1530 it was one of the four towns which presented the Confessio Tetrapolitana to the emperor Ferdinand I.; and a few years later it joined the league of Schmalkalden. During the Thirty Years’ War it was alternately occupied by the Swedes and the Imperialists. In May 1800 the French gained a victory over the Austrians near Memmingen.
See Dobel, Memmingen im Reformationszeitalter (Augsburg, 1877–1878), and Clauss, Memmingen Chronik, 1826–1892 (Memmingen, 1894).
MEMMIUS, GAIUS (incorrectly called Gemellus, “The Twin”), Roman orator and poet, tribune of the people (66 B.C.), friend
of Lucretius and Catullus. At first a strong supporter of Pompey,
he quarrelled with him, and went over to Caesar, whom he had
previously attacked. In 54, as candidate for the consulship,
he lost Caesar’s support by revealing a scandalous transaction
in which he and his fellow candidate had been implicated (Cic.
Ad Att. iv. 15–18). Being subsequently condemned for illegal
practices at the election, he withdrew to Athens, and afterwards
to Mytilene. He died about the year 49. He is remembered
chiefly because it was to him that Lucretius addressed the De
rerum natura, perhaps with the idea of making him a convert to
the doctrines of Epicurus. It appears from Cicero (Ad Fam.
xiii. 1) that he possessed an estate on which were the ruins of
Epicurus’ house, and that he had determined to build on the site
a house for himself. According to Ovid (Trist. ii. 433) he was
the author of erotic poems. He possessed considerable oratorical
abilities, but his contempt for Latin letters and preference
for Greek models impaired his efficiency as an advocate (Cic.
Brut. 70).
Another Gaius Memmius, tribune in 111 B.C., attacked the aristocrats on a charge of corrupt relations with Jugurtha. Memmius subsequently stood for the consulship in 99, but was slain in a riot stirred up by his rival the praetor Glaucia. Sallust describes him as an orator, but Cicero (De oratore, ii. 59, 70) had a poor opinion of him.
MEMNON, in Greek mythology, son of Tithonus and Eos
(Dawn), king of the Aethiopians. Although mentioned in
Hesiod and the Odyssey, he is rather a post-Homeric hero.
After the death of Hector he went to assist his uncle Priam
against the Greeks. He performed prodigies of valour, but was
slain by Achilles, after he had himself killed Antilochus, the son
of Nestor and the friend of Achilles. His mother, Eos, removed
his body from the field of battle, and it was said that Zeus,
moved by her tears, bestowed immortality upon him. According
to another account, Memnon was engaged in single combat
with Ajax Telamonius, when Achilles slew him before his
warriors had time to come to his aid (Dictys Cretensis iv. 6;
Quintus Smyrnaeus ii.; Pindar, Pythia, vi. 31). His mother
wept for him every morning, and the early dew-drops were said
to be her tears. His companions were changed into birds,
called Memnonides, which came every year to fight and lament
over his grave, which was variously located (Ovid, Metam. xiii.
576–622; Pausanias x. 31). The story of Memnon was the
subject of the lost Aethiopis of Arctinus of Miletus; the chief
source from which our knowledge of him is derived is the second
book of the Posthomerica of Quintus Smyrnaeus (itself probably
an adaptation of the works of Arctinus and Lesches), where his
exploits and death are described at length. As an Aethiopian,
Memnon was described as black, but was noted for his beauty.
The fight between Achilles and Memnon was often represented
by Greek artists, as on the chest of Cypselus, and more than one
Greek play was written bearing his name as a title. In later
times the tendency was to regard Memnon as a real historical
figure. He was said to have built the royal citadel of Susa,
called after him the Memnonion, and to have been sent by
Teutamus, king of Assyria, to the assistance of his vassal Priam
(Diod. Sic. ii. 22). In Egypt, the name of Memnon was connected
with the colossal statues of Amenophis (Amenhotep) III.
near Thebes, two of which still remain. The more northerly
of these was partly destroyed by an earthquake (27 B.C.) and
the upper part thrown down. A curious phenomenon then
occurred. Every morning, when the rays of the rising sun
touched the statue, it gave forth musical sounds, like the
