PETRUS CHRISTUS
(c. 1410/1420 – 1475/1476) was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges from 1444. Christus is thought to have been a pupil of Jan van Eyck and to have completed some of his works. Christus was certainly influenced by van Eyck, and his copies and variations helped to spread the Eyckian style.

A late work, the reserved Portrait of a Young Girl belongs among the masterworks of Flemish painting, marking a new development in Netherlandish portraiture. It no longer shows the sitter in front of a neutral background, but in a concrete space defined by the wall panels. Christus had already perfected this format in his two portraits of 1446. The unknown woman, whose exquisite clothing suggests that she might come from France, radiates an aura of discretion and of nobility, while appearing slightly unreal in the elegant stylization of her form.

Petrus Christus, Portrait of a Young Girl, ca. 1470