(b Leuven, between 4 April and 10 Sept 1466; d Kiel, nr Antwerp, between 13 July and 16 Sept 1530). Painter.

Rumours regarding Metsys’s early training abound: according to Lampsonius, he was a blacksmith who took up painting in order to woo his sweetheart away from a painter she admired. Van Mander alleged that Metsys was entirely self-taught as a painter, having taken to hand-colouring woodcuts when severe illness prevented his being able to practise the blacksmith’s trade. Despite the unlikelihood of a young painter, however gifted, being permitted to ignore guild restrictions controlling the training of apprentices, there may be an element of truth to both rumours. Metsys’s elder brother, Joost II, did join the family trade, and it is possible that their father, who died when Quinten was about 17, expected both sons to become partners. A consequent traditional attribution to Metsys is the late 15th-century wrought-iron housing of the so-called Massys Well in the Handschoenmarkt near the west front of Antwerp Cathedral.

Part of the Metsys family

• Metsys, Quinten
  • Antwerp Mannerism
  • Belgium, §III, 2(i): Panel, wall and glass painting, 1400–c 1550
  • Leuven
  • Metsys
  • attributions
    • Gothic, §V, 3: Metalwork: Low Countries
    • Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists, §I: Master of the Mansi Magdalene
  • collaboration
    • Metsys: (2) Jan Massys, §2: Work
    • Patinir, Joachim, §1: Life
    • Patinir , Joachim, §3: Staffage and collaboration
  • methods
    • Gilding, §II, 1: Uses: Painting
  • patrons and collectors
    • Figueiredo, Cristóvão de
    • Borbón y Braganza, Sebastián Gabriel
      • Borbón y Braganza Sebastián Gabriel
    • Duarte, Diego
      • Duarte, Diego
    • Elizabeth I, Queen of England (reg 1558-1603)
      • England, §XIII, 1: Collecting and dealing, before 1700
    • Erasmus (of Rotterdam), Desiderius
      • Erasmus, Desiderius
      • Humanism, §3: Humanism and the visual arts
    • Geest, Cornelis van der
      • Geest, Cornelis van der
    • Gillis, Pieter
      • Belgium, §XII, 2: Patronage, 16th century
    • Mead, Richard
      • Mead, Richard
    • Vincenzo I, 4th Duke of Mantua (reg 1587-1612)
      • Gonzaga: (15) Vincenzo I Gonzaga
  • pupils
    • Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists, §I: Master of the Morrison Triptych
  • reproductive prints by others
    • Sadeler: (3) Raphael Sadeler I
  • works
    • Antwerp, §II, 1: Art life and organization, before 1585
    • Belgium, §IX, 1(i): Gold and silver, before 1600
    • Eyck, van: (2) Jan van Eyck, §5: Critical reception and posthumous reputation
    • Frame, §V, 2: The Netherlands and Belgium: Renaissance
    • Genre, §3(i): The 16th century: Northern Europe
    • Medal, §II, 2(iv): 16th century: England and the Low Countries
    • Metsys: (1) Quinten Metsys, §2(i): Religious work
    • Metsys: (1) Quinten Metsys, §2(ii): Secular work