(b Brussels, c. 1488; d Brussels, 6 Jan 1541). Painter and tapestry designer, son of (1) Valentin van Orley. He was one of the greatest proponents of ROMANISM, a northern style based on the ideals of the Italian Renaissance. It must have been in Brussels, however, that he saw the Italian works of art that influenced him so profoundly, for it seems unlikely that he ever travelled to Italy. Brussels was then world-renowned as the centre for tapestry manufacture but was suffering from the ecliptic rise of Antwerp as the pre-eminent painting centre. The artist made the best of both situations, establishing himself as a leading designer for the Brussels tapestry industry and as a master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke by 1517. The following year he became official court painter to the Regent of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria (see HABSBURG, §I(4)), a position he retained (1532–5) under her successor, Mary of Hungary. Despite his skill in both areas, the arts of painting and tapestry design coexisted without competition only briefly in van Orley’s career. Around 1525, as he became more involved in designs for tapestry and stained glass, there is increasing evidence of workshop participation in the paintings.

Part of the Orley, van (i) family

• Orley (i), Bernard van
  • Kempeneer, Peter de
  • Mendoza
  • Orley, van (i)
  • Orley, van (i): (2) Bernard van Orley, §1(i): Paintings
  • Roundel, stained-glass, §2: Design
  • Stained glass, §II, 1(iv): 1300–1539
  • attributions
    • Brussels, §IV, 1(i): Centre of tapestry production, before 1600
    • England, §XI, 1(i): Tapestry, before 1590
  • collaboration
    • Pannemaker, de
  • groups and movements
    • Romanism
  • methods
    • Underdrawing
  • paintings
    • glass
      • Coxcie, Michiel
  • patrons and collectors
    • Boisserée, Melchior and Sulpiz
      • Boisserée
    • Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Parma and Regent of the Netherlands (1522-86)
      • Belgium, §XII, 2: Patronage, 16th century
      • Habsburg, §I: (4) Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy, Regent of the Netherlands
    • Mary of Hungary, Regent of the Netherlands (1505-58)
      • Habsburg, §I: (7) Mary, Queen of Hungary
      • Jagiellon: (3) Louis II, King of Bohemia and Hungary
    • Nassau, Hendrik III, Count of
      • Nassau
    • Przezdziecki, Aleksander (Narcyz Karol)
      • Przezdziecki, Aleksander
    • Robien, Christophe-Paul Gautron, Marquis de
      • Robien, Christophe-Paul Gautron
  • pupils
    • Brussels, §III, 1: Art life and organization, before 1829
    • Coecke van Aelst Pieter, I
    • Gheeraerts: (1) Marcus Gheeraerts (i)
  • tapestries
    • Habsburg, §I: (5) Charles V, §3: Middle years, 1529–44
  • works
    • Aelst, Pieter van
    • Battle pictures and military scenes, §1(ii): The 16th century: Documentary military art
    • Belgium, §III, 2(i): Panel, wall and glass painting, 1400–c 1550
    • Brussels, §V, 1: Cathedral
    • Nude, §2: Middle Ages and Renaissance, to 1600
    • Orange Nassau: (3) Frederick Henry, Stadholder and Prince of Orange
    • Orley, van (i): (2) Bernard van Orley, §1(ii): Designs for tapestry and stained glass
    • Oudry, Jean-Baptiste, §2: Royal patronage, Beauvais and the Gobelins, c 1719–37
    • Tapestry, §II, 2: 1500–1620