NOTE ON THE LIFE OF BERNARD VAN ORLEY
Bernard van Orley is generally said to have been the second son—third child—of Valentine van Orley by his first wife, Margaret van Pynbroeck, whom he married May 13, 1490. He is further stated to have left Brussels in 1509 for Rome, and to have studied in the school of Raphael, becoming a great favourite with his master. ¶ It seems impossible to reconcile these statements with certain facts which are established beyond doubt by authentic documents. In 1514 Bernard was settled as a master-painter at Brussels, and had already gained a certain reputation, for the confraternity of the Holy Cross at Furnes in 1515 sent a delegate to Brussels to ask him to furnish a design for the altar-piece of their chapel. Bernard must therefore have at that time attained the age of 30,[82] which would put back the date of his birth to 1484–5. And unless there is some error in the date—May 4, 1504—of the procuration published by A. Wauters (‘Bernard van Orley,’ Bruxelles, 1881, p. 70), his birth must have taken place before May 1479, as no minor could give a procuration or power of attorney to another to dispose of property. Children at that time only attained their majority at the age of 25. ¶ If born in 1479 Bernard may well have become a free master or gone to Rome in 1509. I suspect that he was not the son of Valentine and Margaret van Pynbroeck, but of some other Valentine, perhaps the uncle. I know of no document giving the name of his mother.
W. H. JAMES WEALE.