Goes, Hugo van der (c. 1440–1482)

Flemish painter. Chiefly active in Ghent. His works were highly praised by Italian artists, particularly his Portinari Altarpiece (c. 1475; Uffizi, Florence), typically rich both in symbolism and naturalistic detail.

He began with small panels warmly coloured and detailed in the van Eyck fashion, but from about 1474 he worked on a larger scale, using cool and translucent colour and often expressing great emotional intensity. His best-known work, the Portinari Altarpiece, was executed for the agent of the Medici at Bruges, Tommaso Portinari. It made a great impression on the Florentines, being closely studied by Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Goes was favourably mentioned by the historian Giorgio Vasari.

Other works are the Adoration of the Magi (Staatliche Museen, Berlin), Death of the Virgin (c. 1480, Musée Communale des Beaux Arts, Bruges), and Monk Meditating (Metropolitan Museum, New York).

Goes became a monk in the Roode-Clooster, Brussels in 1475 but continued to paint, though suffering intermittently in the last years of his life from fits of severe depression.