Portraits of Cornelius Duplicius de Scheppere and his wife Elizabeth Donche

Although born in Lombardy, the principal activity of this Netherlandish painter and portraitist was in Bruges, the northern city which supplied his audience and his livelihood. A prolific author of devotional panels in the tradition of Jan van Eyck, Gerard David and even Hugo van der Goes, Benson had a miniaturist's capability and love of detail. His religious images - by far the bulk of his output and frequently made for export to France and Italy - possess a note of introspection which carries over to his secular efforts. In the case of this flawlessly preserved pair of pendant portraits, the sitters seem as alert to their own interior imaginings as to any dialogue with each other or the external world. Small in scale, they were designed primarily for ease of storage, transport and display. Benson's typically warm palette is well demonstrated, especially in the clothing.

AGNSW Handbook, 1999.