Raphael Coxie

He executed the painting in collaboration with Hans Vredeman de Vries, who was responsible for the architectonic elements of the composition.

In the period 1588-89 he spent time in Ghent on a major commission for a painting of the Last Judgement to be placed in the chamber of the city aldermen.

The painting had been ordered by the local city magistrate to replace a panel by Cornelis van der Goes that had gone missing after the iconoclastic fury of the Beeldenstorm.

[3] The fee for the work had not been agreed beforehand and when the Ghent aldermen offered to pay an amount of 1,000 guilders Coxie relied on a clause in the contract to have the value of the painting assessed by masters or other persons knowledgeable on these matters.

The aldermen paid the amount of 1,400 guilders but then a conflict arose over the return of the advance fee received by Coxie.

[9] While in Ghent Coxie also painted a Resurrection of Christ for the monks of the Abbey of Drongen, which he donated to them in gratitude for their hospitality.

[10] He is recorded in 1597 as making, in collaboration with Gilbert van Veen, several portraits commissioned by Philip II of Spain.

[14] His works are painted in the Italianate style that his father introduced in Flanders after his return from a study period in Italy.

The life-size nudes at the bottom left of the panel are reminiscent of Michelangelo, while the upper part representing heaven calls to mind Raphael's work.

[3] The Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht holds a Crucifixion that has tentatively been attributed to Raphael Coxie or Gillis Mostaert.