Memling, Hans or Jan, a celebrated Flemish painter, was born at Constanz in 1439, according to Dr. Boisseree, but other authorities, among whom may be cited Mrs. Heaton, assert positively that his birthplace was Bruges, and that he was born in 1430. There was for a long time a fierce controversy as to this painter's name, some writers insisting that it should be written JlemliiKj or llemmelinck, and that he was of German origin ; there is, however, very little reason for doubting that Jlemling was the real name of the painter whose works adorn the Chapel of St. John at Bruges. There is but little known of his life; he appears to have lived some years in Spain, and is supposed to have visited Italy and Germany — certainly Cologne ; he is also said to have served Charles the Bold of Burgundy, botli a.'- painter and as warrior. He was admitted, wounded and destitute, into the Hospital of St. John at Bruges, a re- ligious institution, in which none but inhabitants of Bruges were entered (which fact i3 also given to prove that he was born in Bruges), and, upon recovering, painted, from gratitude at his kind treatment, the beau- tiful picture of Sibiil Zambvth. There are a number of works of art in this hospital by Memling, prominent among which is the history, in minute figures, of St. Ursula, the virgin saint of Cologne, and her compan- ions, exquisitely painted in oil in manj' compartments, upon a relic case of Gothic design, known as La Cliasse de Ste. Ursule. Memling painted also during his stay at this hospital the Adoration of the Mayi, the large altar-piece of the Marriatje i>f Ut. Catharine, the Ma- donna and Child, and a Di-snid fmiii il,c Cross. Nine pictures by ^lemling are in the .Miini( li (iallcry, among which the greatest arc, Jsra< /it(s <■<>//, ,fi,i;/ M'auna, St. Christophir carrying the infant Christ, Abraham and Melchizedtk, the Seizure of Christ in the Garden, a Sancta Veronica or Face of Christ, the .Joys and Sor- rows of the Virifin, and the .fourney of the three Kings of the East. Kathgeber enumerates over one hundred works which are attributed to Memling, but few of them, however, can be authenticated. He also decorated mis- sals and other books of Church service, one of which is in the Library of St. Mark at Venice. Jlemling proba-
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bly died in the year 1499, as an authentic document pre- served in the records of tlie town of Bruges, dated in 1499, speaks of him as " the late Meestre Hans." See Mrs. Heaton, Masterpieces of Flemish Ai-t (Lond. 18G9, 4to) ; Kuglor's Hand-book of Painting, transl. by Waagen (Lond. 18G0, 2 vols. r2mo) ; ilrs. Jameson, Legends of the Madonna, p. 19, 89, 105, 202, 304.
Memmi, Simon, an eminent Siennese painter, was born in 128.5. Yasari says he was a pupil of Giotto; Lanzi, however, claims him as a scholar of the Siennese maestro Mino. He was a close imitator of the style of Giotto, whom he accompanied to Rome. After bis master's death he painted a Virgin in the portico of St. Peter, also two figures of St. Paul and St. Peter upon the wall between the arches of the portico on the outer side. He then returned to Sienna, where he was appointed by the Signoria to paint one of the halls of their palace in fresco, the subject being a Virgin, with many figures around her. He painted three other pict- ures in the same palace, one of which, an Annunciation, was afterwards removed to the gallery of the Uffizi. The other represented tlie Virgin holding the Child in her arms, and was destroyed by the earthquake of 1798. He was invited to Florence by the general of the Au- gustines, where he painted a very remarkable Cruci- fixion. Vasari says, "In this painting tlie thieves on the cross are seen expiring, the soul of the repentant thief being joyfully borne to heaven by angels, while that of the impenitent departs, accompanied by devils, and roughly dragged by these dicmons to the torments of hell" {Lives of the Painters, i, 184). He also painted three of the walls of the chapter-house of Santa Maria Novella. On the first wall, over the entrance, is the Life of San Domenico; on that which is nearest the church h'j represented the Jirethren of the Dominican Or- der contending against the Heretics; on the third, which is where the altar stands, was depicted the Crucifixion of Christ. Many other works are attributed to him jointly with his "brother Lijjpo Memmi, who also prac- ticed the art of painting with great success. About 1342 the two brothers returned to Sienna, where Simon commenced a work of vast extent, being a Coronation of the Virgin, with an extraordinary number of figures. He died before its completion at Avignon, in July, 1344. See Vasari, Lives of the Painters, transl. by Foster (Lond. 1850, 5 vols. 8vo), i, 181 ; Lanzi's Uistonj of Painting, transl. by Roscoe (Lond. 1847, 3 vols. 8vo), i, 278 ; Mrs. Jameson, Legends of the Madonna (Lond. 1857, 8vo), p. 172, 273.
Mem'mius, Quintis (KoVjtoc Mf/ijuioc). one of the Roman ambassadors sent to the Jews by Lysias (2 Mace, xi, 31) about B.C. 103-2. Sec JIanliis.
Memorial is the name (1) of a prayer of oblation; the prayer in the order of the communion beginning '• O Lord and heavenly Father," which follows the com- munion of the faithful. (2) The tomb of a martyr, or a church dedicated to his memory. (3) The commemo- ration of a concurrent lesser festival by the use of its collect. (4) Exequies, an office for the dead said by the priest in the 14th century in England. — Walcott, /S«c/ed A rchaol. s. v.