STOCKT, Vrancke van der

Flemish painter. The anonymous Brussels painter named the Master of the Prado Redemption after the key painting attributed to him was subsequently identified as Vrancke van der Stockt. He became a master in the Brussels GuildGLOSSARYAn association of the masters of a particular craft, trade or profession (painters, goldsmiths, surgeons, and so on) set up to protect its members' rights and interests. Such guilds existed in virtually every European city in the 16th century. The guild also monitored standards of work, acted as a court for those who brought their trade into disrepute, and provided assistance to members in need. of St Luke in 1445 and in the same year inherited the workshop of his father, Jan van der Stockt (d. after 23 May 1444), where he had doubtless trained. In 1453 he witnessed a deed in the house of Rogier van der Weyden, which suggests that the two were friends and possibly collaborators. Van der Stockt succeeded van der Weyden as official painter to the town on the latter's death in 1464; in 1468 he worked in Bruges on the decorations for the wedding of Margaret of York and Charles the Bold.

Van der Stockt was a town councillor in 1465, 1472 and 1475 and the head of the Confraternity of St Eloy from 1471 to 1473, both of which posts indicate the social standing he had achieved alongside his artistic activities. On 10 August 1489 he and his wife, Catherine de Moeyen, drew up their will, which mentions two sons, both painters. Bernaert van der Stockt (b. before 1469; d. after 1538) inherited two-thirds of the stock and drawings in the studio, the other third going to Michiel van der Stockt (b. before 1469).