BENING, Flemish family of illuminators

No documented work is known by Alexander (Sanders) Bening, but he was undoubtedly a successful artist. Work previously attributed to various unknown masters has now provisionally been accepted as by him. He married Kathelijn van der Goes, probably a sister or niece of the painter Hugo van der Goes, and his own sister married Goswijn van der Weyden. Sanders and his wife had two sons, Simon Bening, who was trained in his father's craft, and Paul Bening, whose profession is unknown. For Simon Bening, unlike his father, there is not only documentary evidence from numerous sources but also a reconstructed oeuvre that distinguishes him as one of the finest illuminators of his time. Both names have been mentioned as among the artists who produced illustrations for the Grimani Breviary (Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice, MS Lat. I.99). Simon was twice married; by his first wife, Katherine Scroo (d. 1542), he had five daughters. The eldest, Levina Teerlinc, was married to George Teerlinc of Blankenberghe and became a noted miniature painter who worked for the English court. His second daughter, Alexandrine, dealt in craft objects, vellum and cloth. Simon's second wife was Jane Tancre (d. 1555).