Rogier van der Weyden excelled in the genre of portrait. Unlike Jan van Eyck, he was no realist. He did not seek to capture the particular character of his model, but instead tried to create an ideal image. This approach was very popular with his contemporaries, and brought him considerable success in this genre. He was sought after by the grandest aristocrats and prelates, as well as by the wealthy bourgeoisie, who wanted him to record and embellish their features for posterity. Yet, depending on which historian you believe in, there are only between five and fourteen authenticated portraits by Rogier that have survived to this day.

Although he painted portraits throughout his entire career, many of them integrated into wider contexts and larger scenes, those of his individual portraits that have come down to us show a clear imbalance in their periods: the great majority were not done until the 1450s, and most of them were probably even as late as around 1460 and later.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	Portrait of a Man (Guillaume Fillastre?) 1440s Oil on panel, 33,7 x 23 cm Courtauld Gallery, London
	Portrait of a Man (reverse side) 1440s Oil on panel, 33,7 x 23,5 cm Courtauld Gallery, London
	Lady Wearing a Gauze Headdress c. 1445 Oil on oak panel, 47 x 32 cm Staatliche Museen, Berlin
	St Ivo c. 1450 OIl on oak panel, 45 x 35 cm National Gallery, London
	St Ivo (detail) c. 1450 Wood National Gallery, London
	Portrait of Philip the Good after 1450 Oil on wood, 31 x 23 cm Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon
	Portrait of a Lady c. 1455 Oil on oak panel, 37 x 27 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington
	Portrait of a Man 1455-60 Oil on oak panel, 32 x 22,8 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
	Francesco d'Este c. 1460 Oil on oak panel, 30 x 20 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
	Portrait of Charles the Bold c. 1460 Oil on oak panel, 49 x 32 cm Staatliche Museen, Berlin
	Portrait of Antony of Burgundy c. 1461 Oak, 38,4 x 28 cm Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	Portrait of Antony of Burgundy (detail) c. 1461 Oak Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	Portrait of a Woman c. 1464 Oil on oak panel, 36,5 x 27 cm National Gallery, London