Ambrosius Benson

Ambrosius Benson was an Italian painter who became a part of the Northern Renaissance. While many surviving paintings have been attributed, there is very little known of him from records, and he tended not to sign his work. He is believed to have produced mainly religious art, but also painted portraits on commission. He sometimes painted from classical sources, often setting the figures in a modern dress or a contemporary domestic setting. In his lifetime, he was successful; he had a large workshop, his work was sold internationally, and he was especially popular in Spain. Benson worked as a journeyman before he was made master in 1519 and became a member of the guild of painters and saddle makers. He eventually became a dean and then a governor of the guild. He married Anna Ghyselin, and had two sons with her, Jan and Willem, both of whom became painters. He later remarried and had a daughter Anna. He is believed to have had at least two other daughters from extramarital affairs.

Benson came into dispute with Gerard around 1519 over a number of paintings and drawings Benson had created—including a book of studies for heads and nudes as well as various patterns—in the older master's workshop without his assistance. David refused to return the material, and after Benson pursued him legally, served time in prison for his appropriation.

Perhaps under the influence of Rogier van der Weyden's 15th-century The Magdalen Reading, Benson was one of the first artists to popularise images of women reading. It became a motif for him, and he painted the scene many times in his images of Mary Magdalen and the Sybil Persica, whom he treated as almost interchangeable. A The Magdalen Reading by Benson is held in the National Gallery, London.

Benson died in 1550, in Flanders.

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