Rogier van der Weyden, one of the most influential painters of the Northern Renaissance, was known for his deeply emotional religious scenes, precise detailing, and masterful use of oil paint to create luminous, lifelike textures that set him apart from his contemporaries, including Jan van Eyck, whose work emphasized meticulous realism, while van der Weyden focused on heightened drama and expressive figures, as seen in “The Descent from the Cross,” where the sorrow of Christ’s followers is conveyed through fluid, sculptural drapery and intense facial expressions that draw viewers into the moment; his work, often characterized by strong diagonal compositions and a sense of movement, influenced later artists such as Hans Memling and even the Italian Renaissance painters, who admired his ability to blend realism with emotional depth; unlike the more static figures of earlier Gothic art, van der Weyden infused his subjects with a sense of humanity and narrative intensity, as evident in “The Last Judgment,” a massive altarpiece where vivid colors and dynamic gestures bring the final reckoning to life with gripping urgency; his portraits, such as “Portrait of a Lady,” reveal his skill in capturing both the physical likeness and psychological presence of his sitters, a quality that would shape portraiture for centuries to come; working in a time when Flemish painters were revolutionizing art with oil-based techniques, van der Weyden perfected a balance between technical mastery and emotional storytelling, making his work a cornerstone of Early Netherlandish painting and a lasting influence on European art.