The lady was a very plain Flemish woman with no beauty of feature or expression, but John has revealed her character so vividly that to look at her likeness is to know her.

It is indeed a long leap from the Richard II.

of fifty years before, with its representation of the outline of a youth, to this ample realization of a mature woman's character.
John lived till 1441, and had some pupils and many imitators.

One of these, Roger van der Weyden by name, spread his influence far and wide throughout the whole of the Netherlands, France, and Germany.

How important this influence was in the history of art we shall see later.
Many of the imitators of John learnt his accuracy and thoroughness of workmanship, but none of them attained his deep insight into character.
During the next fifty years many and beautiful were the pictures produced throughout Flanders.