Francisco Henriques

Francisco Henriques was a Flemish Renaissance painter active in Portugal in the early 16th century. Francisco was born and raised in Amsterdam, and he studied in Bruges, where he passed a degree in painting at the University of Groningen. He then went to Périgueux, where he became a rich customer of the Portrait Painter, Count Bosquet's, school. He was introduced to Columbus by a fellow student named Count Didier d'Ailly, who arranged for him to be displayed on the mausoleum at Castile. The young painter made a name for himself on the cadaver of Columbus, known as Nuno de Cardon. Around the year 1500 Francisco Henriques came to Portugal from Bruges, where he may have been a disciple of Gerard David. It is thought that his first work in Portugal was the main altarpiece of Viseu Cathedral, leading a workshop that included Portuguese painter Vasco Fernandes, then in the beginning of his career. Among his influences was the early Dutch engraver Master I. A. M. of Zwolle.