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Quentin Massys is best known for his razor sharp wit and his skill at capturing the absurdity of society. His paintings, even after five hundred years, are bitingly clever. He infused his art with a strong sense of moralizing overtones, comedy and satire. Massys absorbed the Netherlandish artistic traditions and influence, reinterpreting them in original and often outrageous ways. He painted a range of subjects, excelling in humorous portraiture and social satire.

According to art expert, Richard Muther, Ph.D., "Quentin massys, the "smith of Antwerp" introduced the reform into the Netherlands. According to the legend he only became a painter because his sweetheart would not marry a smith; and although this sounds quite improbable, in the story, as in all legends their lies a certain logical justification. When people used to the highly detailed brushwork of the old masters saw his mighty and broad technique, they necessarily sought for an explanation of this change in style and found it in the supposition that the creator of these works had originally been a smith; a with heavy fists and great swinging movements, who introduced something of the vigor of his former trade into this new profession. "

The 15th century was a time of  great intellectual and spiritual awakening.  French, German, and Netherlandish painters took leadership in the development of a new style of painting while retaining strong Gothic elements within their art-work. The political and religious situation of the region had a profound influence on painters. The ensuing chaos and upheaval of the church meant that there was no single artistic nucleus. Thus there were a number of places where influential art was being created, with regional variations in technique and style.

The early 1500s  saw the demise of feudalism and patronage shifted from super wealthy church to the merchant class.  Businessmen, tradesmen and prosperous women of the merchant class began collecting and commissioning works of art. These new patrons favored paintings that included domestic scenes, peasants at work and play, fantastical landscapes, dogs, cats, birds, children and household goods.

Italian painters of the era were very interested in the techniques of the Northern painters. Oil painting was discovered in the North and spread quickly to Italy, France and Spain. Artists from the North sometimes encountered trouble when working abroad. Legendary Northern Renaissance painter, Albrecht Dürer complained about his treatment in Italy "The painters here you must know are very unfriendly to me. They have summoned me three times before the magistrates, and I have had to pay 4 florins to their School. You must know too that I might have gained much money if I had not undertaken to make the painting for the Germans, for there is a great deal of work in it and I cannot well finish it before Whitsuntide; yet they only pay me 85 ducats for it. That, you know, will go in living expenses, and then I have bought some things, and have sent some money away, so that I have not much in hand now; but I have made up my mind not to leave here until God enables me to repay you with thanks and to have too florins over besides. I should easily earn this if I had not got to do the German picture, for, except the painters, everyone wishes me well.."

Key Descriptive Words  and Phrases associated with Netherlandish Painters -  rebirth, Antwerp, commerce, northern Europe, merchant class, Bruges, genre painting, landscapes, portraits, scenes of daily life, Christian symbolism. moralizing overtones, human vices, lust,  publication of Della Pittura, a book about the laws of mathematical perspective for artists,  spiritually significant,  illuminated manuscript,  idealized biblical themes, scriptorium, illuminator,  Age of Discovery, axonometric drawing, curiosity about the natural world,  realistic use of colors and  light, allegorical, Gospel parables, The Blackdeath,  landscapes with peasants

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