Catalan painter, born and active mainly in Valencia. He was court painter to Alfonso V of Aragon, under whose patronage he went to Bruges in 1431 to study tapestry weaving. Dalmau’s visit to Flanders is the first recorded contact of a Spanish painter with the Netherlandish school, and the only surviving painting certainly by him, the Virgin of the Councillors is clearly inspired by Van Eyck.
Chronologically, the first exponent of the Hispano-Flemish style was Luis Dalmau, a native of Valencia, who must have been born around the year 1400. Though most of his work has been lost, the few paintings that survive are of great significance.
In 1443 the City Council of Barcelona commissioned an altarpiece (a large panel and a predella) for the chapel of the municipal council of Barcelona. The painting was signed in 1445. Unfortunately, the predella was lost. In the Retable of the Councillors his technique, precise and painstaking, though not without brilliance and even inspiration, embodies various elements adapted from Van Eyck. This painting, executed in oils, has all the characteristics of the style it represents, including the sensation of viewing the world through an optical instrument.
The City Council of Barcelona commissioned an altarpiece (a large panel and a predella) in 1443. The painting was signed in 1445. Unfortunately, the predella was lost. The influence of van Eyck and that of Rogier van der Weyden can be easily recognised in his altarpiece.
