Turkish guard in prayer

Théophile Marie Francois Lybaert or Theofiel Lybaert was a Belgian painter and sculptor. He commenced his career as a painter of genre and Orientalist scenes. He later painted subjects from the national and international history, military life and the bible. He was mainly known for his religious paintings executed in an archaic, Gothic style that reprised the 16th century models of Northern-European masters such as Hans Memling and Albrecht Dürer. These works earned him the appelation of 'modern Gothic' or 'contemporary Memling'. In a final period starting from the 1910s he developed towards an eclectic style incorporating Symbolism.