Artwork Page for Virgin and Child

Details / Information for Virgin and Child

Virgin and Child

c. 1470–80

workshop of Hans Memling

(Netherlandish, 1494)
Culture
Flanders, Bruges
Medium
oil on wood
Measurements
Framed: 41.3 x 31.4 x 4.1 cm (16 1/4 x 12 3/8 x 1 5/8 in.); Unframed: 31.5 x 22 cm (12 3/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds 1934.29
Public Domain
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Location
112 Northern Renaissance
Print

Description

This small panel was once part of a devotional portrait diptych (a hinged two-panel painting). The Christ child’s attention seems drawn to something outside the picture and lifts his hand in recognition. The opposing panel, once hinged on the right, would have featured a portrait of its original owner in prayer, now unfortunately lost. Such devotional portrait diptychs were popular after 1400 and remained so until their production ceased around the 1530s. Used in private chapels or within the curtain folds of four-poster beds, they could easily be closed when not in use. Hans Memling was born near Frankfurt, Germany. He settled in Bruges around 1465 where he developed a reputation for his painting skills, and provided works to the Burgundian court, which likely cultivated the taste for small portrait diptychs. This example seems to have been painted by a member of Memling’s workshop, perhaps for a wealthy merchant or clergyman.
A vertically oriented oil painting on wood depicts the Virgin Mary and baby Christ, both with light skin tones. Mary wears a red cloak over a dark blue dress and white drapery, tilting her head toward Christ. She holds the nude infant on a green cushion and supports her breast with her left hand. Behind them, a textured gold shape radiates against a gray background. Fine cracks cover the surface of the painting.

Virgin and Child

c. 1470–80

Hans Memling

(Netherlandish, 1494)
Flanders, Bruges

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