Virgin and Child

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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The Virgin Mary, bareheaded and richly dressed, holds the naked Christ Child, who rests on a white cushion on a ledge. We are not sure whether the painting was once part of a triptych (a painting made up of three sections) or stood alone. The infant Christ could be blessing a donor in a panel on his right, or gesturing and speaking to the viewer.

Hans Memling ran a large and well-organised workshop, and tended to recycle designs based on workshop patterns with little variation. While the figures of the Virgin and Christ resemble those in other of Memling’s works, the painting has sometimes been thought to be by a follower. But the very detailed and delicate painting technique suggest the hand of Memling himself. Close inspection reveals that the white catchlights in Christ’s left eye are made up of seven separate brushstrokes.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Virgin and Child

Date

perhaps about 1475

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 37.9 x W 28 cm

Accession number

NG709

Acquisition method

Presented by Queen Victoria at the Prince Consort's wish, 1863

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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