Paintings

Virgin and Child

1 of 2

Type: Paintings(Opens in new tab)
Date: ca. 1460
Accession number: 26.105
Maker: Rogier van der Weyden(Opens in new tab) (Flemish, 1400–1464)
Dimensions: 20 9/16 x 13 5/8 x 1 1/2 in. (52.2 x 34.6 x 3.8 cm.) frame: 22 3/4 x 16 in. (57.8 x 40.6 cm.)
Medium: oil on masonite, transferred from canvas, originally on panel
Description: This painting portrays the Virgin and Child on gold background. The Virgin is shown as a pensive mother supporting her child, who plays with a luxurious book she holds. It is possibly half of a diptych, a two-paneled and hinged work, whose other half (now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium) portrays the patron, Philippe de Croÿ (1435-1511), a diplomat, warrior, and passionate book collector.
Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection.
Department: European Art
Find out more: View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)

Label text

This masterfully painted work is at once a devotional object and a tender image of the interaction between a mother and her baby. The Virgin gently supports the Child, who stands unsteadily as he reaches out to grab a book, probably a Book of Hours that would have included meditations on Christ’s death. The Child seems more interested in playing with the clasps of the leather-bound volume than in inviting the viewer to contemplate His future sacrifice.

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