Virgin and Child

The first Netherlandish painter known to have studied classical sculpture in Rome, Jan Gossart achieved a sophisticated fusion of Renaissance vocabulary and traditional Netherlandish style and form. In this painting, the Virgin Mary’s classicizing draperies and the child’s athletic figure show Gossart’s command of the new Renaissance style. Mary presents the Christ Child so that his glance and blessing gesture are directed beyond the picture to the right. This suggests that the panel was once paired with another depicting a donor in prayer, with which it would have formed a portable folding altarpiece. Earlier Netherlandish painters favored this format of paired, hinged panels, now called a diptych. (Source: Art Institute of Chicago)