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Artwork of the Day
Virgin and Child
Painting

Virgin and Child

Artist

Hans Memling (Netherlandish, c. 1430–1494)

Year

c. 1485

Medium

oil painting, panel painting, painting techniques, painting (image making), painting

Origin

Netherlands

Description

This panel and a portrait of a man in prayer once hinged together to form a diptych, with the Virgin and Child on the left and the portrait of a man facing her on the right. The condition of the portrait is very poor, while its reverse—featuring an image of Saint Anthony of Padua—is well preserved. It is painted in grisaille, a technique that mimics sculpture through monochromatic shades of beige and gray. This outer panel would have been visible when the diptych was closed and served as a transition point between the earthly setting outside the diptych into the sacred space within, painted in colorful, lavish detail. Visual cues like Anthony’s sandaled toe stepping on the edge of the frame and the reflection of two children—perhaps the donor’s—in the convex mirror behind the Virgin reinforce the paintings’ role as an intermediary meeting point reached through prayer.

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