Man in Prayer
ca. 1440
Medium
Oil on wood
Dimensions
Overall 12 1/2 x 9 1/8 in. (31.8 x 23.2 cm); painted surface 12 1/2 x 9 in. (31.8 x 23 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, 1950
Accession Number
50.145.35
Tags
Art Historical Context
Rogier van der Weyden's *Man in Prayer*, created around 1440, exemplifies the Northern Renaissance mastery of the Flemish master. This intimate oil-on-wood portrait, measuring just 12½ x 9 inches, likely served as a private devotional image or donor portrait, common in 15th-century Northern Europe. Van der Weyden, a leading figure in the Early Netherlandish school alongside Jan van Eyck, was renowned for his profound emotional depth and hyper-realistic detail, capturing the spiritual intensity of religious life amid the era's growing devotion to personal piety. The painting's small scale and ...