Virgin and Child
c. 1520
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
53.4 × 40.2 cm (21 × 15 7/8 in.); Framed: 63.5 × 49.5 × 5.7 cm (25 × 19 1/2 × 2 1/4 in.)
Classification
oil on panel
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111456
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The first Netherlandish painter known to have studied Classical sculpture in Rome, Jan Gossart here fused the vocabulary of the Italian Renaissance with a traditional Netherlandish diptych (two-panel) format. The Virgin Mary’s draperies and the child’s athletic figure show Gossart’s command of the new Renaissance style perfected by Italian artists Michelangelo and Raphael. The glance and blessing gesture of the infant Jesus are directed beyond the picture to the right, suggesting that the panel ...