Virgin and Child with Saint Catherine of Alexandria
ca. 1630
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
43 x 35 3/4 in. (109.2 x 90.8 cm); with added strips 44 1/8 x 37 in. (112.1 x 94 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Lillian S. Timken, 1959
Accession Number
60.71.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the serene glow of Anthony van Dyck's *Virgin and Child with Saint of Alexandria* (ca. 1630), the Flemish Baroque master captures a tender moment of divine intimacy. The Virgin Mary cradles the Christ Child, who reaches playfully toward Saint Catherine, the learned martyr often symbolized by her spiked wheel (though not visible here). This oil-on-canvas devotional scene, measuring about 43 x 35¾ inches originally, exemplifies the Counter-Reformation era's emphasis on accessible, emotionally resonant religious imagery to inspire faith among the faithful. Van Dyck, a protégé of Peter Paul Ru...
About the Artist
Anthony van Dyck · 1599–1641
Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist who revolutionized portrait painting and became the most influential court painter in 17th-century England. Born in Antwerp as the seventh of twelve children to a prosperous silk merchant, van Dyck displayed extraordinary artistic talent from childhood. He trained under Hendrick van Balen before joining Peter Paul Rubens's workshop as a...