Early Netherlandish School, circa 1500

The Madonna and Child enthroned, crowned by angels,
oil on panel, 139.5 x 80.5 cm, framed

This enthroned Madonna and Child once formed the retable of an altar consecrated to the Virgin Mary. The commission must thus have come from a clergyman or a private donor who wished to order an altarpiece for a family chapel. The picture shows the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Heaven crowned by angels. Viewed from the front, she is seated on an elaborately decorated bronze throne, studying the Holy Scripture while reading from it to the Christ Child in her lap. The depiction of the Queen of Heaven is accompanied by her attributes of the rose (Faith, Hope, Charity) and the lily, which had been interpreted as a mediator between heaven and earth since the Middle Ages. The red carnations sprinkled over the Virgin Mary and the Child by one of the angels are meant as an allusion to Christ’s Passion. An anonymous artist who likely came from the Low Countries or the Rhineland has combined all of these traditional elements here to create a highly individual work.