1475
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Virgin and Child is a 1475 unspecified by Hans Memling, a Northern Renaissance work, depicting Brug, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see Mary holding baby Jesus on her lap, both dressed in rich red and blue robes. A golden halo glows behind each of their heads. This small painting was once half of a hinged pair. The other side showed the person who owned it, praying. When closed, it worked like a private prayer book. Jesus’s raised hand suggests he’s looking at that missing owner—almost like he’s waving hello. Look up more works in the subject flanders, bruges.
This small panel was once part of a devotional portrait diptych (a hinged two-panel painting). The Christ child’s attention seems drawn to something outside the picture and lifts his hand in recognition. The opposing panel, once hinged on the right, would have featured a portrait of its original owner in prayer, now unfortunately lost. Such devotional portrait diptychs were popular after 1400 and remained so until their production ceased around the 1530s. Used in private chapels or within the curtain folds of four-poster beds, they could easily be closed when not in use. Hans Memling was born…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Hans Memling was a German-Flemish painter who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting.
See the richer artist page
![Saint Veronica [obverse]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/5a649fd8b09c96b9/thumb.webp)
