Artwork
Virgin and Child
Virgin and Child is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Jan Gossaert. It dates from 1525 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The iconography focuses on the intimate relationship between the mother and the divine child, a standard motif in Northern Renaissance devotional imagery.
Jan Gossaert's 1525 painting depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, a composition identified as the main subject of the Madonna and Child. As a work of religious art, the piece centers on the figures of Mary and the infant Jesus, representing the core Christian theme of the Incarnation. The iconography focuses on the intimate relationship between the mother and the divine child, a standard motif in Northern Renaissance devotional imagery.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on wooden panel. The composition depicts the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ Child in a tender embrace, rendered with careful attention to drapery and anatomical detail. The surface shows the characteristic luminosity of oil paint, with fine brushwork defining the figures and their gestures.
The panel has been well-preserved but exhibits typical craquelure across the paint layer, and the handling of light on the faces demonstrates Gossaert's blend of Netherlandish realism with Italianate modeling.
History & Provenance
Virgin and Child was created by Jan Gossaert in 1525, executed in oil paint on panel. The painting passed through several ownership stages before reaching its current institutional home. It was at one point owned by Max Wassermann and subsequently entered the Hermann Göring Collection.
After the war, the work was held at the Munich Central Collecting Point, a facility used to recover and restitute displaced artworks. It is now part of the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it remains held.
The painting is held by the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is recorded under the accession number 1943.1139.
After World War II, the work was recovered at the Munich Central Collecting Point, having previously been part of the Hermann Göring Collection. It had entered that collection through Max Wassermann before the war.
Overview
Virgin and Child is a 1525 oil painting by Jan Gossaert, a painter from the Low Countries. It is held in the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jan Gossaert (c. 1478 – 1 October 1532) was a French-speaking painter from the Low Countries also known as Jan Mabuse (the name he adopted from his birthplace, Maubeuge) or Jennyn van Hennegouwe (Hainaut), as he called…
![Saint Jerome Penitent [right panel], by Jan Gossaert](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/jan-gossaert--saint-jerome-penitent-right-panel--0d4ac14f44de87b1-w320.webp)
![Saint Jerome Penitent [left panel], by Jan Gossaert](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/jan-gossaert--saint-jerome-penitent-left-panel--3d396afbb0f8e738-w320.webp)
