Virgin and Child with Angels
Quentin Massys (1466-1530)
Oil on panel
Height: 61.7 cm [unchecked] ( frame ); Width: 46.9 cm [unchecked] ( frame ); Depth: 5.3 cm [unchecked] ( frame ); Height: 0 ( 48.5 cm (painted surface)); Width: 0 ( 32.8 cm (painted surface)); Height: 0 ( 49.1 cm (panel)); Width: 0 ( 33.9 cm (panel));
Within painted image, on the throne left
Seilern, Antoine (Count); bequest; 1978
About this work
Metsys was the leading painter in early sixteenth-century Antwerp. He learnt much from earlier Netherlandish painters such as Jan van Eyck. The Gothic interior surrounding the Virgin in this painting reflects van Eyck’s minutely realistic style. Details such as the playful putti (cupids), straining to hold a garland of flowers above Mary’s head, also show Metsys’s awareness of contemporary northern Italian painting. It is likely that he travelled to Italy during his apprenticeship.
(Permanent collection label)
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Copyright: © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London