The Virgin and Child with John the Baptist, Saint Barbara and Donors
Artist / maker
Anonieme meester (painters (artists))Date
ca. 1475 - ca. 1500Period
15th centuryCollection
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent
This late fifteenth-century panel of the Virgin and Child with Donors and Patron Saints has been attributed to various masters. Until recently, it was considered a work from the hand of an anonymous Cologne master, but it is now placed in the environment of a Bruges master, either the Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula or the Master of…
Read more
This late fifteenth-century panel of the Virgin and Child with Donors and Patron Saints has been attributed to various masters. Until recently, it was considered a work from the hand of an anonymous Cologne master, but it is now placed in the environment of a Bruges master, either the Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula or the Master of the Legend of Saint Lucia, both contemporaries of Hans Memling. This is based on striking similarities in style and composition. The composition that we find here was apparently very popular in Bruges at the end of the 15th Century. On either side of Mary's throne, the donors are kneeling in prayer. Behind them are the patron saints with their attributes: John the Baptist with the lamb and Barbara with the tower, in which, according to legend, she was locked up by her father. According to medieval custom, the donors are depicted considerably smaller than the saints.
Read less
