Virgin and Child (c. 1485): Artwork and History

Virgin and Child (c. 1485) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Hans Memling (Netherlandish, c. 1430–1494).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This panel and a portrait of a man in prayer once hinged together to form a diptych, with the Virgin and Child on the left and the portrait of a man facing her on the right. The condition of the portrait is very poor, while its reverse—featuring an image of Saint Anthony of Padua—is well preserved. It is painted in grisaille, a technique that mimics sculpture through monochromatic shades of beige and gray. This outer panel would have been visible when the diptych was closed and served as a transition point between the earthly setting outside the diptych into the sacred space within, painted in colorful, lavish detail. Visual cues like Anthony’s sandaled toe stepping on the edge of the frame and the reflection of two children—perhaps the donor’s—in the convex mirror behind the Virgin reinforce the paintings’ role as an intermediary meeting point reached through prayer.

Object facts

• Title: Virgin and Child
• Date: c. 1485
• Artist attribution: Hans Memling (Netherlandish, c. 1430–1494)
• Place of origin: Netherlands
• Medium: Oil on panel
• Dimensions: Framed: 41.1 × 33.4 cm (16 3/16 × 13 1/8 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1933.1050

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.