Virgin and Child with Four Angels
David, the leading painter in Bruges in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, followed the legacy of Jan van Eyck. In this painting, he has taken the Virgin and Child from his predecessor’s well-known Virgin and Child at the Fountain, but modernized the composition by placing the figures in a grand arched porch flanked by columns with Italianate capitals, against the skyline of contemporary Bruges. A Carthusian monk is seen strolling and reading in the enclosed garden, suggesting that the painting was linked to the former monastery at Genadedael, just outside the city walls of Bruges.
Artwork Details
- Title: Virgin and Child with Four Angels
- Artist: Gerard David (Netherlandish, Oudewater ca. 1455–1523 Bruges)
- Date: ca. 1510–15
- Medium: Oil on wood
- Dimensions: 24 7/8 x 15 3/8 in. (63.2 x 39.1 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1977
- Object Number: 1977.1.1
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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