Virgin and Child

Combining tenderness and regal authority, Rogier van der Weyden’s influential compositions of the Virgin and Child were repeated and varied by the master, his workshop, and by later Netherlandish painters. Here the Virgin supports the Child on a cushion that appears to rest on the edge of the picture’s frame, as though revealing the infant to the viewer through a window opening. Van der Weyden used elements such as the gems decorating the Virgin’s dress, her pearl-studded circlet, and the thronelike associations of the rich red velvet hanging behind her to characterize her as the queen of heaven. At the same time, by depicting her nurturing her infant, the artist emphasized Christ’s human nature and the Virgin’s role as an intercessor for mankind.

Credit: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection