Madonna and Child
Bernaert van Orley (Brussels c.1488 - Brussels c.1541)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1520 - 1525
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
737 x 577 x 90 mm
Place of origin
Flanders (Belgium from 1830)
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246465
Caption
In an enclosed garden symbolic of her purity, the Virgin Mary gazes tenderly at the Christ Child whom she nurses in her arms. Van Orley, who was the official painter of Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Hapsburg Netherlands when he painted this picture is known for developing a distinctive courtly style out of the traditions of Flemish art and the innovations of the Italian Renaissance. Here the typically Northern European treatment of Christ exists alongside an Italianate use of chiaroscuro (light and shade) while the hands of the Virgin are positioned in a graceful arrangement, strongly reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Madonna and Child by Bernaert van Orley (Brussels c.1488 - Brussels c.1541), c.1520-5. The Virgin shown half-length nurses the Christ Child in her arms; she wears a blue-green robe with embroidered sleeves and a white veil over her head. In shadow box.
Provenance
Joseph Ruston sale, Christie's, 21 May 1898, lot 86, as Mabuse, bought by Colnaghi; Earl of Northbrook, 42 Portman Square, London as Mabuse, (collection disposed of by Colnaghi during early 1930's when Mrs Greville must have acquired the picture); The bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943. This item found on the record for Polesden Lacey pictures, drawings etc., stored in the cellar, page 158.
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, The McEwan Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Bernaert van Orley (Brussels c.1488 - Brussels c.1541), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Jan Gossaert (c.1472 - 1532), artist
References
Bücken 2019: Véronique Bücken, Ingrid De Meûter, Maryan Ainsworth, Cécile Scailliérez (eds.), Bernard van Orley (exh. cat), Brussels: Bozar Books / Mardaga, 2019., pp. 258-9
