Curatorial Notes
This tender painting is an image type known as a Madonna lactans, which depicts the Virgin Mary nursing the infant Jesus, highlighting her role as nurturer and intercessor between the human and divine realms. To convey the close connection between mother and son, Rogier van der Weyden exploited the qualities of oil paint, a highly manipulable medium that can be blended while wet. This characteristic allows for realistic modeling through seamless transitions of light and shadow, seen most poignantly here in the slight indentations of Mary’s fingers in the infant’s skin where she supports him.
Artwork Identification
Title Virgin and Child
Title (PT) A Virgem e o Menino
Title (ES) La Virgen y el Niño
Artist Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden
Artist Bio Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden (Netherlandish, c. 1399-1464)
Date c. 1460
Work Type Painting
Location & Collection
Institution Art Institute of Chicago
Source View Museum Page
License Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0
