Bernaert van Orley, 'The Virgin and Child in a Landscape', about 1525
| Full title | The Virgin and Child in a Landscape |
|---|---|
| Artist | Bernaert van Orley |
| Artist dates | active 1515; died 1541 |
| Date made | about 1525 |
| Medium and support | oil on wood |
| Dimensions | 35 × 27 cm |
| Acquisition credit | Presented by Queen Victoria at the Prince Consort's wish, 1863 |
| Inventory number | NG714 |
| Location | Not on display |
| Collection | Main Collection |
| Previous owners |
In this small panel, the Virgin Mary sits under a tree and offers her breast to the Christ Child, who grasps it with both hands but turns away to look out towards the viewer. Although this is not a specific image of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt – it lacks Joseph, the donkey and the luggage – it may well be inspired by earlier versions of that subject.
The geometric arrangement of the composition, with diagonals running from lower left to upper right and centring on the folds of drapery pulled in a line between the Virgin’s right foot and left knee, is typical of mature Bernaert van Orley. The landscape – which seems to have been painted first, with a space left for the figures – may be by an assistant who specialised in painting these and who worked on other paintings by van Orley.
In this small panel, the Virgin Mary sits under a tree and offers her breast to the Christ Child, who grasps it with both hands but turns away to look out towards the viewer. It is not a specific image of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt – it lacks details such as Joseph, the donkey and luggage – but it might have been inspired by prints of the Rest on the Flight by Lucas Cranach the Elder or Lucas van Leyden, or pictures of it by followers of Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling or Gerard David.
The geometric arrangement of the composition, with diagonals running from lower left to upper right, and centring on the extraordinary folds of drapery pulled in a line between the Virgin’s right foot and left knee, is typical of mature Bernaert van Orley. The large baby with his very large face may have been inspired by Italian originals but has similarites with babies in van Orley’s signed paintings of the holy family of 1521 and 1522 (Louvre, Paris; Prado, Madrid). The face of the Virgin and the parallel diagonals of the composition seem most strongly reminiscent of his works from 1525 to 1535: the Haneton Triptych (Royal Museums of Fine Art of Belgium, Brussels), and his tapestries of the Life of Jacob (Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels) and the Battle of Pavia (Museo di Capodimonte, Naples).
The landscape may be by an assistant who specialised in them and who worked on other pictures by van Orley. It seems to have been painted first, with a space left for the figures. It was painted with great speed and skill: there is very little underdrawing and the painter seems to have blotted the paint in the foreground with his fingers before applying the leaves and flowers.
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