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Workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aalst, 'The Virgin and Child Enthroned', about 1524-6

About the work

The panels of this small triptych (a painting made up of three parts) are in their original frames, which are carved from the same boards as the panels. The central panel shows the Virgin Mary seated on an elaborate throne in a sort of loggia (open-sided gallery or room). On the left wing is an unidentified saint wearing a red mitre – he is perhaps a mitred abbot, rather than a bishop – and on the right is Saint Louis (1214–1270), who ruled France as Louis IX.

The triptych seems to have been compiled from patterns available in the workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aalst. The Virgin and Christ are a reduced version of a larger Virgin and Child (Kunstmuseum, Basel), and seem to have been reproduced, perhaps by tracing, from a drawing in the Kunsthalle in Hamburg. The same figures are found, reversed, in a half-length Holy Family, of which many versions survive.

Key facts

Full title
The Virgin and Child Enthroned
Artist
Workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aalst
Artist dates
1502 - 1550
Date made
about 1524-6
Medium and support
oil on wood
Dimensions
32.2 × 48.5 cm
Acquisition credit
Salting Bequest, 1910
Inventory number
NG2606
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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