The Virgin and Child
Technical details
- Author Anonymous Flemish painter, a follower of Guillaume
- Title The Virgin and Child
- Timeline c. 1560-1565
- Technique Oil on oak board
Description
Virgin and Child, work by a follower of Willem Benson, is an image that had great success in Flanders and Spain owing to the large number of copies made of it. One of these, of great beauty and quality and attributed to Willem Benson, was brought from Flanders by Martín de Gurrea y Aragón, the Duke of Villahermoso, and is housed in the Museum of Zaragoza, originally kept at the Monastery of Veruela. This is another, part of the Ibercaja Collection. This painting, made with lengthened figures and varnished in the Flemish style of the 15th and 16th centuries, shows the Virgin Mary lovingly embracing the Infant Jesus. The glass vase with roses on the table not only serves to identify this as an indoor scene, but also has a clear-cut religious symbolism: the vase is a reference to the purity of Mary, and the roses in different colours represent the mysteries of the Rosary, a Catholic prayer devoted to Mary as an advocate for and co-redemptrix of humanity.
Location in the museum
Multimedia
