Virgin and Child

The first Netherlandish painter known to have studied Classical sculpture in Rome, Jan Gossart here fused the vocabulary of the Italian Renaissance with a traditional Netherlandish diptych (two-panel) format. The Virgin Mary’s draperies and the child’s athletic figure show Gossart’s command of the new Renaissance style perfected by Italian artists Michelangelo and Raphael. The glance and blessing gesture of the infant Jesus are directed beyond the picture to the right, suggesting that the panel was once joined by another depicting a donor in prayer. Earlier Netherlandish patrons favored this construction of paired, hinged panels for portable altarpieces.