Virgin and Child Crowned by Angels

The gold text on the bottom edge of the Virgin Mary’s red mantle translates as “Hail, Queen of the heavens, Mother of the king of angels.” These lines, from a hymn called a Marian antiphon, were famously set to music as a choral composition in the 15th century. This kind of polyphonic music, requiring multiple trained voices employed at great expense, was associated with the extravagant culture of the Brussels court. Its evocation here, like the bejeweled crown lowered onto Mary’s head, serves to honor the Virgin and to inspire aural worship.