Virgin and Child with Angels

The sacred wing of the Antwerp diptych group, this Virgin and Child with Angels from around 1486 is the devotional image that the kneeling donors on the facing wing contemplate. The formal and intimate type of the Virgin and Child — the close-up, cloth-of-honour format — was one of the most reproduced image types in Bruges workshop production, refined through repetition to a high degree of compositional and technical polish. Angels provide the sacred attendants appropriate to the Queen of Heaven, their presence elevating the domestic Madonna to the level of royal imagery.

The cloth of honour behind the Virgin — often a brocade or damask rendered with extraordinary textile precision — is one of the most technically demanding elements of this panel type. The master's characteristic fabric rendering is at its most elaborate here.