Virgin and Child

Jan Sanders van Hemessen painted this Virgin and Child around 1500. Van Hemessen was an important Antwerp painter known for his genre scenes and powerful religious works that show the influence of both Italian art and the expressionistic tendencies of Quinten Metsys. His Madonnas display a robust naturalism unusual for the period. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique. Such devotional panels served both liturgical contexts in churches and chapels and private devotional use in the homes of wealthy families who maintained personal altars and oratories.

Oil on panel with van Hemessen's characteristically vigorous figure painting and warm coloring. The Virgin and Child are rendered with a physical immediacy that distinguishes his approach from more idealized Netherlandish conventions.