Virgin Suckling the Child

This Virgin Suckling the Child (Maria Lactans), around 1488 and by Memling, depicts one of the most intimate subjects in Christian art — the nursing Madonna that emphasized the humanity of Christ and the maternal tenderness of the Virgin. The subject had a long tradition in Netherlandish devotional painting, connecting to the theological emphasis on the Incarnation and the full humanity of Christ that made the nursing Madonna an important devotional type. Hans Memling brought serene, refined beauty to Flemish devotional painting, becoming the leading artist in Bruges after the death of van der Weyden. The Virgin Mary's nursing of the Christ Child rendered with tenderness and delicacy — the refined features, serene expression, and the extraordinary sensitivity in capturing the soft flesh of the infant — demonstrates Memling's ability to treat the most intimate subject with the devotional decorum that made his Madonnas the most admired in northern Europe.

The intimate subject is rendered with tenderness and delicacy, the Virgin's features refined and serene. Memling's meticulous technique captures the soft flesh of the infant with extraordinary sensitivity.