Madonna and Child Playing With the Veil

Gossaert's Madonna and Child Playing with the Veil from around 1520 depicts the Virgin and Christ child in an intimate devotional subject where the child playfully grasps Mary's veil. The veil subject — derived ultimately from classical sculpture's depictions of erotes with drapery — was a vehicle for depicting the intimate physical interaction between mother and child that made the most private and warm devotional images. Gossaert's treatment combined the Italian Renaissance's architectural and spatial sophistication with the Flemish tradition's surface warmth in a format suited to private devotion, the small scale and intimate subject inviting close, sustained attention from the individual worshipper.

The smooth, sculptural modeling of the figures and the elaborate classical setting demonstrate Gossaert's Italianate ambitions, while the precisely rendered fabrics maintain the Netherlandish tradition of meticulous surface detail.