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Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Angels
Artist:
Cornelis van Cleve
(Flemish, 1520-1567)
Date: ca. 1550
Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions:
Overall: 22 3/8 x 20 1/8 in. (56.8 x 51.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 35 3/8 x 29 7/8 in. (89.9 x 75.9 cm)
Classification: European art
Credit Line: Gift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation, in memory of Frances Rogers Curd
Object number: 2014.3.4
Terms
- Angels
- Madonna
- Religion
- Saints
- Christ child
In Collection(s)
Not on view
DescriptionOil on panel painting in a gilt and hand-carved frame. Panel patched on back at center bottom and lower right corner with heavy tape. Convex warp to panel. Under varnish loss upper left drapery, upper right, around Child's hand, craizing in Christ Child, Madonna, and St. John.
Label textCornelis van Cleve
Flemish, 1520–1567
Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Angels, ca. 1550
Oil on wood
Cornelis van Cleve’s painting focuses all attention on the Virgin and Child, highlighting them as holy icons. Seated at center, they preside over a balanced ensemble of graceful figures whose bowed heads, circling movements, and arm gestures direct our eyes back to the divine pair. Van Cleve pushed their solid, rounded bodies forward, further stressing their importance.
Even the space they occupy is designed to pull us toward them. Ordered according to the Renaissance construct of one-point perspective, space recedes to a single vanishing point that converges on the central figures. Just follow the lines of the floor tiles into the distance (see image). Your eyes will always land on the Virgin’s tender face.
Gift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation, in memory of Frances Rogers Curd 2014.3.4
Flemish, 1520–1567
Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Angels, ca. 1550
Oil on wood
Cornelis van Cleve’s painting focuses all attention on the Virgin and Child, highlighting them as holy icons. Seated at center, they preside over a balanced ensemble of graceful figures whose bowed heads, circling movements, and arm gestures direct our eyes back to the divine pair. Van Cleve pushed their solid, rounded bodies forward, further stressing their importance.
Even the space they occupy is designed to pull us toward them. Ordered according to the Renaissance construct of one-point perspective, space recedes to a single vanishing point that converges on the central figures. Just follow the lines of the floor tiles into the distance (see image). Your eyes will always land on the Virgin’s tender face.
Gift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation, in memory of Frances Rogers Curd 2014.3.4
Published References
Announcement in LEDGER DISPATCH, March 14, 1960. Articles and photo in VIRGINIAN-PILOT, March 14, 1960. Published in the Museum BULLETIN, May 1960. Published in ARTS QUARTERLY, Autumn 1960.
Provenance
Gift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation to the Chrysler Museum of Art, March 2014.