Title

Virgin and Child

After

Benson, Ambrosius (?, ca 1495 - Bruges, 1550)

Typology

School

Century

Technique

Support

Inscriptions

In a cartouche simulating stone at the bottom, in yellow capital letters on a black background: GAVDIA MATRIS HABE(N)S CVM VIRGIN(I)TATIS HONORE / NEC PRIMAM SIMILEM VISA ES(T),NEC HABERE SEQVENTEM

Observations

The composition is a continuation of the pictorial representation of the Virgin embracing the Child, a recurrent subject in 16th-century Bruges painting, as evidenced by the works of Isenbrant and Benson. This theme has its origins in the work of Rogier van der Weyden. Technical analysis of the painting, in particular the way the bouquet of flowers on the left is depicted, suggests that it dates from the late 16th or early 17th century. The inscription, placed in a cartouche simulating a stone parapet at the base of the composition, repeats a passage from the Office of the Virgin: ‘Genuit puerpera regem’.

Locations

• 2025: Private Collection, Madrid (Spain)