Madonna and Child Playing With the Veil
Encyclopedia
The Madonna and Child Playing With the Veil, is a devotional painting finished around 1520-1530 by the Flemish
High Renaissance
painter Jan Gossaert. It is housed in the Mauritshuis
museum of The Hague
, Netherlands
.
.
. This natural pose of Christ playing with the veil seems to have become quite popular, and two copies are known that have been done by the contemporary painter Pauwels Coeke van Aelst, the bastard half-brother of Pieter van Aelst
.
This devotional subject is not to be confused with other devotional Mabuse Madonnas (or the one at the National Gallery
which is also dated 1520) posed without a veil, that includes a disguised portrait. An example is the one identified as Anna van Bergen, the wife of Adolf of Burgundy
, and that was also copied many times. A similar Mabuse Madonna without a veil that was also a disguised portrait was made for Jean Carondelet
in the Diptich of Jean Carandelet and his wife that hangs today in the Louvre, but was painted for the Besançon Cathedral. According to Van Mander in 1604, there were many copies of Mabuse Madonnas to be found in Middelburg
.
Flemish
Flemish can refer to anything related to Flanders, and may refer directly to the following articles:*Flemish, an informal, though linguistically incorrect, name of any kind of the Dutch language as spoken in Belgium....
High Renaissance
High Renaissance
The expression High Renaissance, in art history, is a periodizing convention used to denote the apogee of the visual arts in the Italian Renaissance...
painter Jan Gossaert. It is housed in the Mauritshuis
Mauritshuis
The Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis is an art museum in The Hague, the Netherlands. Previously the residence of count John Maurice of Nassau, it now has a large art collection, including paintings by Dutch painters such as Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Paulus Potter and Frans...
museum of The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Composition
This work is one of the most copied works of Gossaert (Mabuse) with over twenty known copies dated to within a decade of the (unspecified) original, and depicts the Virgin with the Christ child with both arms above His head, playing with Mary's veil. Many copies were documented by Max Jakob FriedländerMax Jakob Friedländer
Max Jakob Friedländer was a German art expert and art historian . He attained the rank and title of "Geheimrat" under the German Empire....
.
Symbolism
Most of the known copies follow the original quite closely, but include different objects in the foreground and background. Most copies were probably made for a specific church or mecenas, though this information has often been lost. According to the RKD, a copy hangs in the Palencia CathedralPalencia Cathedral
Palencia Cathedral is situated in Palencia, Spain. It is dedicated to Saint Antoninus of Pamiers ....
. This natural pose of Christ playing with the veil seems to have become quite popular, and two copies are known that have been done by the contemporary painter Pauwels Coeke van Aelst, the bastard half-brother of Pieter van Aelst
Pieter van Aelst
Pieter van Aelst or Pieter Coecke van Aelst was a Flemish painter. He studied under Bernaert van Orley and later lived in Italy before entering the Antwerp Guild of painters in 1527. In 1533, he travelled to Constantinople for one year in a failed attempt to establish business connections for...
.
This devotional subject is not to be confused with other devotional Mabuse Madonnas (or the one at the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
which is also dated 1520) posed without a veil, that includes a disguised portrait. An example is the one identified as Anna van Bergen, the wife of Adolf of Burgundy
Adolf of Burgundy
Adolf of Burgundy was Lord of Veere and admiral of the Netherlands.He was a son of Philip of Burgundy-Beveren and Anna of Borselen. In 1517 he succeeded Philip of Burgundy-Blaton, who became Bishop of Utrecht, as admiral of the Netherlands until 1540.In 1509 he married Anna of Bergen, daughter of...
, and that was also copied many times. A similar Mabuse Madonna without a veil that was also a disguised portrait was made for Jean Carondelet
Jean Carondelet
Jean II Carondelet , was a Burgundian cleric, politician, jurist and one of the most important advisors to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. He was a patron of Erasmus and a brother of Ferry Carondelet.-Life:...
in the Diptich of Jean Carandelet and his wife that hangs today in the Louvre, but was painted for the Besançon Cathedral. According to Van Mander in 1604, there were many copies of Mabuse Madonnas to be found in Middelburg
Middelburg
Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...
.