Madonna and Child with Angels

after 1479

Hans Memling

Artist, Netherlandish, active c. 1465 - 1494

Shown under an ornately carved stone arch, a young woman holds a baby on her lap as she sits on a curving gold chair flanked by two kneeling angels in this vertical painting. All of the people have pale skin. The woman has long blond hair, a straight nose, and a small pink mouth. Her body faces us but she gazes down. She wears a gold-trimmed, deep blue robe under a crimson-red mantle that covers her shoulders and drapes over her lap and to the floor. She holds an open book with her left hand, on our right, and supports the sitting baby’s body with her other hand. The baby is nude except for a piece of white fabric across one thigh. The baby touches the open book with one hand and reaches toward a small, round piece of fruit the angel on our left offers. That angel has blond hair and sapphire-blue wings, and wears a pale blue garment under a red and gold patterned robe. The angel holds out the fruit with the right hand and in the other, holds an instrument like a violin and bow. The angel to our right has similar hair and facial features, and has blue wings and a sky-blue robe. Both hands strum a harp as the angel gazes to our left almost in profile. Behind the chair, a cloth patterned in pine green and gold hangs vertically from a curving red overhang between tall, narrow archways that open onto a landscape. In the distance, people move through green fields and along a river winding toward a castle to our left beneath a clear blue sky. The angels' wings overlap with the stone archway that frames the scene. It is carved along the inner edge of the arch with vines, lizards, and snails. Two columns flank the arch and atop each is a bearded man, as if carved from the same cream-colored stone of the arch. The man to our left holds a harp and the one to our right holds a saw. Winged, nude, child-like people, putti, hold orbs aloft in the upper corners.

Media Options

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In the tradition of his Flemish predecessors, Memling's painting contains a wealth of religious meaning; it is filled with symbols which explain the importance of Christ's mission on earth. Jesus reaches out for an apple, emblem of Original Sin; his attitude of acceptance foreshadows his future sacrifice on the cross. The angel who offers the fruit of redemption is in fact dressed in a dalmatic, the liturgical vestment worn by a deacon during the solemn High Mass. Around the arch is a carved vine of grapes referring to the wine of the eucharistic rite. On the crystal and porphyry columns stand David, as an ancestor of Christ, and Isaiah, one of the prophets who foretold the Virgin Birth.

Memling adhered closely to the northern tradition in art; the format and details of the enthroned Madonna theme recall Jan van Eyck. It is believed that Memling worked in the studio of Rogier van der Weyden at Brussels before settling in Bruges; here, he adopted Rogier's angular figural types clothed in heavy, crisp drapery, but transformed the older artist's dramatic intensity into a calm and graceful elegance. The framing archway was a device used by a number of Flemish painters including Rogier. While combining various influences, Hans Memling's own tender and pious sentiment made him the most popular artist of his day in Bruges.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication Early Netherlandish Painting, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/early-netherlandish-painting.pdf

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 57.6 × 46.4 cm (22 11/16 × 18 1/4 in.)
    overall (panel): 58.8 × 48 cm (23 1/8 × 18 7/8 in.)
    framed: 69.22 × 57.47 × 9.53 cm (27 1/4 × 22 5/8 × 3 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.41

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Probably Leopold III Friedrich Franz, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau [1740-1817], Gotisches Haus, Wörlitz, near Dessau;[1] probably by inheritance to his grandson, Leopold IV Friedrich, Duke of Anhalt [1794-1871], Gotisches Haus; by inheritance to his son, Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt [1831-1904], Gotisches Haus; by inheritance to his son, Friedrich II, Duke of Anhalt [1856-1918], Gotisches Haus; by inheritance to his son, Eduard Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Anhalt [1861-1918], Gotisches Haus; by inheritance to his son, Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt [1901-1947], Gotisches Haus; sold early 1927 to (Hugo Perls, Berlin);[2] sold via the Mannheimer collection, Amsterdam, to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[3] purchased November 1927 by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 5 June 1931 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] This prince built the Gotisches Haus and its English park and was an active collector, adding early German and Netherlandish paintings to the family holdings; see C. Rost, "Der alte Nassau-Oranische Bilderschatz und sein späterer Verbleib," Jahrbücher für Kunstwissenschaft 6 (1873), 52-93, esp. 78-79, listing early catalogues of the collection. The descriptions in the early catalogues of the Anhalt-Dessau collection are not sufficiently specific to identify the Madonna and Child with Angels.
[2] According to a note on a photograph in the Friedländer archive, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, (RKD), The Hague; and a letter of 23 October 1961 from Hugo Perls to the NGA (in NGA curatorial files).
[3] Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: reel 120, box 265, folder 18; and transcriptions from the Duveen Brothers Records (copies and transcriptions in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1902

  • Exposition des primitifs flamands et d'art ancien, Hôtel de Gouvernement Provincial, Bruges, 1902, no. 79.

1929

  • Loan Exhibition of Flemish Primitives, F. Kleinberger Galleries, Inc., New York, 1929, no. 22.

2014

  • Memling. Rinascimento fiammingo, Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome, 2014-2015, no. 28, repro.

Bibliography

1872

  • Crowe, J. A., and G.B. Cavalcaselle. The Early Flemish Painters: Notices of Their Lives and Works. 2nd ed. London, 1872: 273, 280.

1899

  • Kaemmerer, Ludwig. Memling. Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1899: 134, fig. 116.

1901

  • Weale, W. H. James. Hans Memling. London, 1901: 76, 104.

1902

  • Hymans, Henri. "L'Exposition des primitifs flamands à Bruges." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 28 (1902): 288 (repr. as a book, Paris, 1902: 56).

  • Hulin de Loo, Georges. Exposition de tableaux flamands des XIVe, XVe, et XVIe siècles. Catalogue critique. Exh. cat. Hôtel du Gouvernement Provincial, Bruges. Ghent, 1902: 18, no. 79.

1903

  • Friedländer, Max J. "Die Brügger Leihausstellung von 1902." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 26 (1903): 83.

  • Weale, W. H. James. "The Early Painters of the Netherlands as Illustrated by the Bruges Exhibition of 1902." The Burlington Magazine 2 (1903): 35.

1904

  • Benoit, François. "Un Gérard David inconnu." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 32 (1904): 321.

1906

  • Wurzbach, Alfred von. Niederlandisches Kunstler-Lexikon. 3 vols. Vienna, 1906-1911: 2(1910):138, 143, 144.

1907

  • Vollmer, Hans. "Memling." In Thieme-Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 26(1926):375-376..

1909

  • Voll, Karl. Memling (Klassiker der Kunst). Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1909: 136, repro. 178.

1913

  • Durand-Gréville, E. "Notes sur les primitifs néerlandais du Louvre." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 10 (1913): 426.

1924

  • Vioux, Marcelle. Memling. Paris, 1924: 69.

  • Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei. 14 vols. Berlin and Leiden, 1924-1937. Berlin, 1934: 6:30, 127, no. 60, pl. 34. (English transl. 14 vols. Leiden, 1967-1976. Leiden, 1971: 6 pt. 2:21, 53, no. 60, pl. 104.)

1928

  • Hulin de Loo, Georges. "Hans Memlinc in Rogier van der Weyden's Studio." The Burlington Magazine 52 (1928): 171.

1930

  • International Studio 97 (December 1930): repro. 28.

1934

  • Huisman, Georges. Memlinc. Paris, 1934: 146.

1935

  • Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 135, repro. (English ed., Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: 135, repro.).

1937

  • Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 72, repro.

  • Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 34.

1941

  • De Tolnay, Charles. "Flemish Paintings in the National Gallery of Art." Magazine of Art 34 (April 1941): 181-182, 200, fig. 10.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 132, no. 41.

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 178, repro.

1942

  • Baldass, Ludwig von. Hans Memling. Vienna, 1942: 22, 43, no. 70, fig. 70.

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 240, repro. 39.

1945

  • Comstock, Helen. "A Memling for the Nelson Gallery of Art." The Connoisseur 116 (1945): 37.

1949

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 57, repro.

1952

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 86, color repro.

1953

  • Panofsky Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1953: 1:349-350, 507, 2:pl. 320, fig. 481.

1955

  • Verhaegen, Nicole. "Notes à propos de Jean Gossart et d'une `Tentation de S. Antoine'." Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique 4 (1955): 181.

1956

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 9, repro.

1960

  • Broadley Hugh T. Flemish Painting in the National Gallery of Art (Booklet no. 5 in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC). Washington, 1960: 24-25, color repro.

  • Wilkenski, R. H. Flemish Painters, 1430-1830. New York, 1960: 686.

1961

  • Birkmeyer, Karl M. "The Arch Motif in Netherlandish Painting of the Fifteenth Century: A Study in Changing Religious Imagery." Art Bulletin 43, no. 2 (June 1961): 110-111, fig. 29.

1962

  • Mirimonde, Albert P. de. "Les anges musiciens chez Memling." Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (1962/1963): 14, 53.

1963

  • McNamee, M. B. "Further Symbolism in the Portinari Altarpiece." Art Bulletin 45 no. 2 (June 1963): 143, fig. 2.

  • Schoute, Roger Van. Primitifs flamands. Corpus: Grenada. Brussels, 1963: 77.

1964

  • Denis, Valentin. "Memling." In Encyclopedia of World Art. 16 vols. New York, London, and Toronto, 1959-1983. Vol. 9 (1964): column 733.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 89.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:86-87, color repro.

1968

  • Cuttler, Charles D. Northern Painting, from Pucelle to Bruegel: Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries. New York, 1968: 175, fig. 217

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 78, repro.

  • Galvan, Jose Maria Moreno, ed. Galleria Nazionale di Washington. Madrid, 1968: 21, color fig. 1.

1969

  • Corti, Maria, and Giorgio T. Faggin. L'opera completa di Memling. Milan, 1969: 107, no. 78, repro.

  • Pauwels, H. In Antonieme Vlaamse Primitieven. Exh. cat. Groeningemuseum, Bruges, 1969: 45-46.

  • Rensch, Roslyn. The Harp: Its History, Technique and Repertoire. London, 1969: 55, pl. 18a.

1971

  • Ward, John L. "A Proposed Reconstruction of an Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden." Art Bulletin 53, no. 1 (March 1971): 29.

1972

  • Campbell, Lorne. Review of Hans Memling by K. B. McFarlane. In Apollo 96 (1972): 564.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 230, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 130, no. 126, repro.

1977

  • Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 59, under K2088 (1961.9.28).

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 130, no. 120, color repro.

  • Lane, Barbara G. The Altar and the Altarpiece: Sacramental Themes in Early Netherlandish Painting. New York, 1984: 32, fig. 21.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 266, repro.

1986

  • Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 184-188, repro. 185.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 22, 68, color repro.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 42, repro.

1994

  • Vos, Dirk de. Hans Memling: The Complete Works. Translated by Ted Alkins. Antwerp and Ghent, 1994: no. 77, 226-277, color fig.

  • Klein, Peter. "Dendrochronological Analysis of Panels of Hans Memling." In Hans Memling: Essays. Edited by Dirk De Vos. Bruges, 1994: 103.

1998

  • Esch, Anke. "Het boogmotief bij der Vlaamse primitieven: Een synthese." In Dirk Bourts (ca. 1410-1475), een Vlaams primitief te Leuven. Exh. cat. Leuven 1998. Leuven, 1998: 177, fig. 11.

  • Dwyer, Eugene. "Luxury." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 1:533, 534.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 48-49, no. 35, color repro.

2005

  • Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575. Revised by Larry Silver and Henry Luttikhuizen. Upper Saddle River, 2005: 202; 196, col. fig. 10.7.

  • Michelman, Dorothea S. "A German Treasure Trove: The National Gallery of Art." German Life (June/July 2005): 42, color fig.

2007

  • Michiels, Alfred. Hans Memling. New York, 2007: 56, 58, color fig.

  • Lane, Barbara G. Hans Memling: Master Painter in Fifteenth-Century Bruges. London, 2009: 63-64, 318-319, 47.

2015

  • Piero di Cosimo 1462-1522: Pittore eccentrico fra Ricascimento e Maniera. Exh. cat. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, 2015: fig. 3.

2021

  • Monnas, Lisa. "Vestments and Textiles in Memling's Nájera Panels in Context." In Harmony in Bright Color: Memling's God the Father with Singing and Music-Making Angels Restored. Turnhout, 2021: 216, 217, color fig. 9.9.

Wikidata ID

Q20174266

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