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Home>Netherlandish and Spanish Altarpieces in the Late 1400s and Early 1500s

Netherlandish and Spanish Altarpieces in the Late 1400s and Early 1500s

A young woman sits wearing a voluminous, long, royal-blue dress to our right and a winged angel wearing a white robe stands looking at her with one arm raised to our left in this vertical painting. The people nearly fill this composition and both have pale, ivory-white skin. In the lower right quadrant of the painting, the woman’s body faces us, and she looks up and to our left with dark eyes. She has an oval-shaped face with a long, delicate nose and her small, pink lips are closed. Her wavy, light brown hair falls over her shoulders and down nearly to her waist. Her blue garment is edged with gold. Her cloak is fastened at the neck with a gold chain, from which hangs an amethyst-purple stone set into a pendant with pearls. The cuffs of her blue robe are lined with fur over crimson-red sleeves beneath. The blue robe puddles on the floor around her and the corners of two pillows—one gold and one scarlet red, each with a fat tassel—behind her suggest she sits on the cushions. She holds a thick book with red and black text and gold edges open in her lap, resting on a silvery blue cloth with tassels at the front corners. A white dove hovers with wings outstretched over her head, and is surrounded by a white halo deepening in several concentric rings to aquamarine blue. Along the left edge of the painting, the angel’s body is angled to our right and the head tips toward the woman. The angel’s right hand, on our left, is raised high overhead. In the other hand is a long gold staff, almost as tall as the angel. The angel’s blond hair falls in ringlets to the shoulders, and the nose and mouth are delicate. The flowing white robe is cinched at the waist, and it has a wide collar like lapels, with a round purple stone fastened like a brooch at the throat. A jeweled head piece has a dark stone set in gold at the center flanked by a row of alternating white and pink flowers to either side. The wings are rose pink along the top edge, pale turquoise along the center, and icy blue along the bottom. A bright emerald-green cloth hangs on the cream-white wall behind the angel, and brick shows through what appears to be lost plaster over the woman’s head to our right. The door of a cabinet behind the woman is ajar and a rounded urn holding tall, white lilies sits on the surface above.

Overview

All of the paintings on this tour were commissioned for Spanish churches or convents during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabel. The king and queen, famous for their patronage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, also unified Spain and forged strong cultural ties with the Netherlands, roughly present-day Holland and Belgium.

The painters, although employed by the Spanish court, were either born and trained in the Netherlands or had been influenced by styles and techniques from the Low Countries. As court artists, they worked anonymously to glorify the monarchy and the Church. Until research can establish the identity of an artist, he is referred to as "The Master" of his best-known painting.

Juan de Flandes, Hispano-Flemish, active 1496 - 1519, The Annunciation, c. 1508/1519, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.22

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In the stone ruins of a building, a woman, Mary, kneels with her hands in prayer over a thin-limbed baby lying in front of her in this vertical painting. There is a man behind Mary, to our left, two more in a field to our right, and a winged angel in the upper right corner. They all have pale skin. Mary’s unbound blond hair falls over her shoulders. She wears a celestial-blue dress, and her teal-blue cloak is edged with gold. Her body is angled to our right, and she looks down her straight nose at the baby near her knees. The nude baby has blond curls and a chubby tummy and cheeks. An ox and an ass look down at the baby from behind a stone trough to our right. The man behind Mary wears a forest-green cap and scarf over a tomato-red robe. One hand rests on a staff, and he looks up at the angel in the top right corner. An owl looks down at the man from atop the stone ruins, near the top left corner. Two men recline and about a dozen white sheep lie on low hills in the near distance to our right. One of those men sleeps and the other holds up both hands as he looks into the sky. The angel in the top right corner emerges from a petal-pink and pale yellow halo against a star-strewn blue sky. The angel wears rose pink and has dark pink wings. A scroll held across both arms reads, “GLO” and “INECELSIS DEO.”  

Juan de Flandes ("Jan of Flanders") came from the north—and possibly trained in Ghent—but his entire reputation is based on work painted in Spain, where he served as court artist to Queen Isabella. The Nativity, The Adoration of the Magi, The Annunciation, and The Baptism of Christ, along with four in Madrid and probably others now lost, were once part of a single large altarpiece in the church of San Lázaro in Palencia. All would originally have been mounted in an elaborate wooden structure that rose high above the altar, filling the space around it—a Spanish style different from what Juan would have seen in the north. The primary figures are pressed close to the front of the picture plane and the recession of the landscape is simplified to increase legibility from a distance. Repetition of round mandorlas in several scenes gives rhythm and geometry to the overall surface, and vibrant colors intensify the luminous effect of the whole.

The backgrounds in paintings by Juan de Flandes are often enlivened with charming narrative vignettes, characteristic of works from the Netherlandish city of Ghent. Here, a young shepherd is struck with awe and wonder as an angel appears in a brilliant globe of light to announce the birth of Christ, while his older companion continues to doze. In the manger an ox and ass eat from a straw-filled trough, an allusion to a passage in the Book of Isaiah in which Isaiah prophesized even livestock would recognize the infant Jesus as their master. An owl perched on the crumbling stable—the deteriorated state representing a transition to a new world order—may refer to the darkness dispelled by Christ's birth.

Juan de Flandes, Hispano-Flemish, active 1496 - 1519, The Nativity, c. 1508/1519, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.23

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A pale, light-skinned woman holding a baby sits to our left in front of stone ruins as one man kneels and two men stand to our right in front of a landscape in this vertical painting. The woman wears a long, navy-blue coat trimmed in gold, and sits with her body angled to our right. Her light brown hair is parted in the middle and covered by the hood of her robe. She lowers her eyes toward a pale, naked, baby boy with curly blond hair, who leans back against her on a white cloth on her lap. She supports the baby’s side with her right hand and her left caresses his head. A man wearing a golden turban-like cap and a crimson-red, voluminous robe lined with white kneels on the dirt ground in front of the baby, and looks down and off to the side with dark eyes. The man has pale skin, a hooked nose, and jowls. A sword with a gold hilt hangs at his side and a round, white shield is slung over his shoulder. He holds a golden box open toward the baby. Two more men stand behind him. Cut off by the edge of the panel, the man on our right has brown skin, a flat nose, full, projecting lips, and he faces our left in profile. He wears a golden crown on short brown hair, and a large, teardrop-shaped pearl hangs from the ear we can see. His turquoise-blue robe is shaded with petal-pink in the shadows in the folds, and it partially covers a gold chain. He holds a gold-encrusted, jeweled orb in his hands. Beyond him, to our left, a man with pale, peach-colored skin stands facing and looking at us. He has a brown beard and his curly hair is covered by a crown set into a crimson-red, jeweled hat. He wears a gold, brocade robe over a navy-blue garment, and a large jewel pendant hangs from a thick gold chain around his neck. He points with a white gloved hand toward the woman and baby and, in his other, holds a gold vessel with a stem and foot like a wine glass. Behind the woman and to our left, a horned ox looks out toward us from under an arch in the stone ruins. Trees grow in the background and above, a golden star is encircled with bands of gold and blue, with rays extending toward the scene below. Nearby, a white and gray bird perches on the top of the ruins. In the background behind the men, two pairs of men on horseback and one man attending to one of the horses gather in a grassy landscape below a pale blue sky. The pair to our left have pale skin and the pair to our right have brown skin.

References in the Gospel of Matthew to the wise men who followed a miraculous star to the infant Jesus are minimal, but by the seventh century churchmen in the West had made them kings, set their number at three, and given them names—Balthasar, Caspar, and Melchior. Juan de Flandes portrayed them as representatives of the three known continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The Bible does specify their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and these were often invested with various meanings. The chest of gold, which the kneeling magus offers, was traditionally given to kings. A second magus, richly dressed, gestures toward an incense burner in the form of a tower; frankincense, used to purify the temple, might symbolize Christ's divinity. The African magus holds the final gift: a bottle of myrrh. As an ointment used to anoint the dead, myrrh could refer to the sacrifice the divine infant would eventually make. Note the kings' attendants in the distance, another of Juan de Flandes' lively vignettes.

Juan de Flandes, Hispano-Flemish, active 1496 - 1519, The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1508/1519, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.24

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A young, bearded man wearing only a white loincloth stands facing us in a pale blue river with a man to one side and a winged angel to the other in this vertical painting. They all have pale or tanned skin and tawny-brown hair. The man at the center, Jesus, stands knee-deep in the placid water with his hands together in prayer. He looks off to our left, his hollow eyes set above a drooping mouth. To our left, a man kneels on the rocky riverbank and trickles water from his hand onto Jesus’s head. That man wears a fawn-brown robe under a raspberry-red cloak. He is bearded with curly brown hair, and he has dark circles under his eyes and a downturned mouth. The winged angel stands to our right on a flat stone, closer to us. Gold and pink wings rise vertically along the right edge of the composition. The angel wears voluminous white robes and holds a marine-blue garment in both hands. A white dove hovering over Jesus’s head is surrounded by a halo edged with teal, pea-green, and pink rings. A bearded man wearing a tiered, jeweled crown looks down from a round opening in the ice-blue sky above the dove. He holds one hand up in blessing and holds an orb topped by a cross in the other. About ten fish nibble at the rocks near Jesus’s feet in the river, which winds through a pale green field to a town of turrets and towers in the distance.

The Gospels relate that when Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan, he saw the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descend toward him like a dove. God the Father then spoke, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Both appear within the round mandorlas that Juan de Flandes painted in many of the surviving panels of his original altarpiece.

Juan de Flandes, Hispano-Flemish, active 1496 - 1519, The Baptism of Christ, c. 1508/1519, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.25

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Set in a church, nine men and one woman gather around a throne, on which sits a young boy in this vertical painting. All the people have pale or olive-toned skin. The boy has long, wavy brown hair framing an oval face with delicate features. He looks down in front of him as he holds the tips of his two pointer fingers to touch. His gold-edged, ocean-blue robe falls loosely to the floor over one bare foot. The throne is carved from parchment-white stone and it sits on a low platform set on three shallow steps. Behind the boy, a crimson-red cloth patterned with gold and edged with a moss-green border is held up with four ropes tied into a four-point canopy. Five bearded and cleanshaven men stand and sit in a close group to our left, in front of the throne. They all wear hats, including a turban, hoods, and caps, and long robes in red, green, and white. Two hold open books and each man looks in a different direction, either toward the child or toward the group of four men and one woman clustered to our right. At the center of that second group, the woman wears a white cloth covering her head and a teal-blue robe, and she holds her hands together in prayer. Upon closer inspection, one finds that the woman and child’s heads are surrounded by lines radiating out to create haloes. The other four men in the group to our right also wear jewel-toned robes, and all wear caps except for one man, who is bareheaded. The man closest to us holds his hands with fingertips touching, like the child. The floor between the groups, leading up to the throne, is inlaid with square and X-patterns in sky blue, rose pink, golden yellow, and off white. To either side of the throne and behind the groups of men, six columns support statues carved from white stone. The polished columns are marbled with brick red, pine green, and fawn brown. Two taller columns along the left and right edges of the painting support a pale gray stone arch, which is cut off by the top edge. The apse beyond the throne is decorated on the second level with stained glass set within gray stone walls. An arched opening in the wall to our right, above the woman, leads to a view of buildings with stepped rooflines.

Ferdinand and Isabel became known as the "Catholic Kings" because of their religious zeal, offering the Jews and Moors the choice of converting to Catholicism or being expelled from Spain. Two paintings in the National Gallery, which depict coats of arms of Ferdinand and Isabel, must have been commissioned by or for the monarchs. Along with six pictures now in other museums, they formed parts of an altarpiece probably painted for a church or convent in Valladolid in north central Spain. The high quality of the altarpiece and its probable royal patronage have given the painter the name Master of the Catholic Kings.

The last incident of Jesus' childhood recorded in the Bible derives from Luke (2:41-52). Leaving Jerusalem after celebrating the Passover feast, Joseph and Mary discovered that Jesus was not in the caravan. Returning and searching for three days, they found the boy in scholarly dispute in the temple. Christ among the Doctors shows Joseph and Mary entering the synagogue at the right, while Jesus sits on a dais and thoughtfully places one forefinger on the other. The gesture, also used by the doctor in the foreground at the right, probably implies pointing out stages in a debate.

Deep space is skillfully indicated by contrasting the large scale of the foreground figures with the distant view of a town glimpsed through the door behind Joseph and Mary. The stained-glass windows bear the heraldry of Ferdinard and Isabel as well as of Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire. The Spanish monarchs' daughter and son were married to the son and daughter respectively of the Holy Roman Emperor in 1496 and 1497. Thus the altarpiece may have commemorated these dynastic weddings.

Master of the Catholic Kings, Spanish, active c. 1485/1500, Christ among the Doctors, c. 1495/1497, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.43

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Three men and two women sit or stand along the far side of a long table, with more people looking on or gathered in other rooms behind them in this tall, vertical painting. All the people have pale skin. The long table stretches nearly the width of the painting. Near the left edge of the painting, a woman wearing a teal-blue robe over a white head scarf holds her hands together in front of her chest in prayer, and she looks down and to our right toward the tabletop. Next to her, a bearded man wearing a loose, eggplant-purple robe, Jesus, holds his right hand, to our left, up in front of his chest with his first two fingers raised, and the other hand rests on the table. His long, wavy brown hair hangs by his face, and he looks down toward the table with hooded eyes, his head tilted slightly to our left. Gold lines radiate out from the woman and Jesus’s heads. At his left shoulder, to our right, a man wearing a sky-blue cap and an emerald-green robe holds an oval-shaped bowl filled with a red liquid toward Jesus with one hand, and the other rests on the table. He looks to our left with light brown eyes under arched brows, and he has deep wrinkles across his forehead, at the corners of his eyes, along his chin line, and around his mouth. To our right and at the end of the table, a young, cleanshaven man sits next to a woman. Both have wavy blond hair, and they look down at the table. The man wears a crimson-red cap and a white fur-lined red cloak with a gold, jeweled clasp lined with teardrop pearls. His right hand, to our left, is lifted toward the woman sitting next to him. The woman wears a pearl-and-jewel headband around a white cloth that drapes down the back of her head. Her pine-green dress is patterned with shimmering gold, stylized leaf designs and has full, loose, white sleeves. She wears three gold rings on the hand resting on the table and two jeweled, gold bands on the other, which rests on her belly. Two younger people, both with brown, shoulder-length hair, stand on our side of the table, facing away from us as they look toward the woman to our right. The one to our left wears a brick-red tunic, and he holds a shallow, round bowl. The one to our right wears teal blue and holds a gold goblet on the table. With his other hand, he points down at six tall jugs on the geometrically patterned floor, and a brown dog stands at his feet. The table is covered with a white cloth, which is decorated with bands of stylized leaves and borders on the side facing us. Along the bottom of the cloth, above long fringe, a Latin inscription reads, “AVE GRACIA PLENA DOMINVS TECV BENEDICTATV INMVILEDIDVS ET BENEDICTVS.” Two gold plates, a few pieces of round, flat bread, and two knives are spaced along the tabletop. Behind the group at the table, one person stands to our left, another at the center, and a trio of men stand to our right. The far wall of the room is peirced with two tall, narrow arches of wood or dark stone to our left. At the top of the column separating the arches, there is white statue of a man holding up two round-topped tablets. The archway to our right opens onto a room with a bed covered with a ruby-red cover and a white pillow. Under the other arch, to our left, one woman and three men sit or stand around a round table in front of a tall fireplace mantle. One of the men holds a large, pewter-silver pitcher up to his lips, and the other three look on. The round table is covered with a white cloth and set with a few dishes. A door on the far wall of that room opens onto a street view lined with buildings.

Christ's first miracle, the transformation of water into wine, is described in John (2:1-12). Invited to a wedding in Galilee, Mary told her son that the family was too poor to afford wine. At the wedding table, Jesus raises his right hand in benediction, while Mary prays in recognition of the miracle. The governor of the feast looks skeptically into his cup, but the bride and groom lower their eyes in reverent acceptance of the divine gift.

The banqueting hall combines elements from Netherlandish and Spanish culture. The trumpeters in the gallery, the wedding bed, the servants in the distant kitchen, and the northern European town seen through the door and window show a Flemish concern for documenting daily life. The harsh, angular features of some male figures, the rich brown and red tonalities, and the costumes and serving vessels, however, are more typical of Castile. Hanging from the rafters, shields bear coats of arms suggesting that this scene may be an allegory on the marriage in 1497 of Juan of Castile, son of the Catholic Kings, to Margaret of Austria, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Master of the Catholic Kings, Spanish, active c. 1485/1500, The Marriage at Cana, c. 1495/1497, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.42

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A woman wearing long robes and standing on an upturned, gold crescent moon is surrounded by twenty winged angels who lift her up, sing, or play musical instruments in this vertical painting. Below, a grassy landscape with rocky hills, a river, and buildings stretches into the distance. Along the top edge of the painting and smaller in scale, more angels surround two men sitting on a throne, holding a crown. All the people have smooth, pale skin, oval faces with small, delicate facial features, and long wavy hair. They wear fluttering, jewel-toned robes. The woman at the center, Mary, stands facing us with her eyes downcast and her hands held together in prayer. Her strawberry-blond hair lightens where her hair rests over her shoulders, and a jeweled band encircles her head. She wears a long, ruby-red dress with a jeweled neckline and navy-blue cloak trimmed with gold. Eight of the winged angels seem to lift her body, four along each side. Seven more angels float around the scene playing instruments, including a lute, a harp, recorder-like instruments, and stringed instruments, one of which resembles a violin and another a dulcimer. Along the top of the group, around Mary’s head, four angels sing, holding sheet music. In tiny letters, writing on the sheet of music to our left reads, “A ve regina celorum mr regis,” while the writing on the music to our right reads, “A Tenor ve regina.” The angels wear robes in emerald green, royal or sky blue, butter yellow, rose pink, tomato red, silver, or white, and their wings match their robes. Some of the robes are embroidered with gold and some angels wear jeweled diadems. The edges of an oval, gold halo are visible behind the angels at Mary’s head and feet. Above Mary and the angels, a scene, much smaller in scale, recedes into the distance within a ring of dark clouds. Two haloed, bearded men wearing scarlet-red robes and with shoulder-length brown hair sit on a wide throne covered with a black and gold brocade cloth. The man to our left is bareheaded and the man to our right has a tall, blue and gold crown. A white dove with wings spread hovers above a second gold crown they hold between them. More than a dozen angels surround the throne, holding up the cloth or singing. A black and red checked tile floor stretches in front of the throne. Along the bottom edge of the painting, beneath Mary and the angels, a grassy landscape with fields and trees stretches into the distance to gray castle-like structures. A river winds from the lower right between the buildings. A man rides a horse near the riverbank to our right, and the shore is lined with miniscule shells. To our left, a second man walks in the field, away from us toward the building, and another man crosses a short bridge over a second, smaller stream.

The Master of the Saint Lucy Legend is named after an altarpiece—dated 1480 and in a church in Bruges—that depicts episodes from the life of Saint Lucy. The Flemish city of Bruges often appears as the setting for the master's paintings. His style is characterized by extraordinarily brilliant colors, intricately detailed textures and patterns, compressed space, and figures with oval faces that are restrained in expression. Several of his paintings have been found in Castile, suggesting that the Netherlandish artist may have spent part of his career in Spain.

This unusually large painting depicts a mystic glorification of the Virgin. Hovering angels, garbed in silks and brocades of every conceivable hue, attend a central image of Mary and surround a smaller, upper vision of her heavenly throne. On either side of the Virgin's head, singing angels hold musical scores of Ave Regina Celorum, a hymn beginning with the words "Hail, Queen of the Heavens." This splendid picture comes from the convent of Santa Clara near Burgos in north central Spain. Records suggest that the work was commissioned by an aristocratic constable of Castile whose daughter was abbess of the convent.

With a fusion of subjects, Mary, Queen of Heaven combines three sacred events from the legend of the Virgin. The Immaculate Conception, representing Mary's freedom from Original Sin, traditionally shows a "woman arrayed with the sun, and a moon under her feet" (Revelation 12:1). In this painting, sunbeams rendered in gold leaf blaze behind Mary's head and feet, and a crescent moon supports her.

Three days after Mary's death, seraphim bore her to heaven. The Assumption of the Virgin theme usually displays an open sarcophagus, but it is absent here. In place of the coffin is a serene and peaceful landscape that may refer to a commonly held idea that at the Assumption the world was cleansed by the Virgin's purity.

The third subject is the Coronation of the Virgin. Above her head the clouds roll back to reveal heaven, with God the Father and Christ the Son holding a crown, above which hovers the dove of the Holy Spirit. Mary's coronation is only implied here, since she has not yet risen to join the Trinity. With its overlapping symbolism, spectacular flurry of ecclesiastical robes, and flutter of iridescent wings, Mary, Queen of Heaven is the Master of Saint Lucy's Legend's most sumptuous and ambitious achievement.

Master of the Saint Lucy Legend, Netherlandish, active c. 1480 - c. 1510, Mary, Queen of Heaven, c. 1485/1500, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.13

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A woman wearing long robes and standing on an upturned, gold crescent moon is surrounded by twenty winged angels who lift her up, sing, or play musical instruments in this vertical painting. Below, a grassy landscape with rocky hills, a river, and buildings stretches into the distance. Along the top edge of the painting and smaller in scale, more angels surround two men sitting on a throne, holding a crown. All the people have smooth, pale skin, oval faces with small, delicate facial features, and long wavy hair. They wear fluttering, jewel-toned robes. The woman at the center, Mary, stands facing us with her eyes downcast and her hands held together in prayer. Her strawberry-blond hair lightens where her hair rests over her shoulders, and a jeweled band encircles her head. She wears a long, ruby-red dress with a jeweled neckline and navy-blue cloak trimmed with gold. Eight of the winged angels seem to lift her body, four along each side. Seven more angels float around the scene playing instruments, including a lute, a harp, recorder-like instruments, and stringed instruments, one of which resembles a violin and another a dulcimer. Along the top of the group, around Mary’s head, four angels sing, holding sheet music. In tiny letters, writing on the sheet of music to our left reads, “A ve regina celorum mr regis,” while the writing on the music to our right reads, “A Tenor ve regina.” The angels wear robes in emerald green, royal or sky blue, butter yellow, rose pink, tomato red, silver, or white, and their wings match their robes. Some of the robes are embroidered with gold and some angels wear jeweled diadems. The edges of an oval, gold halo are visible behind the angels at Mary’s head and feet. Above Mary and the angels, a scene, much smaller in scale, recedes into the distance within a ring of dark clouds. Two haloed, bearded men wearing scarlet-red robes and with shoulder-length brown hair sit on a wide throne covered with a black and gold brocade cloth. The man to our left is bareheaded and the man to our right has a tall, blue and gold crown. A white dove with wings spread hovers above a second gold crown they hold between them. More than a dozen angels surround the throne, holding up the cloth or singing. A black and red checked tile floor stretches in front of the throne. Along the bottom edge of the painting, beneath Mary and the angels, a grassy landscape with fields and trees stretches into the distance to gray castle-like structures. A river winds from the lower right between the buildings. A man rides a horse near the riverbank to our right, and the shore is lined with miniscule shells. To our left, a second man walks in the field, away from us toward the building, and another man crosses a short bridge over a second, smaller stream.

Renaissance Music

In addition to its radiant beauty and complicated theology, Mary, Queen of Heaven is an exceptionally important document in the history of music. The painting portrays Renaissance instruments with great accuracy, as they would have been played during fifteenth-century performances. In actual church services, however, so many instruments and choirs would seldom have been used simultaneously. In the group of angels surrounding the Virgin "loud" instruments such as horns and woodwinds would have overpowered the voices.

On the left side, starting in the top corner, an angel in white blows a tenor or alto shawm, a precursor of the English horn. Beside him, an angel in wine red robes strums a Gothic harp. A brass trumpet is held by the figure in lilac blue, partially hidden behind the angel caressing Mary's shoulder. Dressed in pure yellow, another celestial musician pumps the bellows of a portative organ.

In the top corner of the right side, an angel bows a vielle, an early form of violin. Next to him is a figure playing a soprano or treble shawm, a distant forerunner of the oboe. Halfway down the right side, an angel in cherry red plucks a lute, while, behind him, another shawm or woodwind is partly concealed behind olive green wings.

The vocal quartet serenading Mary holds music with legible scores. The sheet to the left, which gives the painting its title, appears to be a variation on a motet, Hail, Queen of the Heavens, by Walter Frye (died 1474/1475), an English composer whose works were popular on the Continent. The sheet music to the right bears the word Tenor, which would be the voice that carries the melody.

The gathering of musicians among the clouds most likely corresponds to fifteenth-century musical performances. The orchestra at the right comprises the "soft" instruments: three recorders, a lute, a dulcimer being struck by a light hammer, and a harp. To the left of the Trinity are two choruses. Each group has one music book, suggesting that their singing is antiphonal and polyphonic. The upper choir, composed of winged angels in white robes, may represent a children's chorus.

Master of the Saint Lucy Legend, Netherlandish, active c. 1480 - c. 1510, Mary, Queen of Heaven, c. 1485/1500, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.13

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