Flemish School, XVI century Lot n° 603

Maria Lactans 43 x 30 cm Oil on panel A very rare representation of the Virgin under a canopy made of four columns. The vault painted with a mix of gold. Dressed in precious garments, Virgin Mary is nursing Jesus both adorned by radiant halos. Represented in a half-length gure the Virgo lactans is set in an unde ned open arched architectural interior with a landscape in the background where a green scenery with northern- architectural style houses can be distinguished. In the forefront a carpet-covered ledge used by XVth painters to connect the viewer to the image. The architectural elements could symbolically allude to the purity of the Virgin and the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Christ. The close up half-length gures combined with the intimate character of the composition suggest that the painting was most probably intended to private devotion. The panel could have originally be part of devotional diptych with a second panel representing a praying donor turned towards the Infant rising his right hand in a blessing gesture.