Madonna and Child with Two Angels

Date

ca. 1465

Creator

Hans Memling was one of the most popular Netherlandish painters of his time. Although born in Germany, he worked in Bruges for most of his career. His patrons included rich burghers of the city as well as important Italian merchants, for whom he primarily painted portraits and devotional images such as this one. Probably trained by the Flemish artist Rogier van der Weyden, Memling was a more conservative painter and developed a softer, sweeter version of his master’s style. This panel exemplifies the type of devotional art that enjoyed unparalleled popularity at the end of the fifteenth century in Europe. The intimate work depicts the Madonna holding the Christ Child—who clutches a daisy, sym- bolic of innocence and purity—flanked by two music-making angels. The figures display the typical Flemish elongation and softness of form, lacking the mass and rotundity characteristic of contemporary Italian painting. Memling focused attention on the shimmering quality of the Madonna’s neck and her hair ornament, as well as the pattern of the cushion on which the Child sits. Similarly, he rendered the coun- tryside in the background in minute detail. This emphasis on jewel-like surfaces and floral and landscape details is typical of Northern European painting. from Snite Museum of Art, Selected Works: Snite Museum of Art (Notre Dame, 2005)