Christ Taking Leave of the Virgin c.1520-30
Oil on panel | 106.0 x 77.1 x 2.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 406198
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Christ dressed in a blue robe, stands in the centre with the Virgin Mary kneeling before him. The three women behind her are probably Martha, Mary and Mary Magdalene. They are outside the gate of Bethany, which is decorated with a metal statue of a naked boy holding a torch. On the left, the twelve apostles progress through the landscape towards Jerusalem.
This scene is probably based on the 'Meditations' of Pseudo-Bonaventura (a medieval devotional text orginally attributed to Saint Bonaventura), where there is an account of the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene attempting to dissuade Christ from going to Jerusalem. It is rare to see this subject represented in fifteenth-century Netherlandish art.Provenance
One of the group of early Flemish works from the 77 paintings belonging to Prince Ludwig von Oettingen-Wallerstein (1791-1870), which were first offered to Prince Albert in 1847 as security for a loan and came into his possession by default (no 53 in Waagen’s catalogue of 1854); 25 of them were accepted by the National Gallery in 1863
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
106.0 x 77.1 x 2.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
130.6 x 98.0 x 7.5 cm (frame, external)