Virgin And Child At The Huntington Library Analysis

My close viewing of the painting the Virgin and Child at the Huntington Library yielded observations and reflections that expanded my understanding of the work. Through my experience studying the painting, I gained insight into its significance and implications. According to the museum label, the Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden painted the Virgin and Child around the year 1460. This places the painting in Burgundy during the period of time known as the Northern Renaissance. The painting depicts the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. It is a devotional work that was intended for private consumption. The label states that it was originally half of a diptych and attached to a portrait of Philippe de Croye, a member of the Burgundy court.

The gold edge and embellishments stands out against the plainness of the rest of the cloak. The darkness of the cloak masks any folding or creasing of fabric that may have been painted, but the shape and movement of the cloth are shown through the bright gold on the edge of the fabric. The shadows in certain areas of the gold lining give it depth and create the illusion of fabric movement. This illusion is also shown through the pleating on the front of Mary’s blouse and in the folds and bunching of the white cloth wrapped around baby Jesus’

Especially with the contrast of Mary’s black cloak, the background and the halos around Mary and Jesus’ head seem to be glowing. The glowing warmth of the color is comparable to the warmth between mother and child. The glowing quality of the painting can be attributed to the use of an oil medium. Through the use of oil paints instead of tempera, artists are able to “create richer colors…giving their paintings an intense tonality, [and] the illusion of glowing light” (Kleiner 558). The oil in the paint reflects natural light, further contributing to the glossy surface of the painting and the glow of the gold color (559). While there are other gold aspects of the painting, they do not give the same luminous effect as the gold background. The gold lining on Mary’s cloak, the gilded gold pages and gold clasps on the book, and the gold embroidery on the pillow are deeper shades than the bright and striking gold used for the background. Although the Virgin Mary and Jesus are important religious figures, they appear very normal in the painting. Without the halos around their heads, the painting could almost pass as a portrait of a mother and child. Rogier worked as an assistant to Robert Campin, who was known for his devotional artwork that featured the “integration of religious and secular” (Kleiner 560). The simple setting of the painting and the inclusion of everyday items such as the