Focus on Madonna Standing (van der Weyden) and explore the abstract.
The Madonna Standing (or Madonna al latte) is a small painting by the Flemish artist Rogier van der Weyden dating from about 1430–1432. It is the left panel of a diptych held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM), Vienna since 1772. The right panel portrays St. Catherine and is also attributed by the KHM to van der Weyden, but is inferior in quality and generally regarded as by a workshop member.The panel shows the Madonna and Child standing in a painted niche. The architecture of the niche's contains biblical and heavenly figures rendered in grisaille, including God the Father, the Holy Spirit represented by a dove, and Adam and Eve. The painting is influenced by Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece, which the younger artist probably saw after he moved to Ghent around 1432. Borrowings from van Eyck include the positioning of a living figure in a niche, separating Adam and Eve across panels, and placing figure of God leaning on the frame.
Ghent Altarpiece Holy Spirit Ghent niche Kunsthistorisches Museum Jan van Eyck left St. Catherine Rogier van der Weyden God the Father grisaille